Posted on by Julie Moree

Texting Extremities- Are We Putting Ourselves In Danger?

Let’s see if we can make our lives safer!

People text, but have we gone too far?  Are we so wrapped up in our conversations that we are missing what is going on in the world?  Texting is becoming the “way of life” as we reported earlier, and it’s so extreme that people have even coined the term, “Textaholics” as defined by Urban dictionary is simply described as one who is addicted to texting regardless of how rude it looks. Similarly, sleep disorders as well as texting while driving have came out in news reports, but could texting incidentally be dangerous?

Roughly 100,000 people living in the U.S use text messaging as a means of communication according to a study done by Cell signs on Verizon Wireless Customers.  Subsequently, the average age of texter is 38, however people from the age of 18 to 54 are found to text most often.

Rise in US text messages- Chart
A study down by cell signs.com shows the rapid increase in Text Message Users in the U.S

Stll, as we reported earlier from Mashable Tech, the average teen driver sends about 3,000 text messages a day.

What’s more is teen drivers admit that they are guilt of texting or emailing while driving.  A study recorded by an Infographics design team shows, while over half of all U.S. states have some form of texting laws in place, nearly 50 percent of drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 still text while behind the wheel.

The affects of what texting while driving can have as opposed to drinking and driving
The Governor’s Highway Safety Association shows the causes that texting while driving can do even when states have laws against it.

Ultimately the study determined that the individual caught texting while driving is 8 percent more likely to be involved in an automobile accident.

A chart from Infographics Showcase, asks the question, “Worried You’re A Phone Addict?”  The truth is for most of us we are addicted.  The chart shows, forty percent never turn their phones off and 83 percent sleep with the device next to them.  Other scenarios included in the chart are the use of phones in quiet places as well as work settings.

So here’s what we can do to improve our safety.

Above all, let’s try to put down the phones a little bit.  There are other ways of communicating.

  1. Visit the person if they are in the area;
  2. Write a letter (Yes, I mean snail mail); and
  3. IChat or Skype them (trust me, it’s a lot more personal than the TXTing. LOL)