Another s/o on texting and driving

epphd · August 2009

I managed to track down the study that indicated that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving while drunk. For those of you who think that the laws governing texting while driving are too harsh, do you feel the same way about drunk driving? Should we reduce the penalties there?

https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/texting-is-more-dangerous-than-driving-drunk/

Texting Is More Dangerous Than Driving Drunk

By Richard S. Chang

There have been studies that compare text messaging on cellphones and other hand-held devices to driving drunk. And several states have already banned texting while driving. But according to Car and Driver, no one has done a real-world test ? until now.

In an article that appears in the current issue of the magazine, the editors hooked up a Honda Pilot with a red light on the windshield. Car & Driver?s editor and chief, Eddie Alterman, 37, and the magazine?s intern, Jordan Brown, 22, both took turns behind the wheel on a test track. When the light came on, the drivers hit the brakes.

From Car and Driver:

First, we tested both drivers? reaction times at 35 m.p.h. and 70 m.p.h. to get baseline readings. Then we repeated the driving procedure while they read a text message aloud (a series of Caddyshack quotes). This was followed by a trial with the drivers typing the same message they had just received. Both of our lab rats were instructed to use their phones exactly as they would on a public road, which, if Jordan?s mom or Eddie?s wife are reading this, they never do.

Our test subjects then got out of the vehicle and concentrated on getting slightly intoxicated. They wanted something that would work quickly: screwdrivers (vodka and orange juice). Between the two of them, they knocked back all but three ounces of a fifth of Smirnoff. Soon they were laughing at all our jokes, asking for cigarettes, and telling us about some previous time they got drunk that was totally awesome. We had them blow into a Lifeloc FC10 breath-alcohol analyzer until they reached the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content. We then put them behind the wheel and ran the light-and-brake test without any texting distraction.

Car and Driver performed each test five times, dropping the slowest time. The magazine found that reaction time was much worse for both drivers when they were texting while driving than when they were under the influence of alcohol.

At 35 miles an hour, Mr. Alterman?s average reaction time was .57 seconds, but while texting it rose to 1.36 seconds, more than twice his average reaction time of .64 seconds while under the influence. Mr. Brown fared better, but his average reaction time of .45 seconds rose to .52 seconds while texting, worse than his average time of .46 seconds while driving drunk.

The results of the tests at 70 miles an hour were better in terms of reaction times. But at highway speeds, the extra distance traveled before coming to a complete stop was much greater. For example, Mr. Alterman traveled an average of four feet farther while driving drunk and an average of 70 feet farther while texting.

?The prognosis doesn?t improve when you look at the limitations of our test,? writes Mike Austin, the author of the Car and Driver article. ?We were using a straight road without any traffic, road signals, or pedestrians, and we were only looking at reaction times.?

coolmama2009 · August 2009

i'm going to duck and hide now. AND stop texting.

Alex17 · August 2009

I'm sorry, but if you think texting and driving is not dangerous you are an idiot. NFT.

epphd · August 2009

coolmama2009:
i'm going to duck and hide now. AND stop texting.

Yes yea!

kkfeb04 · August 2009

Thank you for posting this. My biggest pet peeve is texting/talking on cell phones while driving. I can't tell you how many near misses I've had because of morons on their phones. This is one of the major reasons why I don't have a cell phone. I can be at home from work in 5-10 minutes. I understand why some people need them. But there are far more others that don't NEED them, they WANT them.

murfygirl · August 2009

Move to CA its illegal! We can talk on the phone so long as we use a hands free device. AND whats crazy is I have noticed that 90% of the time when someone is driving terrible they are talking on their cell phone without their blue tooth

aocain02@yahoo.com · August 2009

murfygirl:
Move to CA its illegal! We can talk on the phone so long as we use a hands free device. AND whats crazy is I have noticed that 90% of the time when someone is driving terrible they are talking on their cell phone without their blue tooth

Have you noticed that more and more people are holding their phones again? Drives me nuts! I'm just spoiled having a car with a built in blue tooth though.

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