Texting by drivers increases despite state bans

By: ASSOCIATED PRESS | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: December 09, 2011

WASHINGTON --

For all the criticism and new legal bans, texting by drivers just keeps increasing, especially among younger motorists.

About half of American drivers between 21 and 24 say they've thumbed messages or emailed from the driver's seat. What's more, many drivers don't think it's dangerous when they do it — only when others do.

A national survey, the first government study of its kind on distracted driving, and other data released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration underscore the difficulty authorities face in discouraging texting and cellphone talking while driving.

At any given moment last year on America's streets and highways, nearly one in every 100 car drivers was texting, emailing, surfing the Web or otherwise using a hand-held electronic device, the safety administration said. Those activities spiked 50 percent over the previous year, even as states rush to ban the practices.

Last month, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to forbid texting while driving.

In Virginia, a law banning texting while driving took effect in 2009, but the law makes texting a secondary offense, which means an officer has to stop a driver for some other reason before writing a texting citation.

In 2010 there were an estimated 3,092 deaths in crashes affected by a wide range of driver distractions, officials said.

Although electronic gadgets are in ever greater use by drivers, motorists are deeply conflicted about it, a NHTSA survey of more than 6,000 drivers found.

Most said they would answer a cellphone call while driving and continue to drive after answering. Nearly two of 10 acknowledged sending texts or emails from behind the wheel. That spiked up to half of drivers 21 to 24 years old.

More than half of drivers said making a cellphone call made no difference to their driving performance, and a quarter said texting or emailing made no difference. However, 90 percent said that when they are passengers they feel very unsafe if the driver is texting or emailing.