Messaging while driving a leading cause of accidents

“Sending messages while driving definitely plays a big role in the high number of accidents taking place on our roads.

“We have come across numerous accidents where the driver involved in the accident was still holding his phone. I would like to appeal to all drivers not to text and drive,” explained Ben Senokoane, chief fire-officer at the Mogalakwena fire department.

Studies have suggested that sending messages while driving is riskier than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Drivers generally understand that drunk-driving is a serious risk, but have less of an understanding about the dangers of this habit.

Those who are aware of the impairment to their driving are not aware how great this impairment is, reported Arive Alive in a media statement.

The transport research laboratory found that motorists who use their mobile phone to send text messages while on the road dramatically increase the likelihood of collisions.

A combination of factors leads to impairments of reaction time and vehicle control which places the driver at greater risk than having consumed alcohol and getting behind the steering wheel.

Some safety advocates argue that the mere act of talking to someone not in the car, whether the phone is up against your head, or in a cup holder while wearing an earpiece, is a risky overload of a driver’s cognitive functions.

When using phones to send messages, drivers are distracted by taking their hands off the wheel to use their phones, by trying to read small text on the phone display and by thinking about how to write their messages.

According to the National Roads and Motorists Association, an overseas association, messaging drivers spend up to 400 % more time with their eyes on the phone instead of on the road and texting reduces reaction times of drivers.

The reaction times of drivers guilty of this habit deteriorated by 35 %, much worse than those who drank alcohol at the legal limit, who were 12 % slower, or those who had taken cannabis, who were 21% slower. When sending messages, you also tend to wander across the lane.

Research found that drivers who sent or read text messages were more prone to drift out of their lane, with steering control by texting drivers 91 % poorer than that of drivers devoting their full concentration to the road.

The Transport Research Laboratory concluded that text messages took on average 63 seconds to compose while the phone owner is driving – compared with 22 seconds when sent from a desk.

Texting reduces the ability to maintain a safe following distance from the vehicle in front.

It is important to consider the effect of sending messages as a driver, especially with a focus to our younger drivers.

Teenage drivers are a particular risk group considering that, according to research surveys the average mobile teenager now sends or receives an average of 2 899 messages per month, with many of these messages sent and read from behind the wheel.