Texting and Driving Allegedly More Hazardous Than Drunk Driving

Texting while driving more hazardous than drunk driving has become a very common practice in America today. Although cell phone use behind the wheel is quite obviously dangerous, surveys suggest as many as 71% of Americans have texted on the road. In June of 2009, the scientists at Car and Driver Magazine put it upon themselves to discover to what extent one’s reaction time is delayed while distracted by a cell phone. The experiment tested the reaction time of someone who was unimpaired, someone legally drunk (with a BAC of 0.08), some sending a text, and someone reading an email. The results were astounding. On average, an unimpaired person could brake in 0.54 seconds. Legally drunk, it took them an extra four feet to stop. Reading an email, it took an extra thirty-six feet; sending a text, drivers needed an extra seventy feet to come to a halt. In other words, texting negatively effects driving capabilities nearly eighteen times more so than having a BAC of 0.08. As the evidence suggests, you don’t have to be drunk to be impaired. If you or any of your loved ones were hurt in an automobile accident related to cellular phone use, call Ron Kim Law today.