(Cool Gadgets Blog) New research by the VirginiaTech Transportation Institute shows a dramatic rise in the number of crashes that occur from people who are texting while driving. According to the study by VirginiaTech Transportation Institute, people who text while driving increase their chances of getting into a car accident, or nearly causing one, by 23 times. The study shed light on a growing problem of people who take their attention off the road to text. Texting while driving vehicles, trains, and other transportation devices have killed thousands of people in the United States.
“Given recent catastrophic crash events and disturbing trends, there is an alarming amount of misinformation and confusion regarding cell phone and texting use while behind the wheel of a vehicle,” claims Dr. Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. “The findings from our research at VirginiaTech Transportation Institute can help begin to clear up these misconceptions as it is based on real?world driving data. We conduct transportation safety research in an effort to equip the public with information that can save lives.”
In VirginiaTech Transportation Institute’s research that involved light vehicle drivers and truck drivers, manual manipulation of phones (i.e. dialing and texting) lead to a substantial increase in the risk of being involved in what is called “a safety?critical event” (like an accident or near accident). However, talking or listening increased the risk of a safety critical event much less for light vehicles and not at all for trucks.
The results of the study show conclusively that the foremost way of increasing safety while driving is to keep your eyes on the road.
