Texting & Driving No LOL Matter

Fascinating little study by a group of Car and Driver magazine folks on the perils of texting while driving. Conclusion? Texting is even worse than driving under the influence, and the older you are, the worse it is. The findings were serious - but I have to say, the way they phrased it was hilarious. You'll have to check it out. The gist, though? They put a 22-year-old and a 37-year-old in cars and measured how long it took them to respond to brake lights ahead. Then they had them read texts while driving - "Caddyshack" quotes, in case you were wondering - and text them back. And then they got them goofy drunk and put them back behind the wheel on a closed course, where the results were not great. But they were even more alarming for the sober texting 22-year-old, whose reaction time while sending or reading texts sent his car sliding an average of 16 to 31 ft. farther than when phone-less. The texting 37-year-old's car went an additional 129 ft. farther during the 35 mph hit-the-brakes test, and 319 ft. when his speed was upped to 70 mph. And the test only measured response time, not driving skill. Back away from the cell phone.