Study shows texting behind the wheel sends insurance rates skyward

Texting While Driving4AutoInsuranceQuote.org, and online car insurance quote service, has released the results of its study that has shown that the texting behaviors of drivers are causing insurance rates to rise.

The research showed that when drivers receive citations for texting while behind the wheel, or when they are in an accident that is associated with the use of a mobile phone or device, it causes his or her monthly premiums to increase.

Further to this information the study determined that the number of accidents that have involved fatalities and that were caused by motorists that had been distracted by the use of their mobile phones is almost twice as big as it was in 2005.

The 4AutoInsuranceQuote.org report with the details of the study states that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that there has been a significant increase in the number of accidents involving distracted driving since 2008. It was in that year that texting made its way into mainstream behaviors. In 2009, the year after texting became commonplace, there were 1,000 fatalities caused by distracted drivers, who brought about a total of 24,000 accidents that year alone.

Throughout their efforts to perform the study, the insurance comparison site determined that individuals who take part in texting behind the wheel significantly increase their risk of putting themselves and other road users in danger as a result of three primary factors:

• Texting provides a visual distraction so their eyes are taken away from the road in order to send or receive texts.
• Texting provides a cognitive distraction as they are thinking about the text message content and not the road.
• The ability to react quickly and safely is limited when a driver takes his or her hand(s) off the wheel.

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