Text Messaging While Driving Raises Accident Risk 23 Times: Study

While theories about the effects of text messaging on driving ability abound, large-scale, real-life studies have not. However, a new real-life study, released Tuesday by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), shows that things are worse than we thought: text messaging results in a risk of accident or near-accident that is 23.2 times as high as non‐distracted driving.

Incidents like the Metrolink train disaster from last year and a recent Boston trolley crash highlight the dangers of operating any vehicle while text messaging. However, the attention drawn to these incidents occurs becuase of the sheer number of people involved; that same concern is lost when people think of SMS and driving.

This study did not using driving simulators. Instead, the report studied what it called "naturalistic driving behavior," in real-life situations (in other words, real drivings hooked up with cameras and sensors in actual vehicles).

The results, as noted in a press release, study both light vehicles / cars and heavy vehicles / trucks. In both cases, tasks such as dialing or talking increased the risk of an accident, though generally more with heavy vehicles, possibly due increased stopping distance and reduced maneuverability.

The VTTI's study made the following recommendations:

• Driving is a visual task and non‐driving activities that draw the driver’s eyes away from the roadway, such as texting and dialing, should always be avoided.

• Texting should be banned in moving vehicles for all drivers ... this cell phone task has the potential to create a true crash epidemic if texting‐type tasks continue to grow in popularity and the generation of frequent text message senders reach driving age in large numbers.

• “Headset” cell phone use is not substantially safer than “hand‐held” use because the primary risk is associated with both tasks is answering, dialing, and other tasks that require your eyes to be off the road. In contrast, “true hands‐free” phone use, such as voice activated systems, are less risky if they are designed well enough so the driver does not have to take their eyes off the road often or for long periods.

• All cell phone use should be banned for newly licensed teen drivers. Our research has shown that teens tend to engage in cell phone tasks much more frequently, and in much more risky situations, than adults. Thus, our studies indicate that teens are four times more likely to get into a related crash or near crash event than their adult counterparts.

There have been other studies in the past using simulators. A prior University of Utah study showed driving degraded on a level on par with a BAC of 0.08, which is the legal limit in many states.

Thirty-six states have no text messaging while driving ban. Those that do frequently have "slap on the wrist" fines such as California's, which is $20 for the first offense, and $50 for the subsequent offenses.

Bottom line, according to Tom Dingus, director of the VTTI:

“You should never do this (text while driving). It should be illegal.”