Ask Mike: Driving while texting
Hey Guys,
Driving requires concentration. Yet, I think just about everyone will admit to “multi-tasking” while sitting behind the wheel. I asked the Yahoo! Answers community if they ever drive while texting (DWT)–an activity many experts believe to be very dangerous.
The answers I received were all over the map. Some folks sheepishly admitted to DWT while others responded that they never do it under any circumstances. One responder wrote that once upon a time he/she was driving while texting and very nearly experienced a fatal crash as a result. Others write that they only DWT while at stop lights.
CNN reports that “46 percent of drivers ages 16 to 17 admit to texting while driving.” The percentage drops significantly for older drivers. According to nationwide studies, “just 14 percent of those ages 28 to 44″ send text messages or fiddle with their phones while driving.
Some states are attempting to ban driving while texting. In Washington, drivers receive fines of $101 if they’re found guilty. Lawmakers in Oregon are hoping to implement a fine of over $700 starting in 2009. And, according to CNN, various cities are implementing city-wide bans on the practice. The American Medical Association believes that “text messaging while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road.”
California recently banned talking on a cell phone while driving (unless you happen to have a wireless device). Do you think such bans are effective? Would a similar ban on texting while driving stop people from doing it? Please chime in with your thoughts below.
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Does a ban on speeding keep people from speeding?
Sure. Some. Mabey alot. Some will do it. Others won’t. Blue tooth use will sore.Cell phone companies can you say chaching!
Yes, I do think those laws are effective. I was almost hit about 4 times by distracted cell phone drivers. If talking on the phone distracts you so much, texting is 100 times worse.
I don’t think a ban on texting while driving would be effective because it is not visible to other drivers or cops if the driver doesn’t want it to be. All he/she has to do is hold the phone below window level. If anything, this could make texting while driving more difficult for those who do engage in the activity because maybe without the ban, they put the phone on the dash and that way they can keep a visual on the road and not have to actually look away. Either way, it won’t stop it because the fact that cops won’t be able to prove that someone was texting, even if the user is fiddling with the phone in plain view, they can say that they were looking at their contact list to get ready to call someone.
FYI– I’m 16 and only text at red lights.
a girl at my school was texting while on the highway and when she looked up she was heading right across the median. she ran head on into an oncoming car with a 17 year boy in it. It was his birthday, no joke, and he died. now she has to live with that for the rest of her life. that is why i do not DWT
My brother texts while drives, and I hate being in the car with him. People don’t like to listen and just do what they want to do, some people never learn even when they make their mistakes. It’s pretty bad.
I almost got into a huge accident, luckily, I got off the phone with my bf and had my concentration on the road and swirved and did not hit anyone or get hit. If i was on the phone I would not have been able to take quick action.
It doesn’t make much of a difference if if’s on a wireless device or not because you’re still not focued. I think its okay to take a quick phone call but not have a conversation on the phone while driving.
My (ex) friend was driving her car on the highway one night, going 80 mph (25 over the speed limit) while talking on one of her cell phones, blasting music, drinking and texting someone on her other phone.
Well she crashed into someone which sent her car flying into a median. It totalted her car, trapped one girl in the front seat, left the girl in the back seat with a busted open head and the driver was fine.
Texting while driving is stupid and irresponsible.
in the State on MN is a law, it is primary offence to text and drive, so you can be pulled over and ticketed for it, They have done studies and distratcted driving is just as bad as drunk driving.
A few years ago, five girls from Western New York died in a car crash while on their way to spend their first weekend as high school graduates at a cabin one of their families owned. Those investigating the crash believe that the girl who was driving lost control of the car because she was texting and driving. It tore apart the community and people who never knew these girls cried many tears over their deaths; I’m tearing up now remembering seeing it on the news. It is most definitely dangerous to text while you’re driving; it’s illegal to read books while you drive, and texting is the same thing except more distracting because you’re typing back and forth. I truly hope it gets banned. People think they have more control over a vehicle than they actually do when what they need to do is just pay attention to the road. PLEASE, guys I know you do this; I know plenty of people who do, but it isn’t safe and the conversation can wait until you get to the light or a rest stop so that you can stay safer on the road!
