Texting More than Just a Minor Distraction

Texting on the road has become one of the most common and dangerous distractions for drivers. Texting is even worse than talking on a cell phone in terms of distraction because it requires not only that you use your hands to type but also that you look down at the screen while texting. This reduces your ability to focus on the road and what’s around you, as well as your steering. In some cases, drivers even take both hands off the wheel to text, seriously impairing their ability to control their vehicle.

According to the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASE), vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of job-related fatalities in the United States. And a study by the AA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 35% of motorists feel that they are less safe on the road than five years ago and that distracted driving is a significant threat to their safety. For more evidence of the dangers of cell phone use and specifically texting, consider the following statistics:

• Drivers using cell phones are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a blood alcohol level of 0.08. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
• Drivers of heavy trucks are 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision if texting while driving. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute)
• The likelihood of a collision for all drivers increases six-fold upon reaching for a cell phone. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute)
• 14 states have already outlawed texting while driving and more are trying to ban this practice.

The National Institutes of Health qualifies texting while driving as one of the forms of impaired driving, along with fatigue, impairment by drugs and alcohol, and medical conditions that affect driving. It also recommends that if you do need to send a text message to pull over before doing so. Your safety, as well as the safety of others, is dependent upon your full attention behind the wheel.