A survey by Vlingo, the voice recognition software company, found that one out of every three drivers in Maryland text messages when driving.
Maryland ranks fourth among US states with the worst text messaging driver offenders. 36% of all Maryland drivers reportedly send and receive messages via their cell phones while on the roads. Washington DC was not ranked in the survey.
According to University of Utah psychology Professor Frank Drews, motorists have a 50% greater chance of becoming involved in a motor vehicle accident while talking on cell phones and driving at the same time. A driver has a six-fold chance of getting into a car accident when text messaging. Professor Drews’s study involved college students in controlled driving situations.
Across the United States, 28% of people that use cell phones say they send text messages when driving their automobiles. 50% of teen drivers say they text message while on the road. 52% of 20 to 29-year-olds are also guilty of this bad habit.
Currently, Maryland bans teen motorists from using cell phones at all while driving. The Insurance Information Institute Report cites that the two dangers associated with cell phones while driving is that 1) people inevitably take their eyes off the road and 2) their driving ability is seriously impaired because they are not concentrating on the road or observing the other vehicles and pedestrians.
A 2006 study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that driver inattention within three seconds of an accident affected 80% of motor vehicle crashes and 65% of near collisions.
Please contact our Maryland auto accident law firm if you or someone you love was seriously injured in a car collision involving driver negligence.
More than 1 in 3 Md., Va. drivers text message while on the road, Examiner.com, May 22, 2008
Cell Phones and Driving, Insurance Information Institute, May 2008
Related Web Resource:
State Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association
Driving While Texting: A Clear Danger, CBS News, November 22, 2006
Contact Lebowitz & Mzhen today and ask to speak with an experienced Maryland motor vehicle collision lawyer.