Even if it is just as distracting as adjusting your radio or climate, which is false anyway, it's ANOTHER distraction on top of those ones, and it has no impact on your driving the way doing those two activities do.
At a red light, you are still operating a motor vehicle and are part of the flow of traffic, therefore any actions you undertake while in operation of said vehicle have an impact on your fellow commuters.
Any distraction can have negative impacts on others.
If you want to drive, drive. If you're doing anything else while driving, you're being unsafe and inconsiderate. Considering driving is already one of the most unsafe activities we as humans engage in on a daily basis, it can't be stressed enough how selfish it is to put your own fleeting desires ahead of the safety of others.
If you can't accept that, I think it behoves you to really examine how you live other aspects of your life.
If it takes 2 seconds, which is again untrue, then it's not important enough to do while in operation of a vehicle.
And then, there is what we know about people in general:
Quote:
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In our test, neither subject had any idea that using his phone would slow down his reaction time so much. Like most folks, they think they’re pretty good drivers. Our results prove otherwise, at both city and highway speeds. The key element to driving safely is keeping your eyes and your mind on the road. Text messaging distracts any driver from that primary task. So the next time you’re tempted to text, tweet, e-mail, or otherwise type while driving, either ignore the urge or pull over. We don’t want you rear-ending us.
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http://www.caranddriver.com/features...results-page-2
Even
anticipating answering a text message at the next red light makes you a distracted and unsafe driver.