一份研究报告显示，美国每年有5000多人死于开车发短信和打电话，而20岁以下的驾车者尤其容易在开车时分神。2009年一份针对大型车辆及卡车驾车者的研究报告指出，开车发短信引发撞车的风险是专心驾驶状态下的23倍。研究人员表示，驾车者开车发短信时，平均每条短信有4.6秒的时间是不看路的，按照每小时车速55英里来计算，相当于一个足球场那么长的距离都是驾车者看着手机在行驶的。而开车打手机同样也有风险，因为驾车者在通话的时候脑子里会想象通话对方的样子，分神自然在所难免。除此之外，现在车内安装的网络浏览器和GPS定位仪等高科技设备看似是为车辆行驶安全才增装的，但其实也有让驾车者分神的嫌疑。

Texting and talking on cell phones behind the wheel kills more than 5,000 people every year on US highways.

Texting and talking on cell phones behind the wheel kills more than 5,000 people every year on US highways. Teen drivers seem to be especially susceptible to distraction, a study says.

A 2009 study focusing on drivers of larger vehicles and trucks has concluded that texting raised the risk of a crash by 23 times compared with non-distracted driving, says an environmental report.

Environmental researcher Uvid Hosansky, who authored the report for the journal CQ Researcher, wrote, "Texting drivers took their eyes off the road for each text an average of 4.6 seconds, which at 55 mph means they were driving the length of a football field without looking."

Talking on a cell phone is also dangerous. "Experts say that talking on a cell phone while driving is far more distracting than talking with an adult passenger because it consumes additional cognitive resources, including creating a mental picture of the person on the other end of the conversation," added Hosansky, who was twice nominated for Pulitzer Prize.

The National Highway Traffic Safety -Administration, US, estimated that 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 years old involved in fatal crashes were believed to be distracted, "the highest proportion of any age group," by texting and mobile phone use, reports the journal CQ Researcher.

"Although some people may think they can safely talk and drive, researchers who observe people in driving simulators as well as in actual cars on the road find that a cell phone conversation will invariably intrude on a driver's attentiveness," said Hosansky.

"The distractions don't stop with cell phones. Car makers are adding new technologies to the dashboard, such as Web browsers and GPS units. Car makers say that such technologies are designed very carefully for safety, but safety advocates worry that they are creating even more hazardous driving conditions," Hosansky concluded.

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(Agencies)

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