You probably remember hearing the news about these two fatal accidents. On June 28, 2007 four teenage girls died in a head-on collision with a tractor/trailer rig in western New York state when their SUV crossed the line into oncoming traffic. On September 12, 2008 25 were killed and 135 injured when a Los Angeles Metrolink commuter train operator drove through a red light and collided with a freight train. You probably also remember another detail about these accidents: both drivers had been sending text messages up to the moment they died. A Virginia Tech study now pinpoints the risks of texting while driving. The bottom line: if you want to live and don't want to kill anyone else, you should never text while in control of a vehicle.
In the VT study, cabs of long haul trucks were fitted with video equipment and the drivers were monitored over an 18-month period. Text messaging while driving is currently illegal in only 14 states. In the other 36, drivers can text all they want. The truckers were tracked for a total of 3 million miles. The results? The collision risk was 23 times greater when the drivers were texting than when they were not. By comparison, other studies estimate the risk of a collision is four times higher than normal when a driver is drunk or talking on a cell phone.
The AAA has polling data that shows "87% of people consider drivers texting or e-mailing a 'very serious' safety threat (roughly equal to the 90% who consider drunken drivers a threat.)" Yet though 2,501 drivers surveyed this spring said "that texting was unacceptable behavior" 21% said they had texted or e-mailed behind the wheel recently themselves. The behavior is disproportionally common among the young. Nearly half the drivers 16 to 24 years old said they had done so, while only 22% of the 35-44 age group had.
It is obvious that reading or composing copy is a huge distraction for someone trying to operate a motor vehicle, with all the split-second judgments and reactions that activity entails. Now you know just how hazardous it is. For all our sakes, be smart and don't do it. If you just can't wait until the end of your trip to read a message or write one, pull over. The few seconds you spend may literally save your life.
1 comment:
And amazingly, when California passed the hands free policy on cell phones, it did NOT cover texting. A separate law had to be implemented a year later to cover no texting.
Now the obvious question comes to mind is, how can someone text if the law says you're supposed to be hands free? I don't get it.
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