Are You Distracted While Driving? [AUDIO]

A new study finds many New Jersey residents continue to engage in dangerous activities while driving.

The Plymouth Rock Assurance auto insurance group study finds approximately 50 percent of passengers polled have asked a driver to stop texting while the car was in motion, and nearly a third have attempted to alert the driver of another vehicle to stop texting.

"There seems to be a groundswell of folks out there who have had enough. People are aware of accidents that have happened because of distracted driving," says the Plymouth Rock Assurance Director of Communications, Valerie Simon.

She says the survey also finds many individuals are engaging in other distracting behavior.

"People who are reading and sending text messages - 28 percent while driving - and these are the people who admitted it. A lot of people don't want to confess to distracted driving."

Forty-nine percent of respondents said they were looking at driving maps while driving, while 72 percent said they had been eating or drinking while driving.

"People are also involved in personal grooming, so applying makeup, combing, brushing your hair, shaving in the car," she says. "We had programming a navigation system, 27 percent."

She points out people simply aren't aware how easy it is when you take your eyes off the road, for a just a few seconds, what you can miss and what can happen.

"It's important for every driver in New Jersey to think twice about reaching for your cell phone, texting…We just want people to get home safe."

The survey was part of an ongoing effort called Get Home Safe. Customers of Plymouth Rock Assurance New Jersey can get cab fare home if they are out somewhere and don't think - for any reason - they should get behind the wheel to be able to drive home safely.