The Hazards of Texting and Driving

The wonders of all those communication devices that fall under the general category of high technology have led to this — a study showing that texting while driving really is dangerous.

Parents and legislators have been trying to make the point that typing out text messages on a small screen while driving is dangerous. How can the driver keep his or her eyes on the road and on the message screen at the same time?

But now those parents and legislators and anyone else who wants to jump on the bandwagon to ban texting for all drivers — not just teenagers — can point to a study that confirms the hazards of the practice.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute at Blacksburg has found that texting while driving is actually far more dangerous than earlier studies have shown. Basically, the new study, the results of which were released last week, indicated that drivers sending or receiving text messages take their eyes off the road much longer than they do when talking or listening on their cell phones.

The institute used cameras to continuously observe light vehicle drivers and truckers for more than 6 million miles. It found that the collision risk for drivers of heavy trucks who sent text messages went up 23 times over those drivers who did not use texting devices.

Dialing a cell phone and using or reaching for an electronic device increased risk of collision about six times in cars and trucks.

Among other things found in the study was this little tidbit that those who do text behind the wheel should consider carefully: Right before a crash or near collision, drivers spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices. At 55 mph, that’s enough time to cover more than the length of a football field.

That means the vehicle on a busy highway is on autopilot for about 100 yards. That’s scary.

The institute study said that “talking/listening to a cell phone allowed drivers to maintain eyes on the road and were not associated with an increased safety risk to nearly the same degree” as drivers sending text messages.

So the bottom line for the study? “These results show conclusively that a real key to significantly improving safety is keeping your eyes on the road.”

Driving instructors and parents have preached that for years. But with the advent of cell phones, first, and the text messaging that has followed, keeping one’s eyes on the road doesn’t seem to carry the same importance.

It should. The institute recommended that texting should be banned for all drivers and all cell phone use should be prohibited for newly licensed teen drivers.

Fourteen states do ban texting while driving, which is the case for teens in Virginia under 18. The ban does not extend to drivers 18 and above, as it should.

In Virginia, it’s now illegal for drivers under the age of 18 to use a cell phone while driving, but the texting ban applies to all drivers, but only as a secondary offense.

Typing out a text message on a device with a small screen while driving has to distract the driver, making it extremely dangerous. A spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic has said emphatically that texting is different from talking on a cell phone and deserves special consideration.

“Texting belongs in its own category,” the spokesman for the travel agency said last year. “There is no place for driving and texting.”

He’s right. Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute should make its study available to every legislator before the next General Assembly session. That, at least, would make them aware of what they probably already know — that texting while driving is a deadly and serious practice and one that should be a primary, ticketable offense.