A report in India's IBN Live says that in the U.S., texting kills 5,000 people a year, mostly younger drivers. The article quotes a study made in 2009 that says that those driving larger vehicles and trucks while texting are 23 times more likely to end up in a crash than non-distracted drivers. What makes thaty stat so shocking is that most truck drivers are professionals and if texting can through them off, imagine what it does to a teenager. According to Uvid Hosansky, a Environmental Researcher who wrote a study on the problem, "Texting drivers took their eyes off the road for each text an average of 4.6 seconds, which at 55 mph means they were driving the length of a football field without looking."
Reminders on the road
Part of the danger of texting while operating a vehicle is getting your imagination to distract you. While talking to a passenger in your car while driving might be a bit distracting, texting requires you to use "additional resources" while in conversation, including your mind making a visual image of the person on the other end of your texts. And the problem extends beyond the use of a handset as car manufacturers are adding GPS, browsers and other technology to the dashboard, all of which can help a driver lose his concentration.
Still, mobile phones get the biggest blame as the NTSB in the States said that 16% of all drivers younger than 20 involved in a fatal car crash were distracted by texting and/or making a call on a cell phone. The 16% is the highest percentage of any age group. And if it isn't texting, it's opening an app while driving.
"Although some people may think they can safely talk and drive, researchers who observe people in driving simulators as well as in actual cars on the road find that a cell phone conversation will invariably intrude on a driver's attentiveness."-Uvid Hosansky, Environmental researcher
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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