Cruise control -
Cruise Control and How They Cause Driving Accidents
Navigation -
Sat-nav systems 'potentially dangerous' - Telegraph
Pets -
Study: Driving under influence of pets a danger - Chicago Breaking News
Crack -
How drugs affect driving: TheSite.org
...I could go all day finding legit studies and silly studies, but if you notice, the common denominator in all of them (including the texting) Is inattentiveness...the stimuli is really a moot point, as attentiveness varies from person to person, scenario to scenario...you could be on an open stretch of highway texting and be far safer than someone on a back road adjusting the air conditioner...you could be texting in heavy traffic and be more dangerous than someone who just did a line of cocaine and grabbed the keys...
The bottom line is attention...focus...those of you with a hard on for preaching anti texting mumbo jumbo are so focused on this that you fail to see the real issue...your abilities dictate your actions, and to stereotype everyone into a lump, saying everyone is dangerous when they text and drive is like me saying you will get cancer from using your iPhone...
It's a "could" scenario, not a "will" scenario...driving while drunk is a scenario where regardless of how little or great you pay attention, you're still impaired dangerously...in the scenario of texting, you're not impaired, you are distracted...your mind is still perfectly capable of detaching from the text messaging...where as when you're drunk, you are not in control of what had impaired you...thus, the comparison is apples and oranges, there's no equal ground because it's a matter of controlled distraction vs out of control impairment.
Yesterday emotional stupidity gained control of my responses, and I let a sucker punch get the best of my retort, today I maintain my stance, the comparison is silly, can texting while driving be dangerous? Yes...but so can walking to the car, fueling the car, changing the radio, etc...and at one point or another, every technological feature we use today came under scrutiny for it's dangers when involving driving...cell phones themselves have been proven fatal while driving even while using hands free devices...this text stuff is an easy target because it involves kids and idiots, of which I'm guessing most of the examples of texting dangers involved...
Attentiveness, not texting, is the culperate...and because of this, each persons own attentiveness can dictate whether or not texting while driving is safe or dangerous...not a couple of peoples stereotype that everyone drives on the same level, therefore experiencing stigmas exactly the same while doing so.