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Texting & Driving – Don’t do it!

January 26, 2015

Texting & Driving is like or worse than Drunk Driving?

See these statistics below collected by a family run company dedicated to stopping texting and driving injuries and deaths in North America.

Texting while driving is a growing trend, and a national epidemic, quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume they can handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers don’t lie.

Texting While Driving Causes:

  1. 1,600,000 accidents per year – National Safety Council
  2. 330,000 injuries per year – Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study
  3. 11 teen deaths EVERY DAY – Ins. Institute for Hwy Safety Fatality Facts
  4. Nearly 25% of ALL car accidents

Texting While Driving Is:

  1. About 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated
  2. The same as driving after 4 beers – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.
  3. The number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers

Texting While Driving:

  1. Makes you 23X more likely to crash – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.
  2. Is the same as driving blind for 5 seconds at a time – VA. Tech Transportation Institute
  3. Takes place by 800,000 drivers at any given time across the country
  4. Slows your brake reaction speed by 18% – HumanFactors & Ergonomics Society
  5. Leads to a 400% increase with eyes off the road

Don’t be a part of the statistics. Most states have instituted laws that ban texting while driving, and even ban the use of mobile phones while driving, unless you’re using a hands-free system. That means you can be pulled over and ticketed for just talking on your phone, much less for being caught trying to text while driving.

What Can You Do?

  • Don’t be tempted; turn off your cell phone. Let voicemail capture your voice and text messages.
  • If you have to call or text while driving, pull off the road safely and stop.
  • Recognize that text messaging can be a habit. Get support from your friends by letting them know you are working on breaking the texting habit.
  • If you think you will still be tempted to text and drive, put your phone somewhere you can’t reach it, like the trunk.
  • Establish family rules that prohibit texting while driving.
  • Take control of your cell phone; don’t let it control you. You are the only one who decides when and if you send and read a text message.

The Armstrong Company Insurance Consultants  (License #0440075)