Which Is More Dangerous: DUI or Driving While Using a Cell Phone?

Smartphones have improved connectivity between people in this age. However, in the attempt to stay connected, some people end up using their cell phones while driving. Unfortunately, many motorists who use their phones while driving have a relaxed attitude toward the practice and do not see it as dangerous, which increases the risk of an accident.

However, the same people agree that driving under the influence (DUI) is an offense and dangerous. What they fail to understand is that using a handheld cell phone while driving, whether it is talking or texting, is illegal, as it takes your eyes off the road, increasing the risk of an accident significantly, just like DUI. Distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,208 people in 2024, making it a significant safety risk comparable to DUI.

Use of a Cell Phone While Driving Statistics

Pursuant to California Vehicle Code (VC) 23123, it is unlawful to talk on a handheld cell phone, write, or read a text message because it leads to distracted driving, a leading cause of car accidents. VC 23123.5 makes it illegal to text while driving. While using a cell phone while driving is common in popular culture, it is crucial to understand the dangers of this activity.

Despite the law banning the use of a cell phone while driving, texting while driving is a major cause of distracted driving accidents, quickly becoming as dangerous as drinking and driving. According to the 2024 statistics of distracted driving, NHTSA reported that 3,208 lives were lost. In 2018, there were 4,637 cell phone use-related car accident fatalities, while in 2015, 3,500 lives were claimed due to distracted driving, and 400,000 others were injured. 

A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2014 revealed that 42% of high school students aged 16 or younger used a cellphone while driving. 11 teenagers die from cell phone use while driving daily, making teenagers four times more likely to die from distracted driving accidents than adults.

Research by Harvard University on distracted driving among college students showed that 40 of the participants who drove while using the phone:

  • Operated the car more slowly
  • They were nine percent slower on the brakes
  • Had 24% more variation in following distance as the attention was switched between texting and the wheel
  • Were 19% slower to accelerate to the former speed after braking
  • They were more likely to be involved in a distracted driving car accident

No participant was drunk during this phase of the study.

Another phase of the study involving drunk drivers with a BAC of at least .08% was also conducted. Drunk drivers did not perform any better than distracted drivers. They drove slower than the distracted drivers but were more aggressive. They drove too close to the pace vehicle and were twice as likely to brake every four seconds before a possible rear-end collision. Drunk drivers hit the brakes with 24% more force, and their reaction time and speed recovery were almost the same as those of distracted drivers. This proves that distracted driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving.

Driving While Using a Cell Phone Penalties

The legal deterrents enacted to discourage cell phone use while driving have been ineffective. VC 23123 outlines the cell phone use tickets and fines. When you are arrested for talking or texting on a cell phone while driving, you will attract a base court fine of $20 and $50 for each subsequent violation. A base fine is the minimum the court can impose. You can face a bigger fine depending on your case’s circumstances.

Using a cell phone while driving is not a crime, which is why the court issues you a ticket after an arrest. These violations may be reported to the DMV and can affect your driving records, but the violation does not affect your insurance premiums.

When the police arrest you for an infraction, they issue you a citation, which is a promise to appear in court on a specified date. Failing to appear is a violation of VC 40508. If you skip court on the scheduled date or attend your hearing but fail to pay the fine, you could face a misdemeanor charge, with at most 6 months in jail and a fine of no more than $1,000.

Furthermore, the injured party can file a personal injury claim seeking compensation for injuries or property damage caused by a distracted-driving accident.

However, VC 23123 has its exceptions. It does not apply to transit vehicles. or school bus drivers. Additionally, the law does not apply when you are driving a car on your property or if you are using a wireless phone for an emergency. Also, it is legal for emergency response experts to use wireless cell phones while driving authorized emergency vehicles.

Enforcement of these laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving is challenging. The increased use of speakerphones in cars and the difficulty proving a defendant was using a phone have made law enforcement reluctant to enforce VC 23123. If millions of motorists addicted to cell phones continue the culture of driving while using the phone, distracted driving will become the new DUI.

