Text Messaging Featured Article

While there are numerous campaigns out there trying to get people to understand the dangers of texting while driving, a new study indicates that stopping this habit might be more difficult than first thought—it may actually be addictive. Forbes is reporting that at least one expert thinks compulsion and addiction are applicable terms when talking about the draw to texting while driving.

“We compulsively check our phones because every time we get an update through text, email or social media, we experience an elevation of dopamine, which is a neurochemical in the brain that makes us feel happy,” said David Greenfield, an expert on “technology addiction.”

Greenfield has actually put together a test on his website that allows people to see if they might need to take a “technology diet” in order to sort of wean themselves off technological practices like texting while driving. When taking the test, the site says that if a person answers yes to three or four of the 12 questions, those users have something called “digital distraction.”

Greenfield is certainly someone what cellular providers take seriously. Earlier this month, AT&T (News - Alert) released a study by the expert as part of the ItCanWait campaign. Alongside this study, the company touted a new app called DriveMode. The application turns on automatically when the phone is moving more than 15 MPH. The app also turns off automatically when it has stopped. The application silences incoming text message alerts while also sending an auto response so the sender knows the person they just texted is driving.

Even better for parents who have young drivers, the application will alert them if that youngster goes the extra mile of actually turning off the application. The DriveMode application is just one of many that is trying to help people deal with their need to text while driving. It seems likely that more solutions that are a bit more difficult to get around will likely be popping up in the near future.