In the few seconds it takes a distracted driver to read or send a text message, that driver could have traveled the length of a football field, according to a study released Wednesday from Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute.
In the study, as shown in this video, drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 were measured on how long it took them to respond to a flashing light positioned on an eleven-mile test track, while sending or reading text messages.
The study showed that when the drivers drove the same track while focusing completely on the road, their response times were cut in half.
The average time it took for a non-distracted driver to respond to the flashing light, which turned on and off at random, was one to two seconds, according to Bernie Fette, a senior research specialist for the institute.
It took a distracted driver three to four seconds to respond to the light while typing or reading a text message.
“That makes the driver less likely to respond to a swerving vehicle, a child running into the street or a car suddenly braking in front of them,” Fette said.
The study also showed drivers were more than eleven times more likely to miss the flashing light altogether when they were texting.
“The other big take away from the study is that we found the acts of reading and writing a text message are equally dangerous,” Fette said.
The experiment may be one of the only distracted driving studies conducted in an actual driving environment, as opposed to a simulated environment, he said. The course was a straight-line course that contained no hills and no traffic.
“It is frightening,” the researchers wrote in the study, “to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with routine driving.”
“This study is a testament to the fact that we need more laws or stronger laws," Fette said.
In California, lawmakers tried to double the fines for distracted driving violations, but SB 28 was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 7.
“I certainly support discouraging cell phone use while driving a car, but not ratcheting up the penalties as prescribed by this bill,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
California law bans drivers from using wireless devices to write, send or read text-based communication and from using cell phones unless they are used with a hands-free device.
If caught, they face a $20 fine for the first offense and $50 for other convictions.
The California Highway Patrol writes about two-thirds of the distracted driving tickets issued in the state, according to this report by the website handsfreeinfo.com.
A CHP spokesman told USA LOCAL NEWS it issued about 150,000 tickets for use of handheld cell phones last year, and a total of 3,742 text messaging tickets since the texting law went into effect Jan. 1, 2009.
While some reports show texting laws have not reduced the number of car accidents, according to Vince Ramirez, a CHP spokesperson, the number of fatal car accidents due to inattention went from 119 in 2008 to a total of 82 in 2010.
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