Dangers of Texting While Driving

We already know about the dangers of talking on cell phones while driving, and now there are many locations with heavy fines for doing this. At least the danger is strongest when holding the phone while driving. This is one reason to purchase the StarShine Hands Free Cell Phone Holder for your car. Now there is a further danger with texting, much worse than talking because the person is more distracted and more apt to cause an accident. Here's a recent survey taken by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada regarding the incidence of texting and driving among licensed Ontario students in grades 10 - 12, approximately 108,000 teens surveyed.

Dangers of Texting While Driving

The 2013 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey found that more than one-third of licensed Ontario students in Grades 10 to 12 — or an estimated 108,000 teens — reported having texted while driving at least once in the past year.

For Grade 12 students alone, 46 per cent of those who drive say they also texted at least once while operating a vehicle.

"This was a big surprise to us," said Robert Mann, a senior scientist at CAMH in Toronto. "We know that this is a very hazardous behaviour and some of the reports in the literature suggest that texting while you're driving can increase your chances of being involved in a collision by about 20 times or more.

"I think that texting is considered to be considerably hazardous because you have to actually type on the keyboard while you're driving," he said.

Such distracted driving is illegal across Canada, yet many adult and teen drivers continue to communicate by keyboard while in the driver's seat.

Yet the student surveys have found that the percentage of students who reported drinking and driving has declined dramatically over the past 20 years, he said.

To read more, click here.

Here is a video explaining this interesting survey and how the surveyors showed the teens the danger of their behavior.

While most of the "texters" are young people, it is becoming more popular as the communication is so instant yet stays recorded for those who are not "on message" (something like "online"). This is an important point. There is not need to instantly read and reply to a text message. It will be there when you are finished driving.