Driving While Intexticated – The Dangers of Texting and Driving

Texting and driving do not mix. Similar to drinking and driving, people still continue to do it even thought they know that its dangerous. Did you know that 1 out of every 4 car accidents involves cell phone usage?

· It takes a minimum of 5 seconds of your time to look at your phone which means 5+ seconds of time that you are not paying attention to driving. If you are going 55 miles per hours – that means you just drove across a football field without looking.
· Dialing, reaching for your phone and talking are all activities that increase your chance of being in an accident by two or three times. However, texting is the worst. It makes a crash 23x more likely to occur!
· Almost 15% of drivers who are ages 18-20 and are involved in car wrecks admit to using a cell phone at the time of the crash. (At least half of the other 85% are simply not admitting that they were using the phone.) 82% of Americans who are 16 and 17 years old own cell phones – and a third of these kids say they have texted while driving.

· Texting and driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
· One of the most disturbing statistics, in my book, is that 75% of young adults believe that they are good enough drivers safely text while driving.
· 50% of young drivers see their parents drive while using a cell phone.
· One in five adults have admitted to “surfing the web” while driving.

Is texting and driving worth the risK?

The good news is that 94% of drivers support a ban on texting and driving. 74% support a ban on hand-held cell phone use. Although an increasing number of states are placing restrictions on cell phone usage, Missouri has no law regarding the use of cell phones while driving. The state does, however, ban texting for 21 years of age or younger. Illinois bans the use of hand-held devices while driving and all Illinois drivers are prohibited from texting (other than for the sole purpose of reporting an emergency situation).