September 22, 2008

Research into driving and texting

Researchers from the UK have been looking into the effects of driver habits and how they affect the driver’s reaction times. It turns out that surprisingly the habit that is more likely to effect the drivers coordination, may not be the thing that everyone would expect.

The researchers found that drivers who use their mobile phones for reading, writing and sending text messages are behaving more dangerous than those drivers who are under the influence of drink or even marijuana.

The tests were carried out on drivers aged between seventeen and twenty four; it was found that when they sent or received a text message, their reaction time was reduced by thirty five per cent. However, the same test was carried out but where the driver had used marijuana their reaction time was down by twenty one percent and those drivers who were under the influence of alcohol, their reaction time was down by just twelve per cent.

Source [Asylum]