Instagram “Selfies” Contribute to Distracted Driving Problem

“Selfies” With Hashtag “Driving” Rising in Popularity

Oh, the infamous “selfie”–if you have a teenager or have even ventured on the Internet once, you have likely come across a so-called “selfie”.  A selfie is a self-taken picture, commonly using a smartphone.  Although there is nothing inherently wrong with selfies, other than being a little narcissistic perhaps, they are contributing to a growing problem–distracted driving.  According to a recent report, the number of people driving down the road while snapping a pic of themselves has skyrocketed, as evidenced by over 3 million posts tagged with #driving, and lower, but equally as frightening numbers of posts with #drivingselfie, #drivinghome, or #drivingtowork.

Driving Distracted: a Serious Public Health Problem

If you follow my blog with any regularity, you know that I frequently write about distracted driving.  Distracted driving is a major public health problem with an estimated 3,331 people killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2011 alone.  An additional 387,000 people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver that same year.  Unfortunately, young people and their cell phones account for 21% of those fatalities.

Car Company Releases Warning Against Taking Selfies While Driving

The problem with selfies and distracted driving has become so pertinent that Toyota recently released an advertisement using Instagram, except instead of taking a selfie, they took a stand against taking Instagram photos while driving:

Clearly, you can see from their advertisement, that no matter what Instagram filter you use on a picture of a car wreck, it all ends up the same in the end.  Don’t shoot and drive; it isn’t worth it.