Texting puts drivers at serious risk, study finds

There is more evidence that using a cellphone while driving puts motorists at high risk of getting into an accident.

Particularly if they’re sending or receiving text messages, which a new study says is the most dangerous threat to drivers since alcohol.

A driver is 23 times more likely to get into a car accident if they text when they are behind the wheel of their vehicle, according to research conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).

In fact, text messaging forced the driver’s eyes away from the road for the longest period of time — about 4.6 seconds over a six-second interval.

“This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the roadway,” the study concludes.

The report, released Tuesday, found that drivers who operate heavier vehicles or trucks are most at risk from driving distractions. For example, these drivers were nearly 6 times more likely to crash while dialing on a cell phone. Meanwhile, motorists operating a smaller vehicle are only three times more likely to get into an accident.

Using or reaching for an electronic device was associated with a 6.7 times increased risk for a crash or near crash.

The findings were based on a large-scale, naturalistic driving study which used cameras and other instruments in the personal vehicles of participants. The study monitored eye movements to determine how long an activity kept a person’s eyes away from the road.

“Given recent catastrophic crash events and disturbing trends, there is an alarming amount of misinformation and confusion regarding cellphone and texting use while behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Tom Dingus, director of the VTTI, said in a statement.

“The findings from our research at VTTI can help begin to clear up these misconceptions as it is based on real-world driving data.”

The study says that other published reports have exaggerated the dangers of talking while driving.

“Talking and listening to a cell phone is not nearly as risky as driving while drunk at the legal limit of alcohol,” the study says, pointing out that drunk driving puts drivers seven times more at risk of getting into a fatal accident.

“Using simple fatal crash and phone use statistics, if talking on cell phones was as risky as driving while drunk, the number of fatal crashes would have increased roughly 50% in the last decade instead of remaining largely unchanged.”

The study makes several recommendations to drivers and law enforcement agencies such as:

* Banning texting in all moving vehicles
* Using a “true hands-free” system where voice-activation is used to control cell phones
* Avoiding all activities that draw a driver’s eyes away from the roadway
* Banning all cell phone used for newly-licensed teen drivers

“Our research has shown that teens tend to engage in cell phone tasks much more frequently and in much more risky situations than adults,” the study says. “Our studies indicate that teens are four times more likely to get into a related crash or near crash event than their adult counterparts.”

The study also notes that teens are the most frequent senders of text messages and will reach the driving age in large numbers.

The study, authored by Dr. Rich Hanowski, will be presented at the First International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention in Sweden on September 28 and 29.

The data was collected from video cameras in the cabs of long-haul trucks that were monitored for 18 months, and comes on the heels of a number of high-profile accidents that were blamed on texting.

Past incidents

Last fall, investigators in Los Angeles found that a commuter train engineer sent a text message 22 seconds before the train crashed head-on into a freight train, killing 25 people.

The crash occurred after the train ran a red signal as it travelled through the San Fernando Valley. The incident was the deadliest rail crash in the United States since 1993.

On May 8, 62 people were injured in Boston when one trolley rear-ended another trolley after it ran a red signal.

The driver of the trolley is believed to have been sending a text message to his girlfriend. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has since banned drivers from carrying electronic devices on the job.

The Institute also calls for a complete ban on texting while driving. In the U.S., 14 states ban texting while driving, including California, Alaska and New Jersey.

In Canada, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia have banned the use of cellphones while driving. A ban in Ontario will come into effect this fall.