Dangers of Using a Cell Phone While Driving

Driving while using a cell phone is associated with most distracted driving accidents. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) categorizes distracted driving into three:

  • Manual distraction, which occurs when you manipulate the phone by dialing or texting while taking your hands off the wheel, substantially increases the risk of a collision or near-collision.
  • Visual distraction, which involves taking your eyes off the road and onto the phone. Shifting your attention from the road to the phone can cause inattentional blindness, which lasts approximately 4.6 seconds. When your eyes are not on the road, the brain stops processing information about the task at hand, which is driving, making it difficult to swerve, brake progressively, or identify sudden obstacles on the road, such as animals or children.
  • Cognitive distraction, which entails taking your mind off the vehicle operation. If your mind is lost in a phone conversation, your thoughts are diverted from the task of operating the car, impairing your judgment or slowing your reaction time, increasing the risk of an accident because you are unable to drive safely.

Many distracted driving behaviors involve multiple forms of distraction. If you are using the phone, visual, cognitive, and manual distractions are all in play, increasing the risk of an accident.

Distracted driving is dangerous not only for drivers but also for other road users, such as pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Statistics

According to the statistics:

  • 12,492 individuals lost their lives in drunk driving-related accidents in 2023 nationwide, representing a 7.6% decrease in deaths reported the previous year.
  • Of these nationwide fatalities, California reported 1,355 drunk driving fatalities, representing a 4.5 decrease from the number reported the previous year.
  • Of the 12,492 nationwide fatalities, 30% stemmed from drunk drivers operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least .08%.
  • Of the 1,355 fatalities reported in California, 33% involved drivers with a BAC of at least .08%.
  • The drunk driving death rate per 100 vehicle miles traveled decreased 10.5% from 0.42 in 2022 to 0.38 in 2023.

DUI is a nationwide epidemic, with the CDC and NHTSA reporting that:

  • An average of 29 people nationwide lose their lives daily to drinking and driving, meaning a person dies from a DUI accident every fifty minutes.
  • Although the designated BAC limit is .08%, 1,775 individuals lost their lives in car crashes involving driving with BAC ranging from .01% to .07%.
  • 17% of fatalities involving children younger than 15 were caused by drunk driving

Effects of Alcohol and Drugs on Your Ability to Drive Safely

What makes drunk or drugged driving dangerous is not only the fact that you can decide to speed, increasing the risk of an accident, but also the fact that alcohol impairs your judgment, reduces reaction time, and impairs your ability to concentrate and your vision.

Alcohol or Drugs Impair Your Judgment

Driving involves quick, rational decisions or judgments, functions performed by the brain based on prior experiences and knowledge in response to a problem. When you use alcohol or drugs, the part of the brain that performs these functions is impaired, failing to anticipate danger, leading to distant misjudgment, and taking needless risks that put you and other road users at risk of an accident or death.

Drunk or Drugged Driving Blurs Your Vision

The most crucial sense for driving is vision. Vision helps you judge distances between vehicles and objects on your path. It enables you to read road signs, judge distance correctly, and see obstacles and vehicles on your path. Unfortunately, alcohol or drug use causes blurred vision, lowering your capacity to focus on the road, and causes double vision. This lowers your perception of distance and ability to determine the speed and movement of other cars on the road. As a result, you drift to the lane of oncoming traffic, wander across lanes, or run off the road. A BAC of .02%  or more impairs your vision.

Slow Reaction Time

Impaired driving slows your information processing and reaction speed when critical driving tasks, such as unexpected hazards, traffic signals, or other motorists' actions, are involved, increasing the risk of fatal accidents. Controlled substances or alcohol makes you drowsy and less alert, leading to slow reactions.

DUI Penalties

VC 23152b is the statute that criminalizes driving with a BAC exceeding the .08% limit. You can face misdemeanor or felony charges, depending on the number of prior offenses and the case’s circumstances. A first DUI within ten years is a misdemeanor whose conviction carries:

  • 36 months of informal probation
  • $390 to $1,000 in court fines
  • 2 to 180 days of jail confinement
  • Three months of DUI school if your BAC was .20% or more
  • 180 days of driving privileges withdrawal with an option to install an interlock ignition device (IID) to allow you to drive for the suspension period.

