Texting while driving: study suggests riskier than drinking & driving

[alexmst]

Helen Nugent, London Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article4776063.ece


Texting while driving is riskier than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a study has suggested.

The Transport Research Laboratory found that motorists who use their mobile phone to send text messages while on the road dramatically increase the likelihood of collision.

Their reaction times deteriorated by 35 per cent, much worse than those who drank alcohol at the legal limit, who were 12 per cent slower, or those who had taken cannabis, who were 21 per cent slower.

In addition, drivers who sent or read text messages were more prone to drift out of their lane, the research found, with steering control by texters 91 per cent poorer than that of drivers devoting their full concentration to the road.

This compared with a decline of 35 per cent by drivers under the influence of cannabis. The ability to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front also fell.

The RAC Foundation said that nearly half of British drivers aged between 18 and 24 admitted to texting on the roads.

 

[JohnLarue]

Some nit-witt broad came within inches of running me over while she was dicking around with her f##king cell phone and turning a corner at the same time. I was on my bicycle and had the right of way.
She did not see me and still does not know how close she came to turning me into road pizza as she continued on her merry way driving and texting

An experienced driver with a couple of drinks in him is less of a hazard than a dipstick woman with a cell phone in her hand

 

[smiley1437]

I was going up the DVP about 4 weeks ago just past Bloor and some SUV was slowly weaving back and forth in the slow lane, doing about 65 kph in a 90 zone

Gave wide berth and passed him and noticed he was looking at the centre of his steering wheel and had both hands texting and was steering with the back of his wrists.

I don't like to wish ill on others, but there's a part of me that hopes he Darwin's himself without taking anyone else out.

 

[serviceman]

...and it's idiots who do things like texting & driving that make our politicians & police think that banning all electronics in cars is a necessary action to protect the public.
Did they really need to do a study to see exactly how dangerous texting & driving is, come on people, let's try thinking for a change.

What about eating, tuning the radio, changing a CD, applying makeup, highway head, etc, etc. there are loads of distractions for drivers aside from cell phones. Maybe people should concentrate on driving. Maybe?

 

[alexmst]

It already is illegal in Britain to use a cell phone or MP3 or GPS while driving. The "almost half of drivers 18-24 who text while driving" is after it became illegal to do so. Before it was illegal the number was probably higher.

"the penalty (in UK) for illegally using a mobile [phone] when driving is three points and a £60 fine."

I was driving a friend's new Jag last week (UK made) and the GPS entry screen locks out input when the car is moving, unlocking when you stop at a traffic light. I guess this is to comply with the "no entering addresses into the GPS while driving rule" in the UK. I drove him home because he was too tipsy to do so himself. My GPS in my car has no such moving vehicle lock out.

While I avoid texting in the car, getting a text to alert me of a change in plans from an indy SP before I arrive/pay to park is something I find useful.

 

[oldjones]

Well, duh! Another self-evident truth confirmed.

 

[Esco!]

Probe confirms train engineer's texting on the job

The Metrolink train engineer involved in last week's fatal collision near Los Angeles sent text messages from his cell phone while on the job, investigators said, although it was unclear whether he was doing so at the time of the crash.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/18/train.collision/index.html

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking into claims that the engineer, 46-year-old Robert Sanchez, was sending text messages to two teenagers on Friday when his commuter train slammed into a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, killing two dozen people, including himself.

Investigators subpoenaed the phone records of the engineer and determined that he "had sent and received text messages on the day of the accident, including some while he was on duty," according to an NTSB statement Wednesday.

Investigators were still trying to determine at what time the messages were sent.

The NTSB already had determined that the brakes on the Metrolink train were not applied before the collision and that stop signals at the scene were working properly, said Kitty Higgins, an NTSB member assigned to the probe. Metrolink has said its train, carrying about 220 passengers, failed to stop for a red signal.

Twenty-four bodies were found at the scene after the head-on collision during rush hour Friday in the northwest Los Angeles suburb. A 25th victim, a man in his 50s, died later at a hospital. More than 130 people were injured.

 

[oldjones]

Why not require cell phone jammers in every car, hooked into the odometer? Wheels turning=no phone.