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Since cell phones hit the market, governments have struggled to combat distracted driving. Depending on where you live, that means no texting, no talking, and you-had-better-invest-in-Bluetooth-or-you’re-going-to-get-pulled-over. It seems that one more bullet needs to be added to that list: no surfing the web.

In a study, State Farm surveyed 912 people who own a smart phone and discovered that 19 percent – that’s nearly one in five – said they use the internet while driving. According to The Boston Globe, that includes, “finding and reading driving directions, reading email, composing and sending email (texting), reading and scanning sites such as Facebook and Twitter and looking up specific information.” The L.A. Times reports that “the survey respondents said they tend to ‘web’ while in heavy traffic, stopped at a red light, during daylight hours, or on long drives on the open road.”

With such a small number of participants, it’s important to keep in mind that this study can’t be applied to the national as a whole. However, State Farm is using this mini-study to increase concern for distracted driving as technology becomes more advance. It’s a “small ‘pulse check’ to look into the growing use of smartphones by drivers,” adds Inside Line.

Cindy Garretson, State Farm’s director of auto research technology, says, “‘We are working to prevent crashes and save lives. This research takes us one step closer to understanding the driver distractions that affect everyone on our roadways.” Nearly 40% of Americans own a smart phone, which means that “webbing while driving” is likely to become a serious issue as more people invest in savvier technologies.

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