I don’t text while driving but I do talk on my cell phone occasionally. Especially when I need directions. I do agree that texting can cause more accidents.
Yo, Grant. All the cop has to do is look at your phones message log. That will tell them whether or not you were texting when they pulled you over.
16 year old grant, when you hit someone while you’re distracted while texting. The cops can sure go after those records that show what you were doing at the time. You think you’re so smart because you’re 16.
As a resident of Washington who commutes in heavy stop ‘n’ go traffic daily, I see MANY people continuing to text behind the wheel in cars next to me, despite the new law. I don’t think it has changed the behavior of too many people, frankly.
Mind you, it’s considered a secondary offense…so the driver can only be fined for texting if there was another primary offense being committed for which they were pulled over by an officer (such as speeding, reckless driving, rolling through stop sign, etc).
I honestly don’t think the ban will be as effective as some people would hope. Like someone else said, it is very easy for a person to hide the fact that they are texting. But just because a law may or may not be 100% effective doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be implemented. I personally have never texted while driving (I rarely text anywhere or anytime anyway), and I would honestly be afraid to do so. I’m pretty uptight about having undivided attention on the road, and I don’t even look over at my passenger while I’m driving if we are talking.
All in all, I think bans and restrictions are a good idea, but they have to be enforced and people have to be taught about the real and true dangers of DWT at a young age.
Here in the Philippines people text while riding their motorcycles, it is very common and often they have several passengers onboad at the time (here a 2 seater bike can be load with as many as 7 people). However I believe it is very dangerous to text while driving any vehicle (although I have done it myself) but as one of the above posters commented it will be hard to prove so the law will not be that effective. I think cops should just start charging alot more people with undue care and attention, this law already covers the use of cell phones and that way the cop doesn’t have to prove anything he can just say that they were not paying attention to their driving and charge them.
Matt
I Text only at red lights or if traffic at stand-still
I put the phone down once traffic is moving again.
I have friend that text & drive tho in a dangerous way.
There should definitely be a law. Someone said that people don’t bother obeying speed limits…but could you imagine how bad the roads would be if there weren’t any to start with?
I know of a few fatal accidents due to texting while driving. It’s sad and stupid and a horrible, inexcusable reason to die and put others at risk. It should be illegal
Banning it won’t do anything because people will still text while driving. I can’t describe how stupid it is to text while driving. That’s like writing while driving. My friend always texts while she drives and I tell her to stop but she says she only does it when she’s important. I’m 17 and I’ve never attempted to text and drive, it’ll distract me way too much.
Wow like if you ban something p[eople are going to not do it. It’s illegal to rob a store but people to it anyway. Gosh you not going to stop texting just because people want you to.
P.S. Don’t drink the water fish have sex in it.
P.S.S. Are you going to stop drinking water now???
Where I am living there is a $150-$300 fine if you are caught talking on your cell phone while driving, I would assume that the same thing goes for texting. Newfoundland was the first province in Canada to implement this fine. It has worked…. I think these bans are effective but it will take some people time to get use to.
I only text at red lights. I will set the phone down mid-text when the light changes. I would DIE of embarrassment if I rear-ended someone while texting. What a nightmare. What if someone got hurt?
Are the cops planning on really enforcing the law- like seat belts? We don’t have a ban yet, but I still hide my phone when passing a cop.
that wont help. il stil text will driving… cuse ill just put the phone below window level.. i only text at lights… and while traffic is slow… even my mom does so if i get fined she cant say anything but huff and cough up the money
My biology teacher’s niece just got killed last week from driving while texting. She wasn’t concentrating and got it and died instantly…
Police should be impowered to give an instant fines if they spot drivers using a phone while driving, like they already have here in the UK, along with a points system. No, it doesn’t stop some irresponsible drivers from deliberately flouting the law, but it has reduced the numbers of cellphone related accidents. If it can save just one life per year then it is worthwhile.
It can only be hoped that eventually drivers using cellphones while behind the wheel will be held in as much contempt by society as drunk drivers are today.
