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Texting doubles driving reaction time

Man texting while driving in rain about to hit boy

The typical reaction time doubled regardless of whether the driver was typing or reading a text (Source: nkbimages/iStockphoto)


In a small study researchers at Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute studied the impact of texting in an actual driving environment.

"Essentially texting while driving doubles a driver's reaction time," says Christine Yager, who led the study, which appears on the institute's website. "That makes a driver less able to respond to sudden roadway dangers,"

In the study 42 drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 drove on an 17 kilometre test course while sending or receiving text messages, and again while focusing completely on the road.

The researchers asked the drivers to stop when they saw a flashing yellow light and recorded their reaction time.

The typical reaction time without texting was between one and two seconds, but while texting it increased to three to four seconds, regardless of whether the driver was typing or reading a text.

The researchers also found that a texting driver was 11 times more likely to miss the flashing light.

"The act of reading and writing a text message are equally impairing and equally dangerous," she says.

The lag in reaction times was greater than in an earlier study conducted in a lab simulator. Yager explains that the three- to four-second lag time is significant because at highway speeds a driver can travel the length of a football field in that time.

Texting drivers in the study were also more likely to swerve in their lane.

"We had participants strike barrels, and it is very scary to think that this is happening on our public roadways," says Yager, adding the findings also apply to other distractions such as checking emails and Facebook.

Government statistics show distracted driving contributes to as much as 20 per cent of all fatal crashes. Cell phones are the main distraction.

In 2006, a study by Monash University's Accident Research Centre found young drivers spent 400 per cent more time not watching the road while using their phones to send and retrieve text messages than those who didn't. It also found that the number of incorrect lane changes while using a phone increased by 140 per cent.

It is illegal in all Australian states and territories to use a hand-held m

Tags: road, mobile-phones