Study Reveals the Dangers of Texting While Driving
The following statistics come from a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI):
- Of all cell phone related tasks – including talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone – texting while driving is the most dangerous.
- Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near crash events directly related to talking on a cell phone or texting.
- A car driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.
- A driver reaching for a cell phone or any other electronic device is 1.4 times more likely to experience a car crash.
- A car driver talking on their phone is 1.3 times more likely to get into an accident.
- A truck driver texting while driving is 23.2 times more likely to get into an accident than a trucker paying full attention to the road.
- A truck driver dialing a cell is 5.9 times more likely to crash.
- A trucker reaching for a phone or other device is 6.7 times more likely to experience a truck accident.
- For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.
Texting While Driving Statistics
- About 6,000 deaths and a half a million injuries are caused by distracted drivers every year.
- While teenagers are texting, they spend about 10 percent of the time outside the driving lane they’re supposed to be in.
- Talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.
- Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. That is enough time to travel the length of a football field.