I’m 13 and don’t even have a cell phone, but I think that that kind of law is a good idea, if they had cameras made to look in peoples cars at every stop light or something, since people can just drop a cell they are texting on when I cop comes over, lots of people will just lie and there can’t be enough evidence.
If they can enforce it, it’s good. If they can’t, oh well.
i have texted while driving. i have stopped doing this now. many months back i was texting a lot while doing 75 mph on the highway. after that i just quit it.
It should be banned! People should only text when they are stopped…how hard is it to just pull over if you really need to call or text? Just put your phone away and look at it when you get out.
Texting while driving is just as bad as drinking while driving. Peopel think they are driving just fine, but in reality they are all over the road, and are likely to kill somoene. TWD should have yhe same penalties as DUI.
I remember hearing a statistic that had to do with just talking on the phone while driving, not texting. I think they said that people under 25 who talk on the cell phone while driving tend to drive worse than people over 80 years old. I’ll totally believe it. I’m 21 and I can’t drive while on the phone to save my life.
So imagine texting. You see someone cutting into the next lane and then you honk at them only to almost get into an accident anyway, because their eyes are on a cell phone screen when they should be on the road, and their thumbs typing on a cell phone keypad when they should be on the wheel.
If only the president suggested that law to congress.
Wow I can’t believe there’s an official name for it now! DWT!? HAHA!! Now you KNOW it’s a problem! XD
I read and send texts only during red lights. And when I send, it’s usually something really short, like lol, yeah, or no. If i don’t finish doing either, I close the phone and toss it in the seat next to me. what’s so hard about that?
Wow I can’t believe there’s an official name for it now! DWT!? HAHA!!
I heard that in all new cars, there is the equivalent of a BLACK BOX. So eventually, everyone who gets in an accident will experience their cars telling on them. Also, I happen to know that for most accidents now, the police check if the driver has a cell phone, courts will subpoena the phone records during the accident hours for proof of whatever the driver was doing. They can check if you have a cell phone through all the info you must give after an accident.
I drive and text.
Oh and it doesn’t matter if the cop checks your log, you can just delete it and they can’t prove anything.
You can make as many laws as you want but some people are going to still do it, some will stop and then some, like most of you will only admit to doing it at red lights when you think its safe.
It’s just not texting that is dangerous, it’s the over all distraction of an electronic device while driving. I live in Peoria and a young woman just died yesterday after she smashed into the back of a semi – a friend witnessed the accident and stopped to assist – he was horrifed when he discovered the woman was dead due to her head being smashed between the roof and head rest – she still had her cell phone at her ear!!! It was a disasterous accident and so needless – the police said she probably never even saw the semi before the collision. People, if you are going to take a call or need to text, please pull over – you may not be only one who is hurt due to the accident you cause, I don’t think you want to live with that kind of guilt for the rest of your life.
Putting a ban on it will not stop people from doing it. It is not as bad as drinking and driving because your not as impaired to drive at all times like if you were drunk. I text while i drive; but i can also text on my phone without looking, and my phone can read my text to me. i’ve never even been close to crashing.
i don’t think banning texting while driving will do anything teenagers will still text. i text while driving sure if they banned it i would still do it its the same as speeding you still do it as long as cops arn’t around
I just keep thinking of that terrible train accident in LA where almost 30 people were killed. The train driver was texting. And that was a train, he didn’t even need to think about cross traffic. The text and phone records are there so easy to supeona in any legal action.
One quick fix, cancel car insurance if a driver is caught texting while driving. Nothing like a bite out of the wallet to offer strong deterrent.
Minors under 18 shouldn’t even have a driver’s license if thy think they can play with their IPOD and text while driving.
I believe we will soon have a national organization like MADD. Mothers Against Texting Drivers.
ok my soon to be step-daugther got in not one but two car accidents while she was texting on the phone and the first one she wrecked her dads brand new truck (3 days old) luckly not one was hurt, the second someone pulled out in fornt of her but his goes to show you shold not be texting while you are driving
If the ban is effective or not is not the question- it is a step in the right direction. The fact that a federal ban does not yet exist is amazing.
