What Did a Recent Study Reveal About Texting and Driving?

April 1 , 2019 | Car Accidents

There are many activities that are dangerous to engage in while driving because they can take the driver’s full attention away from the roadways. One of these activities is texting while driving. Because of the known dangers of texting while driving, many states have passed laws to ban the practice of texting while driving. Recently, researchers released results from their study about texting while driving.

Researchers examined emergency department data from 16 different states between 2007 and 2014. The researchers selected the states for the study based on the availability of information about motor vehicle accidents that involved trips to the emergency departments of hospitals. All of the states that were examined in the have laws restricting texting while driving, except for one of the states included in the study.

States that had a law completely banning the practice of texting while driving and allowing individuals to be pulled over for texting while driving without committing any additional driving infractions saw a 4% decrease in the amount of motor vehicle accidents that required a trip to the emergency room. States that applied bans on texting while driving to people of all ages saw an average of an 8% reduction in the amount of motor vehicle accidents that required a emergency medical attention. Additionally, drivers of all ages saw a reduction in the number of injuries following crashes.

It is very important not to engage in texting while driving because it puts your safety as well as the safety of others at risk. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2016, approximately 3,500 people were killed in car accidents that were related to distracted driving and an additional 391,000 people were injured in accidents involving distracted driving. Because of the inherent dangers of distracted driving, drivers need to put their cell phones down and focus on the roadways.