- Five seconds is the minimal amount of attention that a driver who texts takes away from the road. If traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.
- Texting makes a crash up to 23 times more likely.
- Teens who text while driving spend 10 percent of the time outside their lane.
- According to AT&T's Teen Driver Survey, 97 percent of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43 percent do it anyway.
- 1 in 5 drivers of all ages admit to surfing the web while driving.
- 39 states, plus D.C., prohibit all drivers from texting.
- According to CTIA.org, in the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the United States, up almost 50 percent from June 2009.
- 40 percent of teens say that they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone.
- The most recent National Occupant Protection Use Survey finds that women are more likely than men to reach for their cell phones while driving.
- According to 77 percent of teens, adults tell them not to text or email while driving, yet adults do it themselves “all the time.”
- 9 in 10 teens expect a reply to a text or email within five minutes or less, which puts pressure on them to respond while driving.
Create a designated driver program with your friends and classmates. GO
- Teresa Roca is a NYC writer who is obsessed with celebrities, sports and movies. Her favorite cause is bullying and violence.
Source: AT&T, CTIA, NBC, Texting and Driving
