If we know something is dangerous, why do we still do it? I was pondering this question relative to texting and driving and wondering just what makes drivers continue this very dangerous practice.

One can Google this question and get 100 different reasons from 100 different sources. But I still question why so many continue to do it when they all know better — at least 98% of them do. A recent survey found that 98 percent of all drivers surveyed admitted that they were aware that texting and driving at the same time was dangerous.

In my opinion, drivers do so because they truly believe they can multi-task. They are aware of the dangers but believe it won’t happen to them — until it does. They believe in themselves as good drivers, and are good enough to do both at the same time. Other surveys (I have written on this several times) show that 90% of drivers believe they are better than the average driver — mathematically impossible, but truly believed.

The problem is that we as humans cannot do two tasks at once and do both well, so something has to give. Because driving is so commonplace, we feel very comfortable doing it, so we believe we can also do other things at the same time, like text, video chat, carry on phone conversations, eat, apply makeup and many others. However, when we do any other task at the same time as we are driving, we take on more risk. And the longer we can continue driving plus performing other tasks simultaneously without a crash or a near miss, it reinforces our belief that we can indeed do multiple things at the same time and do them all very well.

Some other reasons given by drivers that text and drive include:

¯ The desire to stay connected to friends and family

¯ Anxiety if they don’t respond right away

¯ Missing out on something important

¯ Belief that their driving performance isn’t affected

¯ Some enjoy risk-taking.

¯ Teens are unable to make correct judgments and decisions because part of their brain (frontal lobe) is still in a developing stage.

The bottom line is that even though drivers know that there are dangers associated with texting and driving, in fact with all driving distractions, along with our belief that we are good enough and fully capable of multi-tasking while driving, we make the decision to do it because bad things happen to other drivers, not us. The longer we get away with it, the more comfortable we are doing it.

If you text and drive, reading this article will not change your behavior. You already know it is dangerous, so you will not change your behavior just because you read this. But, at least remember the next time you do both that you are choosing to drive with more risk than if you waited until you arrived at your destination to read and answer text messages. If you truly want to drive as safely as you can, put your mobile device where you can’t get at it, and you will be less tempted to respond. Can you do this?