What are the Dangers of Texting and Driving?

Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous distracted driving actions you can perform, second to drinking and driving. However, most drivers are convinced that they can multitask well enough to text while operating a while, but that confidence has led to multiple accidents and deaths. Let’s take a look at how dangerous distracted driving really is for our wallets and lives.

What Makes Cell Phones Dangerous

Today’s cell phones are capable of more than just calling; they can be used for entertainment, pictures, navigation, texting, and more. Most people have their phones on them at all times.

Texting and driving is the most dangerous of these acts because a person would need to look away for at least 5 seconds to text, but it only takes 3 seconds to get into a car accident. At 55 mph, turning away from the road for 5 seconds is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field blindfolded, even if you constantly look up. Your brain can’t do both at once. 

Cell Phones Cover All Types of Distracted Driving

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that there are three types of distracted driving:

• Visual: Looking at a visual distraction, aka a video or notification on your cell phone.
• Manual: Taking your hands off the steering wheel, aka answering a text message.
• Cognitive: Thinking about anything that isn’t driving, aka if you should answer the phone.

Grabbing your cellphone guarantees that you’re both visually and manually distracted, but if you’re constantly thinking about answering a text, you can also be cognitively distracted. When your thoughts are preoccupied with something other than driving, you can’t focus on the road.

Crunching the Numbers: Demographics, Accidents, and Deaths

In the United States alone, distracted driving causes 2.5 million car crashes a year, 365 thousand injuries a day (that’s 1000 a day), and 3,285 deaths a day (9 a day). Most of these accidents would have been prevented if drivers kept their eyes on the road.

Most of these other accident statistics are even shocking and allude to the dangers of texting.

• 1 in 5 people involved in a distracted driving fatality were pedestrians.
• 15% of injury crashes result from distracted driving.
• However, 12% of all injury crashes resulted from cell phone use.
• The likelihood of a crash occurring rises 95% when reaching for a phone.
• Nearly 10% of drivers are currently using a cell phone while driving.

Teens Are the Most At-Risk Population

Teens between the ages of 16-19 are the most at risk of dying from distracted driving, regardless of the student’s GPA. Although their risk is high, most deaths from distracted driving are from experienced drivers ages 30-60 and not new drivers. Even though 39% of students send texts while driving, older drivers, who text less, die more frequently in accidents. 

Still, 7% of driving fatality victims are teenagers, and 25% of victims were between ages 20 and 29. No demographic is safe from a potential distracted driving crash, so drive safely.

Other Consequences of Texting and Driving

Even if you text and drive without hurting another person or another vehicle, there are still risks involved with reaching for your phone, like the following.

• Single-Vehicle Crashes: Distracted drivers can still crash their car into civilian or government property, which will require you to pay for damages. A single-vehicle accident can be fatal or cause serious injury.
• Expensive Tickets: Distracted driving tickets can be pricey, but what’s more costly is the rise in insurance premiums you’ll receive if you’re found to be a negligent driver.
• Insurance Premiums Rise: Your insurance rates will skyrocket from $87 to $762 a year.

Texting and driving is risky at best and lethal at worst. So, put your phone away to stay safe.