Distracted while driving?  30 U.S. states have banned texting while driving, and AAA has previously said they’d like to see all 50 states ban it by 2013.  As smartphones become more common, the law will likely expand to ban all cell phone use behind the wheel.

But what about flirting?

A British study found 976,000 motorists have been in accidents because the driver was flirting.  With other drivers on the road.  (Sounds like a Chevy Chase scene from National Lampoon’s Vacation, doesn’t it?)

Male drivers are the worst – 83% of those accidents were caused by men flirting instead of keeping their eyes on the road.  I can’t imagine why – surely, men should know by now that women do not swoon for “hey baby!” shouts or obnoxious horn honks.  Nevertheless, 46% of men admit to flirting behind the wheel and 36% of women do it, too.

According to the study, another 5 million people had close calls due to wandering eyes.  That’s 1 in 7 people who have almost gotten into an accident because they were checking out other drivers.

Distracted while driving?  Maybe we should all have tinted windows so we can’t look in.  And no rolling down the windows to flash the passerbys, either, or else this will happen:

Ouch.