When people get behind the wheels of motor vehicles, they are taking on a big responsibility. Not only do they need to make decisions that keep them safe, but they have to do the same on behalf of other drivers.
Driving while texting remains a major problem throughout the United States, despite the fact that most states have strict laws in place in an attempt to protect against this dangerous activity.
The State University of New York, citing a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, notes that driving while texting is six times more dangerous than driving under the influence. The reason for this is that receiving or sending a text means that the driver will take his or her eyes away from the road. Doing so for an average of 4.6 seconds, while traveling 55 mph, is the equivalent of navigating the road for 100 yards with a blindfold on.
Even more alarming is the following: A Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study shows that 330,000 people are injured and 3,000 people are killed as the result of texting in vehicles every year.
At this point, most people, including law enforcement agencies, are more than aware of the dangers associated with texting and driving as well as other types of distractions. Even so, technology continues to take precedence over safety in many cases. This results in people who put their life at risk in the hope of communicating with another party. As the statistics show, this can end in an accident that causes injury or death, along with long term financial consequences.
