Florida To Ban Texting While Driving
All forms of distractions while driving have potential deleterious effects on drivers, passengers and pedestrians, but texting by far is the worst because it requires one’s manual, visual and mental attention simultaneously. In the Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s 2011 report, “Distracted Driving: What Research Shows and What States Can Do,” at least one driver was reported as distracted in 15 to 30 percent of crashes. Texting was found to increase the risk of crashing more than other cellphone use; in fact, text messaging has been found to increase the risk of crashing 23 times when compared with driving without distractions.
Other disturbing statistics that support a ban for driving while texting include:
- Forty percent of teens have been in a car when a driver used a cellphone in a dangerous manner.
- Twenty-six percent of teens of driving age have texted while driving.
- Forty-eight percent of all teens ages 12 to 17 have experienced drivers texting behind the wheel.
- Text messaging distracts a driver’s attention from the road an average of 4.6 seconds; if driving at 55 mph, that’s the equivalent of driving the length of a football field blind.
- Driving while using a cellphone reduces brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.
Read the text of the bills here:
