Effective today, it is illegal to send text messages and a secondary offense to receive text messages or emails while operating a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Bout time, I say. Texting and driving is about as irresponsible and reprehensible as driving while intoxicated.
According to research conducted recently by textfreedriving.org, 57 percent of drivers admit to texting while driving, with the most active texters being 16- to 17-year-olds. That group has long led the nation in fatal car crashes, even before the prevalence of cell phones and texting capability.
While anyone with half a brain must assume texting while driving impairs the driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely, Car and Driver magazine decided to test if texting while driving is a dangerous idea.
In its August 2009 issue, Car and Driver says that previous academic studies, conducted in vehicle simulators, have shown that texting while driving impairs the driver’s abilities. But as far as Car and Driver knows, no studies have been conducted in a real vehicle that is being driven.
Further, Car and Driver decided to compare results of driving while texting to the effects of drunk driving on the same day and under the exact same conditions. The magazine decided to focus solely on the driver’s reaction times to a light mounted on the windshield at eye level, meant to simulate the brake lights of a car ahead.
The magazine rented an airport runway in Michigan. Test subjects were required to use devices with full “qwerty” keyboards commonly in use today. The test vehicle was a Honda Pilot SUV.
Test subjects were chosen to represent different age groups. One was a 22 year old armed with an iPhone. The other (there were only two) was 37 years old and used a Samsung Alias. A person rode along with each test subject and activated the red light, then recorded results using some sophisticated test equipment.
The reaction times of the subjects were first tested at 35 mph and 70 mph to get a baseline, then tested while they read aloud a text message. That was followed by a test in which the drivers typed that same text message while driving.
Anyone familiar with Car and Driver magazine knows that it can be highly irreverent. The next “test” shows us how zany these guys can get. They had the test drivers get slightly intoxicated drinking vodka and orange juice. They blew into a breath-alcohol analyzer until they reached the legal driving limit, then they ran the same brake light test at the speeds specified in the text messaging test.
The results? Without citing all the specific numbers, suffice it to say that reaction times while driving and texting were terrible. For example, in the younger subject’s slowest reaction time at 35 mph, he traveled an extra 21 feet while reading before hitting the brakes and 16 feet longer while texting. The older guy did worse in the text test at the same speed, traveling an extra 45 and 41 feet respectively before hitting the brakes.
Shockingly, the intoxicated numbers were better than the texting numbers, but Car and Driver says they only look better because the texting numbers were bloody awful.
The moral is clear: texting and driving is dangerous. Thankfully, Virginia recognized this and took action. Now we’ll see how enforcement goes.
WordSpy (www.wordspy.com) coined (or at least reports) “intextication” to mean “preoccupied by reading or sending text messages, particularly while driving a car.” It cites a British study that finds intexticated drivers are worse than intoxicated ones.
Just when you think humans could not possibly get any dumber!
I live in New Jersey where texting has also been banned. New Jersey has enforced a handheld cell phone ban for all drivers, which means an officer may ticket anyone who is using a handheld cell phone while driving. It has been encouraged that people purchase blue-tooth devices to allow them to make phone calls while on the road. I personally have not given blue-tooths a try, but my mother has. I give her props for being safe while driving, but the majority of the time she gets so annoyed with her blue-tooth. The complications she has run into with it often results in her ripping it out and calling me back on her cell phone.
Even though it is illegal to talk on the phone while driving, this past summer I was ignoring the rule. As I was pulling out of my gym’s parking lot, I went to dial my mother. Before I even hit send, I passed a cop who had pulled over another car. My first reaction was to put down my phone in my lap while I drove by. After the police car was out of sight, I picked it back up and made the phone call. A few minutes after my call had ended I caught flashing lights in my rearview mirror. I pulled off to the side to let the cop car pass me. Instead of zooming around me, it braked and pulled off to the shoulder behind me.
It ended up that the police officer has seen me holding my phone when he had the other car pulled over a few miles back. After hunting me down and reprimanding me, I was let go with a warning.
Yes, I was doing something wrong and I was lucky enough not to get in an accident or get a ticket. This had been my warning. I had gotten lucky, but it might not be like that again.
We all know that using your cell phone while driving is dangerous and now illegal in some states. But people never think it will happen to them. Even will laws, people continue to text or talk on the phone while driving. If they haven’t gotten a ticket for it or been in an accident, they often don’t see the need to change their bad habits.
The British PSA that high school students made to discourage people from texting while driving has probably had the most impact on drivers who use their phones. If you haven’t seen it, check it out on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ukd7xTQ9g). Five people are killed, including a baby, in a three-car collision resulting from the driver of one car texting and not paying attention to the road. The graphic five minute commercial presented a powerful and unforgettable message. Not aired long on television, this PSA has become popular through YouTube. Teens are a hard group to reach because they think they are in invincible. I think this commercial is the closest thing that can bring teens and other age groups to realize the serious dangers of texting while driving. Enforcement of the law has been in place, but it is impossible to catch everyone. Hopefully this PSA will get around and have an impact on people to change their driving habits. I know it has changed mine.