text: Texting and driving is just dangerous as driving under the influence. Some people would agree that driving while drunk is most common and dangerous thing you can do. However, The National Safety Council states that someone texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than someone driving drunk ("On the Road"). Therefore, it is more common for people to be distracted by their phones to cause an accident than driving under the influence is. Reaction times decrease by 35% when texting and driving, compared to the 12% decrease when driving under the influence of alcohol. Steering control while distracted in 91% poorer than those who are driving with full concentration. In 2002, there were 12,405 drunk driving fatalities (Masters); then that's number decreased to 9,296 in 2011 (Masters). However, distraction driving resulted in approximately 2,600 death in 2002. The number of distracted driving accidents increased by 22% in 2011 and resulted in 3,331 fatalities. Drive to drive; texting and driving is just as bad as driving under the influence.