Texting while driving is even more dangerous

That is the result of the study a safety research institute conducted on drivers and truckers using cameras to continuously observe drivers for more than 6 million miles.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded that “texting while driving increases the risk of a crash much more than previous studies have concluded with motorists taking their eyes off the road longer than they do when talking or listening on their cell phones,”

The study concluded that when drivers of heavy trucks text, collision risk is 23 times greater than when not texting. This is more than thrice the risk of dialing a cell phone which increases the collision risk 6 times.

“Talking/listening to a cell phone allowed drivers to maintain eyes on the road and were not associated with an increased safety risk to nearly the same degree,” the institute said. “These results show conclusively that a real key to significantly improving safety is keeping your eyes on the road.”

So does this mean that its better to talk on cell phones while driving? Of course not. There is a risk involved so if you plan on arriving to your destination on one piece, stick to the rules and never use your phone while you’re driving.

And if you think that using headsets and going hands-free is safer, think again. The study also concluded that “headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held because the primary risks associated with both are answering, dialing, and other tasks that take drivers’ eyes off the road.”

Better safe than sorry guys, better safe than sorry. 😉

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQIakqMFgrC0KAeMfxrWUQCz2U2QD99N64GO1