Adrian Herrera
A Virginia Tech study reported that drivers who text message while driving are 23 times more likely to be in an accident than those who do not text.
Even though driving and texting does increase the chances of an accident, drunk driving is a proven killer, taking more lives yearly and injuring more people than anything related to texting or driving. If you’ve been involved in an accident that has caused you an injury then you might be interested in getting a lawyer (such as this Personal Injury Lawyer in St. Louis) to help you with your case (if you do decide to file a lawsuit for your accident).
Around 40 percent of all vehicle fatalities are alcohol related, and around 11,700 people died in drunk driving-related crashes in 2008, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Another 500,000 were injured.
Texting while driving does not cause a physical impairment like alcohol does. Texting causes a distraction, makes the driver lose focus, but that focus can be regained almost immediately. However, texting and driving is still a very dangerous technique to practice and is the cause of many car crashes. Anyone driving a car should have cheap car insurance uk to ensure they’re protected in an event of a crash. It’s illegal to drive without car insurance and you can get in serious trouble if you don’t have it. Concerns over this sort of incident is what makes many people invest in dash cams from places like BlackBoxMyCar for their vehicle.
What alcohol does is impair the driver to the point where they cannot make the right judgement in any given situation, regardless. And that is something that texting while driving does not do to a driver.
At any point, a driver can put his or her cell phone down and pay complete attention to the road. An intoxicated person does not have that privilege, because once they are drunk, they are drunk, and there are not many ways to get around it.
Drivers face many distractions and situations on the road that can make them lose focus, including eating, applying makeup, talking to passengers, looking at a billboard or singing along on the radio.
Although these distractions can be risky, they are situations many drivers encounter on a daily basis.
While these are all distractions like texting, they are not physical impairments.
All drivers are different, not any two are alike.
Driver A might feel comfortable sending a text message while at a stop light or in traffic while Driver B might be comfortable chowing down a Big Mac and a soft drink while driving. And although unsafe, these are daily activities that many drivers practice.
A recent survey has shown that nearly 50 percent of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 text while driving and that one-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States also text while driving.
Many States have passed legislation to ban texting while driving, like California, but that has not stopped the texting generation.
Today, the use of cell phones has become an extension of our own human hand, making it seem simple and natural. Many people can even send text messages without staring at their phone.
Cell phones such as the Blackberry give their users a 35-key keyboard that makes text messaging simpler than ever.
And although the dangers of text messaging still lurk, it is in no way more dangerous than drinking and driving.
“I am not going to lie, I text while I drive sometimes. It’s kind of easy,” said 22-year-old Pierce College student Rene Moreno. “But drinking and driving, never, that’s like wishing my own death.”
—
aherrera.roundupnews@gmail.com
Adrian Herrera / Roundup Staff Writer (Gerard Walsh)
