Texting While Driving: More Females Using Cell Phones Than Males

In a new distracted driving study, the results found that more women are texting while driving than men. The Society for Risk Analysis released their study results and it showed that females are more prone to use their cell phones while behind the wheel than males. Why is that?

Texting While Driving Study

This study appeared in Risk Analysis: An International Journal, which is published by Society for Risk Analysis. In the study, “Should I text or call here? A situation-based analysis of drivers’ perceived likelihood of engaging in mobile phone multitasking,” researchers discovered four different profiles for drivers. These profiles consisted of drivers who are female, drivers who are frequent users of phones for texting/calling, drivers with negative attitudes towards safety and drivers who are highly disinhibited.

The Results

Based on the study, it was determined that females were picking up their cell phone a lot more than males. Drivers were more likely to talk on their cell phone rather than texting while driving. While this might seem like a safer option, neither of them are safe. Talking on a mobile device increases crash risk by 2.2 times whereas texting increases risk by 6.1 times.

It’s all about finding a safe place to use your phone. Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios, one of the authors of the study, said, “Drivers are not good at identifying where it is safe to use their phone. It is safer for drivers to just pull over in an appropriate place to use their phone quickly and then resume their journey.”

Texting While Driving Simulator

One of the main issues with texting and driving is the fact people go into it thinking they will be fine sending one quick text. That is not the case, as we said texting increases the risk of a crash by 6.1 times. This is where the texting while driving simulator from Arrive Alive Tour comes into play, as we can teach participants the dangers of distracted or drunk driving, but in a controlled environment!