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Texting drivers more dangerous than drunks… who are more dangerous than stoners!

By "Radical" Russ Belville on September 22, 2008


[UPDATE:  The Reuters people seemed to have flipped the numbers for cannabis and alcohol.  This line from the actual TRL website:

Reaction times were around 35% slower when writing a text message. Earlier studies at TRL showed that alcohol consumption to the legal limit caused a 12% reaction time increase; cannabis slowed reaction times by 21%.

Regardless, there are numerous studies showing the threat of cannabis-impaired drivers to be less than the threat of alcohol-impaired drivers.  Bottom line - just don't smoke and drive.]

Texting drivers more dangerous than drunks: study

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Sending text messages from your mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than climbing behind the wheel under the influence of drink or drugs, a study by Britain’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has found.

The reaction times of people texting as they drove fell by 35 percent, while those who had consumed the legal limit of alcohol, or taken cannabis, fell by 21 percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the study.

The study, which was commissioned by motoring group RAC Foundation, also found that the ability to stay in lanes or maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front was worse than drivers under the influence of cannabis.

[D]rivers who texted were distracted by taking their hand off the wheel to use their phone, by trying to read small text on the phone display and by thinking about how to write their message.

Nearly half of all 18-24 year-olds admitted to texting as they drove, a separate survey by the RAC Foundation discovered.

While the study here focuses on the important news that texting while driving is far worse for your road skills than drinking and driving, I want to focus on the part of the study they buried in the lede:

  • Driving while texting dropped reaction times by 35%
  • Driving while drunk dropped reaction times by 21%
  • Driving while stoned dropped reaction times by 12%
Again I’ll reiterate that you should never drive under the influence of any reaction-blunting activity or substance, including cannabis.  If you’ve been smoking, you should wait at least 2-4 hours before operating any heavy machinery.
However, it seems very strange that our opponents continually argue against cannabis legalization for the fear of the imagined increase in impaired driving that would cause, when the legal drug, alcohol, is almost twice as impairing to drivers as cannabis!
Nobody seems to be calling for a return to alcohol prohibition.  Nobody seems eager to arrest 775,000 people for possession of text messaging devices in their cars.  Yet they’ll defend spending billions on prohibition and possession arrests for the least-impairing substance of them all – cannabis.

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I am the host of the NORML SHOW LIVE and The NORML Stash Blog. I'm married, live in Portland, Oregon, and I am a registered medical marijuana caregiver in this state. I've worked days as an IT geek and nights as a professional musician. Previously, I have been the host of my own political talk radio show on satellite radio. I've been the High Times "Freedom Fighter of the Month" for my work producing Oregon NORML's TV show, "A Cannabis Community Forum", and for helping to institute Portland's wildly successful medical marijuana cardholders meetings, where we help sick and disabled Oregonians acquire cannabis plant starts, learn gardening, and understand the medical marijuana law. I've dedicated my life to bringing an end to adult marijuana prohibition and re-legalizing cannabis hemp, and I'm honored to be chosen by NORML to be our daily voice.

2 responses to “Texting drivers more dangerous than drunks… who are more dangerous than stoners!”

  1. charles
    charles
    June 25, 2009 at 7:21 am |

    I think the reuters site is wrong, here is the correct data from the british site itself (http://www.trl.co.uk/online_store/reports_publications/trl_reports/cat_road_user_safety/report_The_effect_of_text_messaging_on_driver_behaviour_a_simulator_study.htm):

    Reaction times were around 35% slower when writing a text message. Earlier studies at TRL showed that alcohol consumption to the legal limit caused a 12% reaction time increase; cannabis slowed reaction times by 21%.

    It appears the numbers are flipped for weed and alcohol.

  2. F-Listed » Archive Sanjay Gupta: What Does the Next Surgeon General Know About Pot? «
    F-Listed » Archive Sanjay Gupta: What Does the Next Surgeon General Know About Pot? «
    February 4, 2009 at 8:21 am |

    [...] As for driving, nobody here at NORML suggests that people smoke cannabis and then drive a car. But someone’s potential irresponsible use of cannabis is not an argument for the danger of cannabis itself. In fact, researchers at Britain’s Transport Research Laboratory found in September that text messaging and alcohol are far more dangerous on the road than cannabis. “The reaction times of people texting as they drove fell by 35 percent, while those who had consumed the legal limit of alcohol, or taken cannabis, fell by 21 percent and 12 percent respectively.“ [...]

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