Smartphones have completely saturated our culture. Not only do a whopping 90% of Americans own a cell phone, but a staggering 67% of cell owners find themselves checking their phones even when they haven’t rung or vibrated and 44% of cell owners usually sleep with their phones next to the bed so that they won’t miss any messages. Perhaps most mind boggling is the fact that 84% of people across the world say that they can’t even go a single day without their smartphone.
Such statistics are only natural considering all the good smartphones have done. News stories are more up-to-the-minute. Businesses are more efficient. Socializing is easier than ever.
Yet, smartphones have also had a negative impact on the world, too. Namely, they’ve made roads more perilous.
Using smartphones while driving is quickly becoming one of the biggest threats to driver safety, especially if it’s to text. According to the National Safety Council, texting while driving causes 1,600,000 accidents per year. The Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study has found that it causes 330,000 injuries per year. Most shocking of all, the Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts has reported that texting while driving causes 11 teen deaths every day.
If it only takes seconds to use a smartphone, how then can it cause such problems?
It takes a minimum of five seconds to send a text. If driving down the highway at 55 miles per hour, a motorist would travel the length of a football field in that time — all without having looked at the road.
For this reason, texting while driving increases a person’s risk of an accident by 23 times.
The answer is simple — don’t text and drive. It could save your life.