Now it turns out that it isn't just Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe who fall foul of distractions - it's officers in police squad cars too.
An article on Fridley Patch reveals that a study from St. Mary's University of Minnesota puts technology in squad cars to blame for 14 percent of crashes. This manifests itself as $1,188,660 of damage between 2006 and 2010 for the Minnesota forces.
When you see all the gadgets at an officer's fingertips, it's perhaps not surprising - the cockpit can be full of laptops, radios, cell phones and cameras with buttons strewn everywhere.
The researchers are calling for increased awareness training for officers to alert them to the dangers of using technology while driving, since nobody is immune from the dangers of distracted driving.
Though technology plays a part in accident statistcs, the survey also highlighted that other distractions - such as prisoners in the back of the car - can also play a part. Many other factors may have skewed the results slightly, such as fear of reprisal leading to false accident claims by the officer involved, and almost half the accident statistics not including the reason for a crash.
Still, if any more is needed to highlight the dangers of technology distractions while driving, it's that even the police are costing millions of dollars to the taxpayer through avoidable accidents...
