Most countries around the world have recognised the fact that sending a text message while driving isn’t a particularly sensible idea, and have subsequently made this practise illegal. A study by the US based Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that drivers who were sending a text message while driving were a whopping 23.2 times more likely to have an accident, as compared to those who were driving without distraction. Like driving under the influence of alcohol, drivers know that they shouldn’t text and drive, and yet it still happens from time to time. Since, statistically, you’re more likely to be involved in a driving accident or fatality if you’re in a country where people drive on the right, if you see someone texting while driving on the right, you might feel tempted to pull over and wait for them get a safe distance away from you.
Most countries where driving while texting is illegal have seemingly overcome the problem by allowing the usage of hands free devices, although the BBC has reported on a UK based study that shows complex conversations via a hands free device while driving can be almost as distracting as sending a text message. Perhaps technology is the key to overcoming this issue, since the Apple iPhone’s acclaimed voice interface system, which is better known as Siri, allows for drivers to send and receive text messages by voice- although this assumes that having a somewhat robotic voice reading your messages isn’t as distracting as other methods of communication. Although, thanks to the currently in development Google self driving car, we might soon be able to talk and text to our hearts content, since a computer will be doing all our driving for us.