Most of us have heard of DWT by now- since that’s true I see no reason why it isn’t illegal yet.
I’ve done it a few times. Even having the keys memorized doesn’t help- it’s too distracting.
As far as wireless devices are concerned, I find that most people who say that they don’t make a difference haven’t used them. Although there is still an amount of distraction with a bluetooth headset, it is far less. This is concerned with talking on the phone though, and DWT is a separate issue.
Aside from bans, what other solutions are there? I say let’s look at why people are DWTing instead of leaving voicemail in the first place: voice mail is a pain in the but. You need to wait for the ring, wait for the announcement, then leave your message. Likewise, when listening to it, you need to call, log in, wait through things like “you have a message from 10 am and blah blah blah.”
A quick voicemail system might be a better way to go.
Hey guess who, “even my mom does so if i get fined she cant say anything but huff and cough up the money”. Maybe you should grow up and pay your own fines if you get caught doing something so stupid. I’m guessing mommy paid for the phone and service, buys your car, puts gas in it, and pays for your insurance, too. I hope you wipe your own butt by now. If you think you are mature enough to drive, you should be mature enough to bear the cost of it. It’s called personal responsibility, look it up.
full QWERTY keyboard while driving… hell yeah
In fact, TWD could become a cash cow for both local governments and insurance companies. If laws are made with stiff fines, the local government gets the cash. If insurance companies put an exclusion in the policy for coverage for TWD and require the insured to submit cell phone records before paying out a claim … Cha-CHING!!!
Then, people who pay for the auto insurance will be more diligent about complying the no texting while driving laws.
In NJ it’s illegal to text and talk on a cell phone. Doesn’t stop people from doing it though. Even I do it.
I only do it when I’m the only one in the car, and if there’s no one else on the road, unless I’m going straight. Or if I’m at a red light. It’s still not safe but it works. Most people I know don’t even need to look at the phone while they’re doing it.
As long as you’re looking at the road and not all over the place I think it’s fine. But texting or talking on the phone on major highways is wear I cross the line. I don’t even glance at my phone because when you’re going over 65 mph, your eyes should be on nothing but the road.
Laws sound great. Here is a more through description of my “delayed push-to-talk” idea:
http://armchairinventors.com/forum/index.php?topic=21.0
In short:
Say I send a message to Joe. I press the push-to-talk button and leave my message audibly. Joe’s phone beeps and the screen shows “you have an instant voice message from techphet.” Joe can ignore it or he can press a single button to listen to it. No dialing. No ringy-dingy. No password. No time-stamp. No fuss. He hears the message and can finish responding in less time than the average voice mail user would spend logging into the voice mail system.
Soon the auto insurance underwriters will require all states to pass laws banning TWD. It doesn’t make any sense for them to sit by. Plus, if it is illegal the insurance company can drop you if you are caught TWD. And, those who have been caught could end up with super high rate like those with a DUI.
In fact, TWD could become a cash cow for both local governments and insurance companies. If laws are made with stiff fines, the local government gets the cash. If insurance companies put an exclusion in the policy for coverage for TWD and require the insured to submit cell phone records before paying out a claim … Cha-CHING!!!
Then, people who pay for the auto insurance will be more diligent about complying the no texting while driving laws.
That train wreck in LA killed 23 people because the train driver was texting. And that was a train, he didn’t even need to think about cross traffic. I think it is like a DUI and soon will be dealt with similarly.
Mike, my good friend, there are an infinite number of activities that can be regarded as dangerous while driving. Yelling at the kids, fixing your hair or makeup, eating, scratching an itch,bouncing up and down to the beat of the music, looking for a pen-you get the idea-you know where this is going-it cannot be left up to people in power to decide which is ok and which is not-under penalty of law-which includes being shackled and caged like an animal. Humans are not equipped to make these kind of determinations, but somehow these lawmakers are convinced that THEY are. Pretty scary huh?
My job necessitates that I drive 50-70 miles a day. It revolves, unfortunately, around the aftermath of traffic accidents. Many of the accidents do involve some form of cellular phone use. This would be inclusive of dialing, fidgeting, talking, reading messages, et al. Texting has yet to be specifically ‘noted’.
