Dangers of Texting While Driving

The popularity of cell phone use to text, instant messaging someone when away from a computer, has increased significantly over the past decade. Today’s new driver has grown up with the convenience of a cell phone to text friends and update parents about their whereabouts. As a young driver becomes more comfortable with the technicalities of driving a vehicle, their confidence in their ability to drive with the distraction of texting unfortunately increases.

Just as the convenience of cells phones has changed everyday life, the dangers of their use while driving have also increased significantly. The statistics speak for themselves:

·         Annually, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone use.

·         50% of drivers between 18 and 24 text while driving

·         Over 33% of drivers aged 24 and under text while driving

·         Teens admit that texting while driving is their number one distraction

Accidents involving texting distractions are not limited to teenagers and/or young drivers. Adults are just as easily distracted:

·         20% of adult drivers in the United States alone admit to texting while driving

·         Studies indicate that texting while driving increases the amount of time a driver’s eyes are off the road by 400%.

While the statistics speak for themselves, there is a science behind a diver’s inability to maintain concentration on the road and text at the same time. It is called inattention blindness, or perceptual blindness. This “blindness” is the mind’s inability to perceive that which is in plain sight. While humankind can multi-task in a variety of ways, our mind is unable to sharply concentrate on each of these tasks. Humans have a limited capacity for attention which limits the amount of information processed at any one time.

Research indicates that a driver who texts while driving may not register objects in their line of sight, a stop sign or pedestrian for example. In addition to this, the driver loses his/her peripheral vision has more reliance on tunnel vision.

To illustrate how widespread this issue is, the JAN.18.2010 airing of Oprah had texting while driving as the theme of her show. In an effort to reduce the number of accidents that have occurred as a result of driving and texting, the head of the national Transportation Safety Board has prohibited the use of cell phones in government vehicles. An additional 500 companies nationwide have imposed a similar ban.

Furthermore, the Governor’s Highway Association indicates that 19 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam now ban text messaging for all drivers.  Nine states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers. Only one state restricts the use of text messaging by bus drivers.

Until more states establish laws prohibiting drivers from texting while driving, vehicular accidents caused by a driver’s distraction due to texting will continue to rise. For additional information on the dangers of texting while driving and what recourse you have if you or a loved one has been affected by someone else’s distraction while driving, please confer with an attorney.