Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Driving Drunk?
In 2010, almost 4,000 people were killed in car accidents caused by distracted drivers. Distracted driving is an umbrella term that refers to any activity that distracts a motorist from safely operating a car. Texting while driving is one of the most common forms of distracted driving and is responsible for thousands of accidents, law suits and injuries across the United States every year. Some researchers believe that texting behind the wheel is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.
According to an experiment published by Car and Driver Magazine, texting behind the wheel impairs your ability to safely operate a vehicle in the same way that alcohol does. In fact, texting may be considered more dangerous that driving drunk. In one survey, drivers' response times were tested while unimpaired, legally drunk, reading an e-mail on their phones, and sending a text message. According to the experiment, unimpaired drivers take about. 54 seconds to hit the brake one they realize that they need to stop.
One the other hand, legally drunk drivers moving at 70 miles per hour takes another four feet to reach the brake pedal. A sober driver reading an email takes another 36 feet to reach the pedal and a texting motorist takes an additional 70 feet to hit the brake. Even still, texting while driving is socially acceptable and practiced regularly in the United States. 39 states have laws concerning texting while driving, and an additional five states have laws specifically geared towards new drivers and texting.
In Maine, New Hampshire and Utah, cell phone usages is only illegal if the driver commits another offense while using their phone. Why is texting while driving taken so seriously? When you operate a motor vehicle, you use your eyes, mind, arms, hands and feet. Reading or composing a text message requires the use of most of these faculties. In order to text, drivers take their eyes off the road, use at least one hand and have to think about what they are reading or writing instead of driving.
The results are similar to drunk driving, which also impairs your motor skills, vision and mental faculties. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drivers can be distracted in three ways: manually, visually and cognitively. Anything that takes your mind off the road, eyes off the road or hands off the wheel falls into one of these categories. Texting behind the wheel of a car impairs all three of these functions, making it a dangerous - even deadly - habit.
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