London (England) – A new study by the Transport Research Laboratory in England shows that text messaging drivers are much more impaired than drunks and those high on marijuana.  Using a driving simulator, the TRL found that texting drivers took longer to stop and had much longer reaction times.

Young adults aged 17 to 24 were selected for the study that was done for the Royal Automobile Club in England.  All participants said they were very confident of their texting abilities, but according to the results, they drove horribly while texting.  Texters had a 91% higher chance (versus normal drivers) of drifting out of their lanes.  People under the influence of marijuana were 35% worse.  So I guess in England researchers are allowed to give people pot.

Reaction times also took a big hit.  Texters were 35% slower than normal drivers while drunks and marijuana users had 12% and 21% slower reaction times, respectively.  The slower reaction times increased stopping times from 1.2 seconds to 1.6 seconds.  According to the TRL, this amounts to three extra car lengths at freeway speeds.

Researchers also discovered that it takes much longer to actually compose a text message while driving.  Messages that would have normally taken 22 seconds to type out sitting at a desk took approximately 63 seconds while driving.  Many states ban talking a cell phone call while driving, but there are often loopholes that allow text messaging.

The report concludes, “The combination of increased mental workload required to write a text message, the control impairment caused by the physical act of holding the phone, and the visual impairment caused by continually shifting visual orientation between the phone display and the road ahead resulted in significantly impaired ability to maintain safe road position.”

You can view the entire study here

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