Insurance Group Warns Against Driving and Texting

August 30 - One of the most interesting statistics to come out of a recent study conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory in the UK showed something that many people aren't aware of: That driving while texting is actually riskier than driving while under the influence.

Auto & General have come out with a warning to South African drivers that texting is an extremely dangerous pastime while driving, with the ability to bring down reaction time by 35%.  In contrast, drivers who drank alcohol within the UK's legal limit saw their reaction time drop by 12%.

"There's a popular phrase doing the rounds at the moment suggesting that people at a gathering  who hold their heads high are not more self-assured and confident, they just don't have a particular brand of smart phone which seems to have summoned a cult like following in South Africa," said the spokesman for Auto & General, Angelo Haggiyannes.

He said that, jokes aside, it has become to norm to see people at braais and restaurants with their heads bowed towards the screens of their cellphones, totally oblivious to the people, conversations and goings-on around them.

"Unfortunately, it's also becoming increasingly easy to spot drivers doing the same," he said. "When you see the driver of a car with his or her head tilted forward, you can safely assume they are in the throes of a text conversation."

"Some might think it's a harmless exercise, a way to pass the time in the traffic, but every second that their eyes aren't glued to the tiny screen in front of them, is a second of their concentration averted from where it should be; on the road in front of their faces," said Haggiyannes.

91% Poorer Steering Control

The UK study showed that those who used SMS while driving had 91% poorer steering control than drivers who regularly kept their eyes on the road.

Auto & General reminded drivers that using a handheld cellphone is a traffic offence in South Africa, and that even if traffic police can't see the phone at the driver's ear, it doesn't mean that it is OK or safe to use it.