Which driver are you?? The texting driver or the innocent victim?

Which driver are you?? The driver or the innocent victim?


Statistics show that sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of a football field while going 55 mph.  


As Wikipedia states: Texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the web on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Texting while driving is considered dangerous by many people, including authorities, and in some places has either been outlawed or restricted. A survey of more than 90 teens from more than 26 high schools nationwide conducted nationwide by Liberty Mutual Insurance Group in 2006 showed that 37% of students consider texting to be either "very" or "extremely" distracting. An American Automobile Association study showed that 47% of teens admitted to being distracted behind the wheel because of texting and 40% of American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger. A study involving commercial vehicle operators conducted in September 2009 concluded that though incidence of texting within their dataset was low, texting while driving increased the risk of accident  significantly.



Texting has become a social norm since the year 2000 because of the popularity of smartphones, which allow people to communicate faster and easier.^[3] There have been many studies that have linked texting while driving to be the cause of life-threatening accidents due to driver distraction. The International Telecommunication Union states that “texting, making calls, and other interaction with in-vehicle information and communication systems while driving is a serious source of driver distraction and increases the risk of traffic accidents”.^[3]


A 2010 experiment with Car and Driver magazine editor Eddie Alterman, which took place at a deserted air strip, showed that texting while driving had a worse impact on safety than if you were driving while intoxicated. While legally drunk, Alterman's stopping distance from 70 mph increased by 4 feet; by contrast, reading an e-mail added 36 feet, and sending a text added 70 feet.^[4] 
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