A second DUI violation attracts severe penalties apart from court fines. The penalties include:

  • Jail incarceration is 98 hours to twelve months
  • License suspension for 24 months, with an option to drive immediately with an IID for twelve months of suspension
  • One and a half to two and half years of DUI program or school
  • Three to five years of misdemeanor probation

A third violation is punishable by:

  • Same court fine as first and second DUI, depending on penalty assessment
  • 120 days to twelve months of prison incarceration
  • 36 months of driver's license suspension, with the option to drive with an IID for two years of the suspension.

A fourth DUI offense is a wobbler, allowing the prosecutor to charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances. When convicted of a misdemeanor, you risk the following penalties:

  • Six months to one year of jail confinement
  • Monetary court fines ranging from $390 to $1,000
  • Misdemeanor probation
  • Enrolment in a DUI program for two and half years
  • 48 months of license suspension with the option to drive with an IID for 36 months

A felony conviction attracts:

  • 16, 24, or 36 months in jail
  • No more than $10,000 in court fines
  • Enrolment in a DUI program for two and half years

California VC 23153 outlines the penalties for DUI causing injuries or fatalities. If you are convicted of a DUI causing injuries, you risk misdemeanor or felony penalties. Misdemeanor penalties include:

  • Three to five years of informal probation
  • 120 hours to one year in county jail
  • $390 to $1,000 in court fines
  • Enrolment in a DUI program for three, eighteen, or thirty months
  • Twelve months of license suspension with an IID option

As a felony, a VC 23153 violation carries:

  • 16 months to 10 years of state prison incarceration
  • An additional and consecutive one to six years of incarceration, contingent on the injured parties and the gravity of their injuries.
  • $1,015 to $5,000 in monetary court fines
  • Eighteen to thirty months of DUI school
  • 36 months of designation as a Habitual Traffic Offender
  • 60 months of DL suspension with an IID option

If a DUI accident results in death, the penalties you risk depend on the specific offense you are charged with. If the prosecutor can prove ordinary negligence, leading to the fatal DUI accident, you will attract vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charges under PEN 191.5b. The misdemeanor penalties for the offense include:

  • No more than twelve months in jail
  • At most $1,000 in court fines
  • Informal probation

As a felony, a PEN 191.5b violation attracts the following:

  • 16, 24, or 48 months of prison confinement
  • At most $10,000 in court fines
  • Formal probation

If you acted with gross negligence, causing a fatal DUI accident, you risk gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charges under PEN 191.5(a). The offense is a felony whose conviction attracts:

  • Four, six, or ten years of state imprisonment
  • At most $10,000 in court fines
  • Formal probation

If you are a repeat offender who has already received a warning on the dangers of DUI, a fatal DUI will result in DUI murder or Watson murder charges under PEN 187. When convicted of this felony offense, you risk 15 years to life in prison and, at most, $10,000 in court fines.

Which is More Dangerous: DUI or Driving Using a Cell Phone?

The answer is no, based on statistics. However, even though DUI causes more accidents and fatalities than using a cell phone while driving, this does not mean distracted driving is less dangerous. While drivers, especially those addicted to smartphones, take using a phone while driving more lightly than a DUI, it poses a great danger to the motorist and other road users. Even though DUI is four times more dangerous than distracted driving, the use of a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous. Only these cases go unreported, and there is a lack of evidence to prove the violation.

Taking your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds can seem like a short time, but when driving at a speed of 55mph, the distance covered is the length of a football field. It is enough time to drift from your lane into oncoming traffic or fail to brake to avoid a sudden obstacle. This is as dangerous as DUI, because it causes blurred vision, reduces reaction time, and impairs judgment. The two driving violations impair reaction time and cognitive load, posing an almost equivalent danger. However, statistics show that DUI is the most dangerous, which explains why it attracts severe misdemeanor or felony penalties, and distracted drivers only receive a ticket or fine.

Find a Competent Distracted Driving Attorney Near Me

With the culture of driving while using a cell phone prevalent, the risk of distracted driving traffic accidents is high. Distracted driving, even though not as dangerous as DUI, causes fatal accidents that leave victims with severe injuries or death, which is why authorities take the violation seriously. The consequences of distracted driving are severe, including court fines and tickets, while those of a DUI include hefty fines, jail or prison time, and license suspension.

At Koenig Law Office, we can help you defend against a VC 23123 violation or DUI offense to prevent the severe penalties. Call us at 661-793-7222 to schedule an appointment in Bakersfield.