Chicago DUI lawyer says studies suggest it's safer to drive with a DUI than text while driving

Car and Driver has now weighed in on driving while texting. Apparently, it's safer to drive with a BAC over the legal limit of .08 than to drive with no alcohol in your system while texting. Next up a comparission between driving while painting your nails versus driving while drinking an extra hot latte.

June 25, New York, NY

There have been studies that compare text messaging on cellphones and other hand-held devices to driving drunk. And several states have alreadybanned texting while driving. But according to Car and Driver, no one has done a real-world test — until now.

In an article that appears in the current issue of the magazine, the editors hooked up a Honda Pilot with a red light on the windshield. Car & Driver’s editor and chief, Eddie Alterman, 37, and the magazine’s intern, Jordan Brown, 22, both took turns behind the wheel on a test track. When the light came on, the drivers hit the brakes.

From Car and Driver:

The results, though not surprising, were eye-opening. Intern Brown’s baseline reaction time at 35 mph of 0.45 second worsened to 0.57 while reading a text, improved to 0.52 while writing a text, and returned almost to the baseline while impaired by alcohol, at 0.46. At 70 mph, his baseline reaction was 0.39 second, while the reading (0.50), texting (0.48), and drinking (0.50) numbers were similar. But the averages don’t tell the whole story. Looking at Jordan’s slowest reaction time at 35 mph, he traveled an extra 21 feet (more than a car length) before hitting the brakes while reading and went 16 feet longer while texting. At 70 mph, a vehicle travels 103 feet every second, and Brown’s worst reaction time while reading at that speed put him about 30 feet (31 while typing) farther down the road versus 15 feet while drunk.

Car and Driver even have video of the tests.

This is not a suggestion that you drink before driving. ROFLMBO