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Topic: texting while driving
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted August 27, 2009 11:15 AM
They really REALLY need to pass a law to get rid of texting while driving! My wife and I like to take walks with our baby in the stroller, (well, yeah, he wouldn't be under it!), and
at least once a week, (and that is no lie) we almost get regularly smeared into the pavement, and at least least 9 times out of 10, it's either because of texting or cell phones.
You just don't have the attention span needed to drive and really have full control over driving, especially with so many unknown elements that can pop up suddenly.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Richard C Patchett
Master Film Handler
Posts: 424
From: Flint Mi 48506
Registered: Dec 2007
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posted September 01, 2009 11:29 AM
Greetings
It might be stalled a bit here, but steam is building nationally behind the movement to ban texting while driving.
The Governors Highway Safety Association on Monday became the latest national traffic safety group to endorse a ban on using cell phones, PDAs and other messaging devices while driving.
Seems obvious, right? The problem is, too many people think they’re immune to the dangers, and our increasingly hyper-connected work and personal lives put pressure on us to be available and ready to interact at a moment’s notice.
That moment should never happen while at the control of a moving vehicle.
The GHSA is now encouraging each state to ban texting behind the wheel, period. The group says such bans send “a message to the public that this dangerous practice is unacceptable. We can begin to change the culture that has permitted distracted driving.”
The GHSA notes a recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study found that a driver engrossed in sending an electronic message while driving increases by 23 times his or her risk of crashing or narrowly avoiding one.
But the GHSA and others have had one big reservation about bans. They’re difficult to enforce until after the fact and may provide a false sense of security.
That’s one of the reasons Michigan hasn’t joined the ban bandwagon just yet.
Detroit this spring banned texting while driving; the city already had banned using hand-held cell phones while driving.
Bills to ban texting behind the wheel have been introduced in the Michigan Legislature but haven’t seen action in months. The GHSA says 18 states and Washington, D.C., have banned text messaging for drivers.
Even if Michigan were to ban texting while driving, it’s just one more offense for stretched-thin police to enforce. Outlawing it may provide more comfort than warranted.
Even so, there’s growing public support for a crackdown, at least according to the insurer Nationwide, which said Monday that a survey it conducted found 80% support nationally for a ban on texting while driving.
We need a major public-education focus on distraction. People must get it through their heads that the single stupidest thing they can do behind the wheel is to pay attention to anything other than driving safely.
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16 mm Parts & Service
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