Drunk driving could be ‘safer’ than texting while driving, study says
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Everyone knows the law, though few of us abide. But the studies are rolling in and they’re saying texting while driving is not only illegal -- it’s dangerous.
Sure, you might object to the evidence: there have been few conclusive empirical studies about the dangersof texting while behind the wheel, but if it’s important enough for Obama to convene a national summit about it, perhaps it’s worthy of a closer look.
Texting, also known as SMS (short message service), refers to the 160-character messages sent and received on modern mobile phones.
A Car and Driver study released in June, although not the most academic (because of its very small sample size), nonetheless revealed results that will make you doubt your ability to text and drive carefully at the same time.
The study measured the reaction times of two different male test subjects (ages 22 and 37) texting while driving and again while intoxicated, to compare the two. When a red light mounted on the windshield at eye level lit up (like a car’s brake lights), the driver was to hit the brakes. A data logger recorded the test data. (See the article here for more of the study’s technical methods.)
The 22-year-old subject’s slowest reactions times driving at 35 mph while reading a text caused him to travel an extra 21 feet (more than a car length) beyond his baseline reaction time before hitting the brakes, and an extra 16 feet while writing a text. While reading a text and driving at 70 mph, the same subject traveled about 31 extra feet while typing. In comparison, he traveled half that -- 15 extra feet -- while drunk.
The 37-year-old subject wracked up far worse scores. Even during his bestreaction time while reading or texting, the subject traveled an extra 90 feet beyond his baseline performance. In the worst case, he went 319 feet farther down the road. That’s almost the length of a regulation football field.
Now, this is not merely a case of ageism -- the study is really just trying to show that no matter what age, even while using a phone familiar to them, and with no traffic, road signals, or pedestrians, drivers are seriously distracted when they are typing out a tiny 160-character message.
You might feel safe knowing that you only text when fully stopped at red lights. But in a Jan. 1 article about new California laws that issue fines to drivers who text while driving, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader reminded us that you can still get a citation even if your car isn’t moving.
The Car and Driver study also kindly reminds us that the results are by no means advocating drunk driving. “[The intoxicated results] only look better because the texting results are so horrendously bad.”
Let’s not wait until the accidents caused by texting while driving increase and force us to see that this phenomenon is as dangerous and unacceptable as driving while under the influence.
Choose safety first: Try new hands-free texting services, a nifty Bluetooth, or just plain pulling over to text.
-- Kelsey Ramos