* Some safety advocates argue that the mere act of talking to someone not in the car—whether the phone is up against your head, or in a cup holder while wearing an earpiece—is a risky overload of a driver’s cognitive functions.
* When texting, drivers are distracted by taking their hand off the wheel to use their phone, by trying to read small text on the phone display and by thinking about how to write their message.
* According to the National Roads and Motorists Association, text messaging drivers spent up to 400 percent more time with their eyes on the phone instead of on the road.
* Texting reduces reaction times of drivers.
* The reaction times of texting driver deteriorated by 35 per cent, much worse than those who drank alcohol at the legal limit, who were 12 per cent slower, or those who had taken cannabis, who were 21 per cent slower.
* When texting, you tend to wander across the lane.
* Research found that drivers who sent or read text messages were more prone to drift out of their lane, with steering control by texting drivers 91 per cent poorer than that of drivers devoting their full concentration to the road.
* The Transport Research Laboratory concluded that text messages took on average 63 seconds to compose while the phone owner is driving- compared with 22 seconds when sent from a desk.
* In one minute, a car travels half a mile at town centre speeds and more than a mile on the motorway.
* Texting reduces the ability to maintain a safe following distance from the vehicle in front.
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