At some point we are all guilty of this one. You are driving along in a hurry and you hear your cell phone chirp you have a new text message. You are on a straight road with no one else in sight so you just glance down to quickly read it. Crazy as it sounds sending or reading a text message takes your eyes off the road for about 5 seconds, long enough to cover a football field while driving at 55 mph (NHTSA). What an entire football field? Yup. Told you it was crazy.
Text messaging increases your risk of getting into an accident by 23 times according to Virginia Technical Transportation Institute, USDOT. Think about the number of people you passed on your way to work this morning texting or messing with their phone in some capacity. Make it your New Year’s Resolution not to engage with your cell phone while you are driving.