When New York Senator Chuck Schumer brought a bill before the Senate to ban texting while driving, it seemed like the right bill at the right time. Strangely, getting comparable laws going on a state-by-state basis has been tough sledding. How is this, if what CNN reports is true and 80 percent of auto wrecks are indeed related to distracted drivers who are texting or doing something else? The language used in the legislation may be what’s holding things up.
Article Source: Texting while driving legislation hits snags at state level By Car Deal Expert
Texting when driving is not what’s holding them back
Numerous United States are having trouble making a texting while driving ban work. Take Georgia, for instance. Gov. Sonny Perdue, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, doesn’t like the way the anti-texting while driving legislation is written. ”Any text-based communication” being banned is at issue. Also, the governor of Georgia doesn’t think a mere law will stop individuals from texting when driving, such is the power of instant gratification.
”If I get my e-mails and I pick up a smart-phone and read my e-mails,” asserted Perdue, “I’m violating the law. But if I print out my E-mails and I have a sheet of paper driving (and look at it), then I haven’t violated the law”.
Instant gratification is tough to resist
Using Perdue’s logic, perhaps all distracted driving should be against the law. It’s not hard to make the case. A texting while driving law would be worth the effort, wouldn’t it? The AJC indicates that texting while driving causes 1.6 million accidents each year, which involves 500,000-plus injuries and 6,000 deaths. Moreover, texting when driving is three times a lot more dangerous than drunk driving, some studies show. In total, texting while driving makes accidents 23 times a lot more likely to happen, says the AJC. Those numbers make it easy to see that individuals have to delay gratification and pull over first.
Auto Week and Oprah are on board
Auto Week’s national campaign against texting when driving has received attention. “We know what a car can do – artistically and brutally at speed,” writes Auto Week. “As car guys we must be on the front lines to carry the message, willing to share with every person we learn about the hazards of distracted driving. We must tell everybody to stop texting while driving. We are selfish that way. Because we want them to live”. Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone” has achieved even greater success.
Make roadways safer now
Perhaps state governors like Mr. Perdue will recognize that while his state’s anti-texting while driving bill may not be perfect, signing is a necessary start to help make roadways safer and save lives within the process. For additional info on texting when driving laws in place, see the Governors Highway Safety Association link below.
A lot more info on this topic
blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/06/03/advocates-make-last-minute-appeal-to-the-governor-to-sign-texting-while-driving-ban/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog
autoweek.com/files/distracteddriving/distracteddriving.html
ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
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