At present, in California, texting is NOT specifically mentioned as a violation. It may fall in as a peripheral violation when one’s driving is reckless in nature, but it can not be a primary reason for citation issuance.
Basically it is just a technicality for its being put into a secondary status. But that does not diminish its significant contribution to the occurrence of traffic accidents. Distraction is distraction, whatever form it may takes.
Driving while texting? I’ll put it this way: at any given moment, we are all basically doing things the smartest way we know. Ask yourself, when you drive while texting, are you driving the smartest way you know?
great.
i don’t even have a car but i heard it was dangerous to text while driving as i know it before…
As a sixteen year old driver I admit to texting while driving, and I do believe it should be illegal. I think it should be a law where you can only do it at light and speeds under 30, I think that could really help America if it implemented this across the country and not just Cali and other states.
How could you possibly know the crash would have been fatal? Also im curious what age is between “16 to 17″? lol
I feel that the tools that have made our lives easier to stay in touch with each other is also a hindrance. Even reading received texts while driving can put others in danger. In LA, CA TWD is blamed for the horrific metrolink crash that happened recently.
The CHP states in regards to TWD: “The law does not specifically prohibit that, but an officer can pull over and issue a
citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer’s opinion, the driver was distracted and
not operating the vehicle safely. Text paging while driving is unsafe at any speed and is
strongly discouraged.” http://www.chp.ca.gov/pdf/media/cell_phone_faq.pdf
California Senate Bill 28 will specifically prohibit the practice in CA on Jan 1, 2009.
p.s. Why can’t automakers put in place a jamming mechanism that would jam all communications unless bluetooth wireless or 911 calls only?
I think that doing anything with a cell phone while driving should be illegal period.
i am actually so paranoid about getting in an accident that i don’t text while driving i would get too distracted and who knows what would happen… and if i do i pull over…
texting and talking on the cell phone is such a distraction to people who think they know how to “multi-task” but all they are doing is causing accidents… and then wonder how they crashed…
just yesterday i saw a school bus driver talking on a cell phone in my town and i was appalled… there were no kids on the bus but if there had been and she was talking who knows what she could have done..
I love texting, but doing it while driving is just plain stupid. I currently cant drive, but will be getting my permit in june. I am never going to text and drive. The drivers eyes should be on the road. Not on their phone!!!
I have absolutely no faith in a ban. People will still do it, they will just be more distracted by trying to hide it from the police.
What they hey? It’s impossible to keep your eyes off the road 400% of the time. The most is 100% -DUH!!
I was nearly run off the road and into a very deep ditch by a woman scewing around with her cell phone. I became EXTREMELY angry when I honked at her and saw her start laughing. I then followed her and lined my my car up next to her’s at a good angle to smash her car off the road. Luckily,I came to my senses and continued on with my business. In the future I will get the plate numbers and call the cops. Long story short,I am normally a nice,mild-mannered guy,but if you mess with the wrong person your life could be cut short!! Either buy a blue-tooth device or WAIT for your communications(your call is most likely unimportant anyway,believe it or not).
DWT is stupid. final say.
I heard on a radio program that a drinking driver at the legal limit has an mental impairment of 22%, and a texting driver has a mental impairment of 38%.
Whether texting is legal or not shouldn’t be the question people should concerned with, what people should consider is the risk and how high is the chance of ending up in a wreck when driving and texting.
sometimes if im driving and get a text i’ll read it at a red light, but i made a promise to never text while moving.
16y.o. in LA
I have to be honest. I have not yet seen a driver pull over to talk on the cell. People drive and have the phone in the other hand just as much.
They say that TWD is the lowest response time. More so thank Alchohol and Pot! I knew a girl who was texting while driving and I told her if she didn’t knock it off, I wanted out of the car. She was like 18 and I was 20 and she put up a hissy fit and I had to literally tell her to knock that shit off, take me back to our car or the cops would be involved. That’s how bad it was.
