New York Injury Lawyer Warns Against the Grave danger of Texting and Driving

Texting and Driving- The Dangers Are Not Worth The Risk

Hazards of Texting While Driving

While driving recently, I caught myself trying to answer an e-mail on my cell phone that I thought, at the time, was urgent. As I was attempting to type a response, shifting my attention from the road, to my Blackberry, and back to the road again, the incredible stupidity of what I was doing struck me.

The National Highway Safety Administration recently reported that almost 80% of all auto crashes are caused by distracted drivers. Further, 37% of teens in a recent study rated texting while driving as “extremely” distracting or “very” distracting, yet over 90% of all teens do so.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of the Kings' Daughters in Norfolk, driving while text messaging or fiddling with an MP3 player is an even greater hazard than talking on a cell phone while driving.

In the study, the researchers had 21 teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 take part in a series of simulated driving experiments. Donald Lewis, MD, chief of Eastern Virginia Medical School's department of pediatrics and co-researcher, said that each teen was asked to get behind the wheel of a simulated vehicle and drive through simulated scenery, in rural, then urban, settings, in 10-minute intervals.

The participants were first asked to drive with no distractions involved. Afterward, they were asked to drive through the same scenes again, but text messaging, talking on the cell phone, and, finally, operating an MP3 player. Lewis said the findings did not surprise the researchers, but referred to them as "frightening."

In the tests involving distractions that required finger movement, the participants steered the virtual vehicles erratically, weaving in and out of lanes and running over virtual people. Lewis said that the worst driving came when the participants were text messaging, likely due to being required to look down in addition to moving their fingers.

A recent American Automobile Association study said that people text messaging while driving increases the risk of an accident by 50 percent. Some states have banned texting while driving and Lewis says he believes they all should.

In my view, it's time to ban the use of all electronic devices by drivers. Yes, that includes cell phones. I’m not big into government intervention in our private lives, but something has got to be done. Unfortunately, it won’t happen anytime soon in the dysfunctional state of New York. The stalemate in the New York State Senate at the time of this writing will likely prohibit consideration of a bill pending that would outlaw texting while driving. Over in the state Assembly, the bill will not likely make it to the floor there, either, even though Rochester’s own David Gantt is chair of the Transportation Committee. In the meantime, set a good example and keep that cell phone off while your behind the wheel.


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