Car and Driver's top picks for 2012; young drivers still texting

(Ford)

Car and Driver names its 10 best for 2012
Car and Driver magazine has named its top 10 cars for 2012. All cars are priced under $80,000, are all-new or have significant updates and will be on sale by January. The picks:
Audi A6/A7 3.0T Quattro
BMW 3-series/M3
Cadillac CTS/CTS-V
Ford Focus (shown)
Ford Mustang GT/Boss 302
Honda Accord
Honda Fit
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Porsche Boxster/Boxster Spyder/Cayman/
Cayman R
Volkswagen Golf/GTI
— NWautos staff

(Archive photo)

Survey: 2 in 10 drivers send text messages
Nearly 20 percent of drivers and half of drivers ages 21 to 24 say they are texting behind the wheel, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey released last week. The nationally representative survey questioned more than 6,000 drivers in November and December of 2010. The survey also found that about 9 in 10 drivers said that when they are passengers they would consider a driver who was sending or reading a text message or email as very unsafe.
— The Associated Press