UPDATED: Friday, April 13, 2012 - 9:54am
COLLEGE STATION -- Everyone knows that using your cell phone while driving can be dangerous but admit it, we've all done it at some point.
This week, the National Transportation Safety Board, has unanimously agreed that the use of cell phones should be banned.
And while the NTSB cannot require states to follow their recommendation, statistics show that using a cellular device, whether it's hands-free or not, while driving poses serious danger.
Earlier this year the Texas Transportation Institute did a study of texting and driving and the affects it has on a driver's response times. And Christine Yager with TTI says states should seriously consider the NTSB's recommendation.
"What we found was that compared to not texting, when they were reading or writing messages their reaction times were approximately doubled which means that you have that much longer to respond if there was a sudden roadway danger or event."
A different study conducted by the University of Utah, which looked at the effects of talking on a cell phone, shows that it is as equally impairing as driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 so Yager recommends keeping your cell phone out of reach while driving to resist the urge of picking it up when it goes off.