Our brain has what is called a cognitive load—an amount of mental activity that it can engage in at one time. If you are texting or engaged in a cell phone conversation while driving, that leaves your brain with less cognitive load to focus on driving. Consequently, your driving is not as good as it could be.
Penalties range from $20 to $500, depending on the state, but in some states like Alaska and Iowa, fines can reach as high as $1,000 and mean a misdemeanor offense. Additional possible penalties for texting and driving can include: Points on your driving record. Suspension of your driver's license.
Results: A widely distributed brain network was identified, especially when making left turns at busy intersections compared to more simple driving tasks. During distracted driving, brain activation shifted dramatically from the posterior, visual and spatial areas to the prefrontal cortex.
You're Taking Your Eyes Off the Road
Of all the activities associated with distracted driving, sending text messages is the most dangerous. A person is 23 times more likely to have a motor vehicle crash while sending a text message than if they were only driving.
Instead of processing both cognitive tasks at once, the brain rapidly switches between the two activities. Due to this rapid switching, drivers who are talking or texting can literally miss seeing up to 50% of their driving environment.
Potential health consequences have not yet been determined, but results suggest cellphone usage may affect brain function and seems to increase “cortical excitability,” which may be linked to both sleep disruption and “faster reaction time,” though the difference may be only a few thousandths of a second.
Smartphones can make your brain “lazy”
Research shows this overreliance on your smartphone can lead to mental laziness. “If you give people the ability to store information remotely, outside of their brain, they become more dependent on that, which actually can have a negative effect on people's memory,” Kaufer said.
Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds.
A distracted driver is much more likely to be involved in an accident than one who is not. Additionally, distracted drivers are more likely to be involved in serious accidents. This means that they may be injured or even killed. They may also cause other motorists and passengers to be injured or killed.
Let's take a look at more texting and driving statistics from NHTSA. In 2020, 396 people in total were killed as a direct result of accidents caused by texting and driving. That amounts to more than one death per day. In 2019, 430 people were killed in fatal crashes caused by texting and driving.
These are a few ways cops can tell if you're texting: they see the phone on your steering wheel; you are constantly looking down; the glow from your screen gives you away at night; cops on bikes can peer inside your car, or police are watching from above.
Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. In fact, the average text sent or read in a car takes a driver's eyes off the road for 5 seconds. This is more than enough time to get in a life-altering accident.
Habit—they are used to checking messages frequently and reaching for their device without thinking about it. Recklessness—checking a text message does not take much time, so drivers may feel that it is safe to glance away from the road long enough to read or type out a message.
Rounding out the top 5 most annoying driving habits: tailgating (92.5%), not checking blind spots (91.5%), road rage (91.3%), and not using turn signals when changing lanes (90.2%). Taken all together, these behaviors have one thing in common – they are sometimes so annoying that they can lead to anger.
While most people know that texting while driving is dangerous, many rationalize their texting-and-driving behavior – a classic sign of addiction. Only 6% of people surveyed feel they are addicted.
Texting and driving laws and facts
Fatalities involving texting while driving comprised 9% of all fatal crashes nationwide. 7% of drivers are using cell phones (including making a phone call) at any given time. Texting while driving increases by 400% a driver's time spent with their eyes off the road.
Texting makes a crash up to 23 times more likely. Teens who text while driving spend 10% of the time outside their lane. According to AT&T's Teen Driver Survey, 97% of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43% do it anyway. 19% of drivers of all ages admit to surfing the web while driving.
CAUSES AND PROFILE OF NOMOPHOBES
In fact, personal insecurity is the most common factor that causes nomophobia, as many young people become absolutely dependent on others and find in their mobile phones a way to be present in their social circle.
Phone anxiety happens when we turn to our phones as a form of distraction. They can even be an escape from anxious feelings in other areas of our lives. I discovered that when I experience phone anxiety, I'm not consciously thinking about why I'm turning to my phone.
Smartphone Addiction Affects Your Brain in the Same Way as Drug Addiction, Study Finds. Researchers examined MRI scans of phone addicts and found that their mobile habits physically changed the shape and size of the brain.