"Come on!" I'm thinking to myself as my frustration starts to mount. The Friday night traffic on University Avenue is stop and go--the result of an accident near 800 North. Suddenly, the vibration of my phone in my pocket takes me away from my frustration and instinctively I reach for it. I flip open the phone and laugh at a message from my roommate. I glance back up at the road and press on the gas, moving forward again in my car. As I do, I press "reply" on my phone and start to respond, looking back down at my little glowing screen. It's not even three seconds when I glance up again and all I see is the glowing red brake lights of the car in front of me and I know I am way too close. I slam on my brakes but dread consumes me--I know I'm going to hit them.............
Okay, so this didn't really happen to me, but it almost did. I'm sure almost everyone who drives has had a situation where they were distracted while driving and had to quickly hit the brakes to avoid a collision. The scary thing is, more and more people are using cell phones, more and more people are texting, and more and more people are doing it while driving. Here are the current facts and statistics:
- Texting is contributing to increasing amounts of preventable accidents. States around the nation are now taking action. California recently banned texting while driving, starting in 2009. Alaska, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington have banned texting while driving and at least a dozen other states are currently considering it. A recent high-profile train crash which killed 25 people in California is suspected to be partially caused by distractions from texting.
- A Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey of 1,200 drivers last year reported that one in five drivers admitted to texting while behind the wheel……Data about the risks are difficult to obtain because people often do not want to admit they were texting.
- According to a recent study by AAA on teen texting while driving habits, nearly 46% of teens text while driving….Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens, claiming more than 6,000 15 to 20 year-olds each year.
- In a recent study about text messaging, it was proven that reaction time for a driver is slowed by 35% when texting while driving. What is so startling is that Marijuana users' reaction time was only slowed by 21% and only 12% for drivers who are at the legal alcohol limit (RAC Foundation Report).
6 comments:
Texting really is very dangerous to do while driving! How many of us have had a close call because of texting? I only text now when I'm at a stop light--and maybe I shouldn't even be doing it then.
I am guilty of texting while driving but I do think it is really dangerous. I too have had several close calls because of texting. If so many cities and states throughout the country have banned talking on cell phones while driving unless you have a hands free device why don't they also ban texting while driving?
A lot more states are jumping on the bandwagon regarding banning texting while driving. A dozen states are proposing it right now. Something some of the high school kids I talked to today pointed out to me though, was that people have gotten really good at hiding texting. They could easily hide it below the steering wheel. Sounds even more dangerous, huh?
I think it would be hard to regulate legislation passed on texting while driving because you cannot see the act. Also it could be more dangerous to pass a law against it because like Stephanie was saying, people would find ways around the rule that would demand more of their attention, leaving less for the road.
Texting has become a very popular thing to do while driving. I have many friends that have been in car accidents because they were so into texting others.
I agree to you but here comes a new app with awesome features like text while driving. Listen to text messages and emails in real-time completely hands-free. One-touch activation and also no complicated setup.
drivesafe.ly
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