That is because texting also involves the same brain regions and cognitive processes as communicating by telephone that are responsible for the dangers associated with cell phones and driving and combines that risk factor with another additional independent risk factor: visual distraction.
Unlike cell phones, which distract the driver visually for only a small percentage of the time when they are being used for verbal communication, texting while driving is a continuous visual distraction by its very nature that makes it much more dangerous by comparison. Whereas cell phone users only look at their devices to dial and identify in-coming calls drivers who text must continually shift their attention back and forth from watching the road to looking at their communications devices. Especially at typical highway speeds, the amount of time typically required to look at a mobile device for texting purposes is too much time to look away from the road in the event the driver encounters any type of emergency or other situation requiring an immediate response and driver input into vehicle controls (Chisholm, Caird, & Lockhart, 2007). At highway speeds, texting while driving is a modern form of Russian Roulette using a vehicle instead of a loaded firearm. In congested urban environments, texting while driving may increase the chances of minor vehicular accidents more than driver fatalities, but it also dramatically increases the risk of fatal single-vehicle accidents involving pedestrians (AHAS, 2005; Hennessy & Wiesenthal, 2005, NYSDU, 2010).
As if those specific risks were not bad enough, texting also combines those inherent risks with the additional problem attributable to which drivers tend to do the most texting and which drivers are already considered the most dangerous because of their inexperience and limited judgement-making...
Already, new teen drivers have the highest risk of accidents because of their inexperience driving and because they tend to underestimate risks in general and overestimate their capabilities in general. The fact that they rely more heavily than any other demographic segment of the population in using texting for communication presents the equivalent of a "perfect storm" of deadly risk factors. The sooner legislators recognize the need to enact more restrictive -- and if necessary, more punitive -- restrictions on the use of communications equipment while driving the better because any delay in that regard will probably be able to be measured in lives by the thousands.
References
AHAS. (2005). Fact Sheet: Speeding Accessed 26 Nov 2010 from:
http://www.saferoads.org/issues/fs-speed.htm
Chisholm, S.L., Caird, J.K., and Lockhart, J. "The effects of practice with MP3 players on driving performance." Accident Analysis & Prevention, Vol. 40, No. 2;
(2007): 704-713.
Hennessy, D.A. And Wiesenthal, D.L. (2005). Contemporary Issues in Road User
Behavior and Traffic Safety. Toronto: Nova.
Hosking, S., Young, K., and Regan, M. (2007). "The effects of text messaging on young novice driver performance." in: Faulks, I.J., Regan, M., Stevenson, M., Brown,
J., Porter, a. And Irwin, J.D. (Eds.). Distracted Driving. Sydney, NSW:
Australasian College of Road Safety. Pages 155-187. Accessed 26 Nov 2010
http://www.acrs.org.au/srcfiles/7Hosking-Young -- Regan.pdf
NYSDU. (2010). New York State Driving University: Driving Safely Accessed 26 Nov
2010 from:
http://newyork.drivinguniversity.com/driving-safety/new-york-school-zones/
