The Danger of Driving While Intexticated
NBC Los Angeles recently posted a video where texting while driving was put to the test. According to the video, law enforcement officers have a much harder time identifying drivers who text rather than drivers who talk on the phone.
The California Highway Patrol and San Jose police in that video say that texting while driving is extremely dangerous and it can only lead to accidents.
The stories of Amanda Martin, a 17-year old girl who died in a car accident because she was texting while driving on her way to school, and of the twenty-five people who died in a train when the operator texted, were both mentioned to emphasize the gravity of the problem.
Texting is more dangerous than talking on the phone because the driver’s eyes and attention is not on the road. The first driver who tried the exam, even at the speed of 10mph hit two cones while texting.
All the drivers hit cones and sent barely readable text messages. Most drivers spent more time looking at the phone than on the road. All drivers, including the reporter admitted to not being able both texting and driving well at the same time.
In the report, the officers even shared an amusing story of a man who used both hands to text and ended up driving with his knees, the police say that mixing texting and driving could cost the driver and other people their lives.
According to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, Over 600 billion text messages were sent in the United States in 2008. A lot of people think that texting while driving is harmless and that they could easily just snap their attention back to the road.
However, a lot of studies have shown that driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes and texting definitely, is a dangerous distraction. The dangers of text messaging while driving is already associated to driving while under the influence of alcohol—clearly, both are extremely risky driver behavior.
Text messaging is now banned for all drivers in 14 states and the District of Columbia. But just like the addiction of drinking while driving, texting while driving has proven to be a habit that’s just as hard to break.
With nearly 40 percent of drivers aged 30 and below who admitted that send or read text messages while driving, texting is indeed the new alcohol and the new killer on the road.
