Statistics
"Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field."
"Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's handheld or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent."
"49% of drivers under the age of 35 who have cell phones send or read text messages while driving."
"60% of drivers use cell phones while driving."
"An online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% know it's dangerous."
"Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, but teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise."
See the above facts and more at http://www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org/#facts
"Texting while driving causes: 1,600,000 accidents per year, 330,000 injuries per year, 11 teen deaths every day, and nearly 25% of all car accidents."
"Texting while driving is: about 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated, the same as driving after 4 beers, and the number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers."
"Texting while driving: makes you 23 times more likely to crash, is the same as driving blind for 5 seconds at a time, takes place by 800,000 drivers at any given time across the country, slows your brake reaction speed by 18%, and leads to a 400% increase with eyes off the road."
Find these facts at: http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/
"Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's handheld or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent."
"49% of drivers under the age of 35 who have cell phones send or read text messages while driving."
"60% of drivers use cell phones while driving."
"An online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% know it's dangerous."
"Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, but teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise."
See the above facts and more at http://www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org/#facts
"Texting while driving causes: 1,600,000 accidents per year, 330,000 injuries per year, 11 teen deaths every day, and nearly 25% of all car accidents."
"Texting while driving is: about 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated, the same as driving after 4 beers, and the number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers."
"Texting while driving: makes you 23 times more likely to crash, is the same as driving blind for 5 seconds at a time, takes place by 800,000 drivers at any given time across the country, slows your brake reaction speed by 18%, and leads to a 400% increase with eyes off the road."
Find these facts at: http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/
Laws
Total laws for all states-
Hand-held Ban: All drivers; 9 states and the District of Columbia
All Cell Phone Ban: School Bus drivers-19 states and District of Columbia, Teen drivers-30 states and District of Columbia
Texting Ban: All drivers-35 states and District of Columbia
Enforcement: Primary (meaning police can pull someone over if they see them violating the law) for all drivers texting; 32 states
Utah considers speaking on a cell phone, without a hands-free device, to be an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding).
Maine has a law that makes driving while distracted a traffic infraction.
These laws above can be found at: http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/transport/cellular-phone-use-and-texting-while-driving-laws.aspx
Hand-held Ban: All drivers; 9 states and the District of Columbia
All Cell Phone Ban: School Bus drivers-19 states and District of Columbia, Teen drivers-30 states and District of Columbia
Texting Ban: All drivers-35 states and District of Columbia
Enforcement: Primary (meaning police can pull someone over if they see them violating the law) for all drivers texting; 32 states
Utah considers speaking on a cell phone, without a hands-free device, to be an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding).
Maine has a law that makes driving while distracted a traffic infraction.
These laws above can be found at: http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/transport/cellular-phone-use-and-texting-while-driving-laws.aspx