Should Texting and Driving Be Treated Like Drunk Driving?

Whenever a driver displays irresponsible behavior behind the wheel, someone is bound to get hurt. Anybody who exhibits unsafe driving habits, whether it be texting, talking on a cell phone, or inebriated driving, should be punished under the law.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by a distracted driver or drunk driver, you need to contact a personal injury lawyer right away.

Our legal team is here to represent your interests. Below, we compare distracted driving versus drunk driving and which behavior may present more of a risk to other road users.

What is Distracted Driving?

Distracted driving is anything that takes your attention away from driving. When a person is engaged in another activity, they are not giving their complete attention to traffic and other hazards on the road.

Distracted driving comes in three forms:

• Visual: taking your eyes off the road
• Manual: taking your hands off the wheel
• Cognitive: taking your mind away from driving

Any of the following activities fall under distracted driving:

• Texting and driving
• Talking on your cell phone
• Sending emails on your phone
• Applying make-up
• Eating and/or drinking
• Changing the radio station
• Using a GPS or other navigational system
• Talking to passengers

Ohio Texting and Driving Law

As of April 4, 2023, the Ohio legislature passed a law that bans drivers from using their phones while driving. “Texting” is loosely defined, and any use of a cell phone, such as browsing the internet, streaming a video, playing a game, or browsing social media, is a violation of the law.

Although hands-free devices are an exception to this law, drivers under the age of 18 are restricted from using cell phones entirely.

A strange exception is the use of a cell phone at a stoplight. Although the new law permits it, the Department of Transportation strongly advises against it. Even using a cell phone to send a quick message at a stoplight can endanger lives. It is important to stay attentive at stoplights to ensure that all pedestrians and cyclists have crossed the road before the light turns green.

Texting and Driving Crash Statistics

When you send a text, you take your eyes off the road for five seconds. If you are traveling at 55 miles per hour, that is the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field.

According to a recent report, around three percent of drivers use their cell phones while operating their vehicles. In a recent year, over 3,000 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents due to distracted driving.

Below, we examine the statistics for distracted driving in Ohio over the past five years:

• A total of over 60,000 crashes involved one or more distracted drivers
• Of the total 60,000 crashes, 189 were fatal crashes, resulting in 207 fatalities
• Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) issued over 39,000 citations that included a charge of distracted driving
• Male drivers constitute the majority of distracted drivers (56 percent) versus female drivers (43 percent) in crashes
• Males constitute 88 percent of drivers in fatal crashes, with nearly one-third of distracted drivers being between the ages of 15-24

The numbers by county are:

• Cuyahoga County: 5,651 crashes
• Franklin County: 5,073 crashes
• Hamilton County: 4,682 crashes
• Montgomery County: 2,977 crashes
• Lucas County: 2,603 crashes

These five counties account for more than one-third of the crashes in Ohio in the past five years. With these statistics, we must question if should texting and driving be treated as drunk driving or not.

Penalties for Texting and Driving

If you are caught texting and driving, you may face the following penalties:

• 1st offense in two years: 2 points assessed to driver’s license, up to a $150 fine
• 2nd offense in two years: 3 points assessed to license, up to a $250 fine
• 3rd or more offense in two years: 4 points assessed to license, up to a $500 fine, possible 90-day suspension of driver’s license
• Other offenses: Fines doubled if the violation occurs in a work zone

You may be able to avoid the fines and points against your license if you are willing to complete a distracted driving course.

Cell Phone Use and Impaired Driving

Just as if you were drunk, using your cell phone impairs your ability to drive. Using a cell phone covers all three forms of distracted driving: your eyes will be off the road (visual distraction), your hands are off the wheel (manual distraction), and your mind is taken away from your driving (cognitive distraction).

Driving requires your full concentration. In the course of driving your typical route, you will need to make decisions in a split-second, which also requires that you have a fast reaction time. If you are fiddling with your phone, you probably won’t be able to hit your brake in time if a car stops short in front of you.

What is More Dangerous: Texting or Drunk Driving?

Texting is considered to be six times more dangerous than driving intoxicated. Whether you are texting or driving under the influence, you are putting yourself, your family, and others in danger.

Here are some reasons that texting is more dangerous than drunk driving:

• Texting requires you to completely take your eyes off the road
• Texting requires you to take your hands off the wheel, which may compromise your ability to swerve quickly to miss an object or person
• Any amount of texting puts you in danger, while in most states, a driver is only considered legally inebriated (driving impaired) if his or her blood alcohol level is at 0.08 percent or higher
• An unimpaired driver will take .54 seconds to come to a complete stop, while it will take the same person four extra feet to stop if legally intoxicated and 70 extra feet to stop when sending a text
• Texting requires many areas of your brain: you must read the message, think about what you want to say and text back, while drunk driving impairs your motor and cognitive skills but does not require your full mental resources

Texting & Driving is a Threat to Everyone; Seek Help from an Ohio Car Accident Lawyer

If you were in an accident caused by another driver being distracted or intoxicated, you need the assistance of a personal injury lawyer. We may be able to gain you the compensation you deserve for your lost wages and other medical bills. Contact us today at Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz to schedule your free case evaluation.