The wireless industry introduced the cell phone in 1978. Since then, cell phone ownership continues to grow by about 40 percent per year. Currently, there are hundreds of millions of mobile phone users in the United States who call and text on a regular basis. Considering the convenience of cell phones and busy American lifestyles, it was inevitable that cell phones would end up in cars.

Making calls and texting while driving have become controversial. The safety risks of cell phone calls and text messaging have led to concerns about car accidents. Mobile phone usage while driving is distracting, and distraction results in inattention. With driver inattention as the number one cause of car crashes, it’s evident that cellular phones and driving just don’t mix.

That is why a state senator from Central Florida, Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, and the AAA travel club are pushing the Florida Legislature to ban texting while driving in the Sunshine State, no matter the age of the motorist. The proposal is expected to be taken up during the regular session next spring.

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that 6,000 people died on the roads last year at least in part because of the use of electronic devices such as smart phones and cell phones.  Florida has no laws banning the use of cell phones while driving, and Altman’s legislation doesn’t directly address drivers talking on a cell phone.  Instead, his legislation would prohibit the reading, typing and sending of an electronic message while a person is driving. A violator would face a nonmoving-traffic ticket. If passed, Florida would join 18 other states that ban the practice.  “It may not be the ultimate solution, but it is a beginning,” Altman said. “The solution would be hands-free technology, and hopefully this bill will help bring that issue forward.”
 

Teen Driver Cell Phone and Text Messaging Statistics

• Despite the risks, the majority of teen drivers ignore cell phone driving restrictions.
• In 2007, driver distractions, such as using a cell phone or text messaging, contributed to nearly 1,000 crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
• Over 60 percent of American teens admit to risky driving, and nearly half of those that admit to risky driving also admit to text messaging behind the wheel.
• Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year.
• Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 are texting while driving.
• Over one-third of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road.
• Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.

Adult Driver Cell Phone, Texting, and Car Accident Information

• Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
• One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving.
• A study of dangerous driver behavior released in January 2007 by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. found that of 1,200 surveyed drivers, 73 percent talk on cell phones while driving.
• The same 2007 survey found that 19 percent of motorists say they text message while driving.
• In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that ten percent of drivers are on handheld or hands free cell phones at any given hour of the day.
• A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Motorists found that motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
• In 2002, the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2,600 people die each year as a result of using cell phones while driving. They estimated that another 330,000 are injured.
• According to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, drivers talking on cell phones are 18 percent slower to react to brake lights. They also take 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked.
• An estimated 44 percent of American drivers now have cell phones in their automobiles.
• Of cell phone users that were surveyed, 85 percent said they use their phones occasionally when driving, 30 percent use their phones while driving on the highway, and 27 percent use them during half or more of the trips they take.
• 84 percent of cell phone users stated that they believe using a cell phone while driving increases the risk of being in an accident.
• The majority of Americans believe that talking on the phone and texting are two of the most dangerous behaviors that occur behind the wheel. Still, as many as 81% of drivers admit to making phone calls while driving.
• The number of crashes and near-crashes linked to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening.
• Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road.

The following statistics come from a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI):

• Of all cell phone related tasks - including talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone - texting while driving is the most dangerous.
• Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near crash events directly related to talking on a cell phone or texting.
• A car driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.
• A driver reaching for a cell phone or any other electronic device is 1.4 times more likely to experience a car crash.
• A car driver talking on their phone is 1.3 times more likely to get into an accident.
• A truck driver texting while driving is 23.2 times more likely to get into an accident than a trucker paying full attention to the road.
• A truck driver dialing a cell is 5.9 times more likely to crash.
• A trucker reaching for a phone or other device is 6.7 times more likely to experience a truck accident.
• For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.

Another study by the Vlingo Corp. of Massachusetts suggests that 60 percent of teenage drivers admit to at least reading incoming text messages while driving. And text messaging has overtaken the phone as the primary communications medium for teens. According to the Vlingo study, 94 percent of teens use their mobile phones to send text messages. Fifty-four percent send more than 500 text messages per month, and 79 percent send more text messages than make phone calls.  “The use of text messaging will only increase and will continue to take place on the roads as this generation gets older and others follow in their footsteps,” said Dave Grannan, CEO of Vlingo, whose company is working on voice-activated cell-phone technologies.

Car and Driver magazine performed a hands-on test that suggested that texting while driving can be even more dangerous than driving drunk.  On an 11,800-foot closed airport runway, two editors punched out texts while driving at 35 mph and 70 mph. Then they drank until they reached the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content and drove a second time without texting.  The results showed that even using a straight road without any traffic, road signals or pedestrians, and looking just at reaction times when approaching obstacles, the texting results were worse than when the drivers were drunk.  “Neither of us had any idea texting would slow down our reaction time so much,” said editor-in-chief Eddie Alterman. “Like most folks, we believe we are good drivers, but the real key to driving safely is keeping your eyes and your mind on the road. Text messaging distracts any driver from those tasks.”