I don’t know why people don’t realize this is unsafe and it’s EASY to just pull over, make a quick call and say hey, on the freeway let me get back to you. Or quickly pick up the phone, talk into the mouth piece without listening, relay that message and hang up! That’s what I do when I really can’t talk, I give a response and don’t wait for one.
I’ve had drivers nearly hit me, and I had a HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER bump us the other night BECAUSE she was on a cell phone. A nice slam into us, with no damage so we let her carry on.
Point being
COPS. NEED. TO. ENFORCE!!!
It happens. People are silly for doing it but it happens.
There’s something that the ones who say people are just going to do it anyway don’t get. You think that you will get away with it if you keep it under window level and nobody sees you doing it. If you cause an accident and get your head cracked open, you aren’t going to have the time to close your phone and log off. They will find the phone, and figure out you were texting, if someone saw you or not, or if witnesses in your car admit it or not. Then you will leave the hospital and go right to jail for DWT if it’s illegal in your state. In addition to criminal charges, your parents will go broke and lose their homes trying to defend your sorry self to pay your medical bills, to pay other people’s damages, and if you kill someone, any criminal charges for DWT will be taken into account when awarding damages, and most people don’t have enough insurance to make up for that sort of thing. The main offenders are kids who are inexperienced at driving in the first place, it should definitely be illegal. I never drive and text, and never use my cell on the road, except when stopped in a traffic jam to tell someone I’m stuck and going to be late. Are your little social lives really worth all that? Do you really need to know what your girlfriend is going to wear to the party so bad you can’t wait till you get to her house to find out? One more LOL is that important? Close the freaking phone and learn to drive, I don’t think people should even use headsets while driving, it’s better than using a cell, but still very distracting, and I have to cope with watching out for all of you on the road while you’re putting on makeup, playing with your phones, playing with your lap top, and got a newspaper spread out over your steering wheel, the lot of you are nuts to do that sort of stuff and think that you are somehow different from everyone else.
….but then I also think that the minimum age to drive should be raised to 18 instead 16 also, not that that’s likely to happen, all the soccer moms want a chance to be relieved of all the driving around to all the kid’s activities, and would welcome the chance to just hand the keys over to the kids and let them get themselves where they want to go.
I am a pilot. While flying (WAY more difficult than driving) I also have to: navigate, interpret an instrument panel if under IFR, operate a radio and converse with ATC, take notes and readback clearances (more difficult than texting) all while maintaining position and control in THREE dimensions…
The point is: SOME people CAN, and some people CAN’T!
Passing a law that controls behavior to the LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR is insane, unreasonable and whatever other adjective I can come up with.
Our authoritarian government LOVES to pass laws to control us… I prefer personal responsibility, coupled with significant penalties for exceeding one’s bounds. You know if you can’t talk and drive… then DON’T DO IT! But if you DO, and cause an accident, then be prepared to PAY (as if you did it INTENTIONALLY!)
Required reading: Kurt Vonnegut’s “HARRISON BERGERON”
Texting while driving is even more dangerous than taking a call while driving, it requires you to remove a hand from the wheel and to take your eyes off the road, at least with a call you can keep your eyes focused on the road and you don’t necessarily need a free hand.
I think there should be a law, i’ve had a friend almost swerve her car off the road because she went for her phone. I personally wouldn’t use my phone while driving, simple as that, however you’re going to get those who do. For the safety of those people and all the others around them I think it would be best for a law to be imposed.
If someone caught texting while driving, he/she must suffer a 10or above years of imprisonment so that the people will be disciplined.
My opinion only!
I never text and drive. I think it’s worse than talking on your phone, because both your eyes and attention is taken off the road.
There are no texts that important, and it’s not that hard to pull over anyway.
Fines for confirmed cases should be way higher.
NO. What if the call’s emergency or business related?
