Coming as a surprise only to anyone who has never been around a teenager before, Reuters reports that young people often ignore laws against using cell phones or texting while sitting in the driver's seat.

"The handheld cell phone is relative easy for us to spot, we can see when somebody has their phone up to ther ear" California Highy Patrol (CHP) spokeswoman Fran Clader said. "But with the texting, it's a little bit more of a challenge to catch them in the act, because we have to see it and if they are holding it down in their lap it's going to be harder for us to see."

As it stands, 19 states and the District of Columbia have made it illegal for any driver to text while driving, while 9 other states prohibit just young people from texting and driving at the same time.

At least one study found that drivers who text, regardless of their age, are 23 times more likely to be in an accident.

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According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, an overwhelming majority of Americans feel text messaging while driving should be made illegal. Not only that, but over half surveyed said those caught sending a text while behind the wheel should be punished just as harshly as drunk drivers.

"If you're going to drive, drive; if you want to talk or text, pull over to the side of the road," Constance Drake, 71, of Toms River, J.J., said in a follow-up interview with the New York Times.

Americans don't seem split on the issue, at least according to the poll. Only 3 percent of respondents saw nothing wrong with texting and driving at the same time, while the other 97 percent disagreed. And around 80 percent said it should be made illegal to talk on a cellphone while driving, unless it's a hands-free phone. That's up from 69 percent in a 2001 ABCNews poll.

What's your stance on texting or talking on a cellphone wile driving? Tell us in the comments section below.

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There are few things in life as uncomplicated as driving a car. Really, there’s not all that much to it. Turn the key, engine revs up, put it into gear, point it in the right direction, step on the gas, and off you go. The Federal Highway Administration tells us that in 2004 the United States had 199 million drivers and 237 million cars. How hard can it be if nearly 90% of adults can drive?

As simple as this task is, there are all sorts of folks who want to make it easier. Modern cars are replete with little reminders: Do we have enough gas? Did we leave a door open? Are our headlights still on? But that doesn’t seem to be enough. Others want to make sure we know not only all about the car, but all about the entire transportation infrastructure that surrounds the car. TomTom will give us directions on how to get back and forth from work. (We haven’t figured that out?) And OnStar will tell us that we were in an accident. (How do we manage to miss something like that?)

And the end is not yet in sight. The goodly folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) want to build us a “plastic pal that’s fun to be with.” MIT’s Media Lab, its SENSEable City Lab, and Volkswagen have come up with AIDA, a cute little robot best-friend to sit on our dashboard. Not only will AIDA tell us about our car, and about traffic, it will bore symbiotically into our minds to second guess what we want to do.

What can AIDA do? According to Assaf Biderman, an associate director of the SENSEable City Lab: “Within a week AIDA will have figured out your home and work location. Soon afterwards the system will be able to direct you to your preferred grocery store, suggesting a route that avoids a street fair-induced traffic jam. On the way AIDA might recommend a stop to fill up your tank, upon noticing that you are getting low on gas. AIDA can also give you feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy efficiency and safer behavior.” First, if you can’t do this stuff you really shouldn’t be driving. Second, one nag in the car is quite enough, thank you.

Image Credit: MIT

Forget about student drivers and that little old lady going 25MPH in a 45MPH speed zone - the worst drivers on the road are computer engineers, according to a study by Churchill Car Insurance.

The insurance company collected and analyzed data from the last three years and put together a list of the top ten most frequently claiming occupations. As it turns out, writing firmware, designing mainboards, and other tasks performed by computer engineers lead to groggy drivers and road rage.

"The poorer claims experience associated with computer engineers, sales managers, chefs, and doctors most likely reflects the long hours they work in a very stressful job," said Tony Chilcott, Head of Churchill Car Insurance. "As a result, they are more likely to be tired when driving and possibly distracted."

On the flip side, farmers are among the safest drivers, at least according to claim frequency.

Image Credit: torontoist.com