Most of us have had mobile phones in our lives for about two decades, give or take. But I don't imagine it was until they evolved into SMARTPHONES that they became a bit of a problem on the road.

I remember the first one I got back in 2004. It was a gray, dour-looking thing that gave me the ability to access the internet in the most rudimentary of ways. Pretty sad, by today's standards. Pretty off-the-charts mind-blowing by 2004's standards.

I seem to remember being able to text on a mobile before the advent of androids and iPhones, but I don't remember it being a distraction.

Today...they are HUGE distractions. If it's not a text, it's a Facebook message or a Snapchat message, or somebody liked your picture of that pineapple upside-down cake you uploaded to Instagram and you got a notification about it.

It seems the distractions are legion these days.

And Kentucky, unfortunately, ranks right up there among the nation's most distracted drivers. In fact, we're in the top five.

And that drives me crazy, no pun intended. On more than one occasion, I've almost been sideswiped by motorists whose insistence on staying abreast of their phone activity nearly caused a great deal of calamity.

On the lighter end of it, I don't how many times I've passed drivers who perch their phone ON TOP OF THEIR STEERING WHEEL.

And of course, you have those who hold everyone up at the traffic light because they're checking their phone. It's maddening.

While the analysis from WhistleOut.com WAS published in January, it IS the most recent ranking and it's being brought to our attention now since we're in a period of time authorities refer to as the "100 Deadliest Days of Summer" according to WeSaveLives.com, a website that offers some alarming statistics concerning teen drivers and fatal auto accidents INVOLVING teen drivers.

Getting back to the ranking, we find Kentucky at number five. It's not a good top five in which to find yourself. Right across the river, Indiana can brag a little. The Hoosier State is ALSO ranked number five, but at the OTHER end of the survey, meaning it has some of the LEAST distracted drivers in the country.

As more and more of us hit the road this summer, let's hope interest in whatever just made the phone ding will subside until we get to a complete stop.

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[SOURCE: WKYT-Lexington]

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