Stats on Texting and Driving

Walt Mueller:

I went on to our CPYU Digital Kids Initiative site this morning to look over ourdownloadable handout on "Texting While Driving." Give it a look. Download it. Pass it around. The handout includes these alarming facts: 

Cell Phones, Texting and Driving at a Glance:

• More than 4 out of 5 teen drivers admit to using their cell phone while driving.
• Research shows that hands-free cell phone use while driving is no less dangerous than using a hand-held phone. It's the conversation - not the type of device - that's the distraction.
• Over half of all teen drivers admit to texting or emailing while driving. Teenage and young adult drivers are the age group most likely to send a text or read an email while driving.
• Teens say that texting is the number one driving distraction.
• Texting and driving is a form of distraction. Almost 80 percent of all vehicle crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some type of driver inattention or distraction during the three seconds before the crash or near-crash.
• Talking on a cell phone while driving impairs drivers at a rate equal to a blood-alcohol level of 0.08.
• The National Safety Council estimates that at least 200,000 crashes a year are caused by texting and driving.
• Texting while driving results in 330,000 distracted driving injuries a year.
• About 6,000 people a year die as a result of using their phone while driving.

When You Text and Drive:

• You are four times more likely to cause an accident than when you drive drunk or talk on a cell phone.
• You are 23 times more likely to crash.
• You are taking your eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that equals driving the length of a football field while wearing a blindfold.
• Your response time diminishes greatly. The average time it takes a drunk driver to respond and apply the brakes is 4 times more than normal. The average time it takes a texting driver to respond and apply the brakes is 40 times more than normal. Still, most young drivers view texting and driving as less dangerous than drunk driving.
• You risk injuring/killing yourself and others. It results in car crashes that kill an average of 11 teenagers a day.