Six Traffic Safety Statistics

Six traffic safety statistics that may shock you.

Odds of winning the lottery: 1 in 135,145,920 (multi-state, mega-millions jackpot)
Odds of crashing while writing a text message and driving at the same time: Six times greater than if you were concentrating only on your driving. (Source: University of Utah study).

1. More than 1 trillion text messages were sent in 2009 in the US alone (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA).
2. The Utah texting study found that drivers who chatted on cell phones while behind the wheel experienced a 9 percent worsening in their average reaction times.
3. Nearly 20 percent of Canadian motorists admit to text messaging while driving, according to the Canadian Automobile Association.
4. People who attempted to text and drive at the same time had a 30 percent worsening in their average reaction times (University of Utah study).
5. In an earlier study by the University of Utah researchers, it was determined that drivers engaging in cell phone conversations while moving in traffic processed as much as 50 percent less information within their driving environment than drivers who weren’t engaging in cell phone conversations.
6. An AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety poll found that 89 percent of respondents believe that sending text messages or emails while driving is a “very serious” threat to safety.