Quote:
Originally Posted by Windwalker
I don't know about any studies done as far as texting goes, but I have seen, recently (and I wish I could find the article), that there has been no change in hiway safety where cell phone use has been banned. It suggests that cell phones are not a hazard to safety on the hiway. (Or, it suggests that cell phones are still being used in spite of the law)
"University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer, in a study on cell phone use and auto accidents, said, "If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old who is not using a cell phone." Strayer's study was published in the quarterly journal Human Factors.
Each year, cell phone distraction while driving causes approximately 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States. Because data on cell phone use is somewhat limited, the actual numbers of deaths and injuries may be much higher. Strayer and his colleagues have found that even hands-free cell phone use distracts drivers. They explain that the drivers are looking but they're not really seeing because they are distracted by the conversation they are engaged in.
According to this study, scientists found that motorists talking on cell phones while driving are less adept than drunk drivers with blood alcohol levels beyond the legal limit of .08. The cell phone users' impaired reactions involved seconds, not just fractions of seconds, so stopping distances increased by car-lengths, not feet."
see: Helping us to Drive Safely - Stop Texting While Driving - Cell Phones Becoming Common Road Hazard
Even the Mythbusters showed the problem of driving and the cell phone in Episode 33.
I'm sure someone would say driving while using a cell phones but I think the studies have proven it isn't true.
kc0iv