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11 Facts About Texting and Driving

Welcome to DoSomething.org, a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off! The 11 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page. After you learn something, Do Something! Find out how to take action here.

  1. 5 seconds is the minimal amount of attention that a driver who texts takes away from the road. If traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.^[TextingThumbBands.com. "Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Safety. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  2. Texting makes a crash up to 23 times more likely.^[TextingThumbBands.com. "Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Safety. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  3. Teens who text while driving spend 10% of the time outside their lane.^[TextingThumbBands.com. "New Statistics For Texting And Driving." Texting and Driving Safety. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  4. According to AT&T's Teen Driver Survey, 97% of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43% do it anyway.^[AT&T. "AT&T Teen Driver Survey Executive Summary." AT&T. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  5. 19% of drivers of all ages admit to surfing the web while driving.^[Copeland, Larry. "19% admit Web use while driving." USATODAY.COM. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  6. 43 states, plus D.C., prohibit all drivers from texting.^[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . "Distracted Driving | State Laws." Distraction.gov. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  7. According to CTIA.org, in the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the United States, up almost 50% from June 2009.^[CTIA. "Wireless Quick Facts." CTIA Wireless Association. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  8. 40% of teens say that they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone.^[AT&T. "AT&T Teen Driver Survey Executive Summary." AT&T. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  9. The most recent National Occupant Protection Use Survey finds that women are more likely than men to reach for their cell phones while driving.^[AFP RELAXNEWS. "Girls more likely to text while driving; 38% percent of young women said they had read texts behind the wheel." NY Daily News. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  10. According to 77% of teens, adults tell them not to text or email while driving, yet adults do it themselves “all the time.”^[TextingThumbBands.com. "Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Safety. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
  11. 9 in 10 teens expect a reply to a text or email within five minutes or less, which puts pressure on them to respond while driving.^[AT&T. "Texting While Driving." AT&T. Accessed April 21, 2014. .]
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