Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drinking and Driving?

You're driving on the highway and your phone lights up. You have a text from your friend. What do you do? Your first reaction is to see what it says. A ton of people, mostly young adults and teens, aren't thinking of the consequences and dangers involved when texting while driving. It doesn't really sink in until something happens to you or a close family or friend.

A solution that could help the problem is to get a car with Bluetooth capability, or buy one at a store. Best Buy has the kind that you can put on your car visor that works real well for $80. Click here to check it out.

Not only is Bluetooth convenient and cool, it’s also a major safety feature as well. Texting while driving increases the risk of a crash much more than previous studies have shown with motorists taking their eyes off the road longer than they do when talking or listening on their cell phones.

The Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction with cell phones and texting. Driver distraction was involved in 16% of all fatal crashes in 2009. Dialing a cell phone and using or reaching for an electronic device increased risk of collision about 6 times in cars and trucks.

According to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction. The distraction occurred within three seconds before the vehicle crash!

On any given day last year, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a handheld cell phone during the day. The greatest proportion of distracted drivers were those age 20 and under. Twenty four states have already passed laws to make texting illegal while driving.

Think next time before you text in the car, it may save your life or someone elses!

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