SENDING TEXT messages from your mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than climbing behind the wheel under the influence of drink or drugs, a study by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Britain has found.
The reaction times of people texting as they drove fell by 35 per cent, while those who had consumed the legal limit of alcohol, or taken cannabis, fell by 21 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. The study also found that the ability to stay in lanes or maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front was worse than for drivers under the influence of cannabis.
"This research demonstrates how dangerous it is to drive and text," said Nick Reed TRL senior human factors researcher.
He said drivers who texted were distractedby trying to read small text on the phone display and by thinking about how to write their message.
"This combinationresulted in impairments to reaction time and vehicle control that place the driver at a greater risk than having consumed alcohol," he added.
The TRL said that composing a text message behind the wheel took 63 seconds, in which time a car travels half a mile within town centre speed limits, and over a mile within motorway speed limits. Nearly half of all 18 to 24-year-olds admitted to texting as they drove, a separate survey by the RAC discovered.
The TRL study selected 17 people in the 18 to 24-year-old age group to take part in a simulated road test, in which they were read, wrote, and ignored texts on a variety of roads.
"The participants were almost unanimous in their view that drink-driving was the most dangerous action on the road," RAC director Stephen Glaister said.However, the research showed that texting is significantly more dangerous.
- Reuters