People who text while driving are just as dangerous as drunk drivers. A ban should be enacted nationwide on texting while driving. If you are caught texting behind the wheel, you should receive a hefty fine plus numerous points added to your driving record. If you cause an accident while texting, your license should be suspended for a period. If the accident you cause is fatal, your license should be revoked for life. Harsh? Yes. Necessary? You better believe it. Why should someone lose their life simply because you couldn’t wait to send a text message?
my girlfriend always DWTs and I say you are going to wreck and die so stop it cell phones are going to be the end of our species! lol
i’ve seen pepole drive and text all the time they realy need a penalty becuse they drive very irractily and they will get into and accident. they just need to make a program for bluetooth that texts
i’ve seen pepole drive and text all the time they realy need a penalty becuse they drive very irractily and they will get into and accident. they just need to make a program for bluetooth that texts
I never, under any circumstances text while driving. Not even at a stoplight. Talking on cell phones is distracting enough, but at least you’re looking at the road when you’re talking. I can’t tell you how many times, i’ve almost been hit by some idiot texting while driving.
Check out this article I wrote for surviving driving!
One time I was driving home at night and a friend kept texting me. I told him to leave me alone, and that I’d talk to him when I got home. Well he texted me again, and at the exact moment I would have been looking down replying, a truck crossed the center line and came inches from my car. I could have died! I thank God that I wasn’t texting at the moment. Admittedly, I still do it sometimes, but ONLY when I’m on a straightaway and there are NO cars in sight or at a red light.
I used to text while driving at 3 am when the road was all mine and I can text without taking my eyes off the road, I know where all my buttons are and don’t even have to look at my phone. I would check my response text at a red light.
I have worked with AAA as a tow operator for more than 15 years, and I can tell you through experience the dangers of operating a motor vehicle while using your cell phone. Even talking while driving seems to be such a distraction to some people that they completely forget what they’re doing, which not only becomes an extreme hazzard for themselves, but for the motorists they share the road with. Here in California it is now state law that you cannot use a hand held device while driving. Even though this law is in effect, there are still countless motorists I have witnessed using their phones while driving. Texting is just plain reckless. Taking your eyes away from the road for any amount of time is an accident waiting to happen, and doing it for the sake of texting is a careless act of selfishness. I have have been called to countless fatality accidents where the cause was attributed to a motorist using their cell phone while driving and it seemed to me to be such a terrible waste of life. In these times of telecommunication gadgetry, we must reflect on those days when these devices were’nt even around (I have no idea how some folks even survived) and be cautious of our surroundings at all times while sharing the the road with others.
It may be because I text quite often, but i find that texting while driving distracts me no less than talking. And experienced texter can text without looking at their phone in the same way that an experienced walker can walk without staring at their feet. Texting require no more of a commitment from your though than talking or singing. Seeing as your speech center of your brain operates independently from you eyes, i find no reason why people should be barred from talking with their hands while they drive.
people who text while driving are idiots.
the four teenage girls from fairport high last yr
I myslef have check messages, but I will call them instead of texting. The one time I did try I almost wrecked. Granted I do get distracted while on the phone first time I answered the phone when I had just began to drive I forgot which was the break and which was the gas in busy traffic, approching a stop sighn at a busy intersection. I will usaully now just let it ring unless i believe to to be important.
The number drops with age because most people older than 30 normally don’t text nor know how to text.
Though I’m retired now, as a cab driver, a cell phone is a standard part of doing business. Regular customers could contact me directly, but most often, these calls came while I was driving with passengers. In order to not be talking on the phone while having passengers, I click the send text message to caller feature. From there, I have pre-programed responses, as if they need a cab and where do they need to be picked up?
My phone is mounted on a phone holder, to the right and behind the steering wheel so that I can see the phone and road at the same time.
i do sometimes. but limit it to a minimum and never in traffic. in ny it is illegal to txt while driving. a year ago a car load of teenage girls was going down the road and ate the front end of a big truck. from what i read in the papres and friends that responded, only little bits and pieces of the girls left no whole bodies. just after graduation from hs. the driver had her cell open and had just rfecieved a txt. terrible accident that could have been avoided. fortunately now it is illegal and that may be a deterrant. i suspect that there are a lot of people here that are just like me much too stupid to learn from the senseless deaths and mutiliations of those girls to stop.
I don’t even like to change a CD while driving, let alone something as stupid as texting. People have no personal responsibility any more. It takes 100% of your concentration to drive without any other distractions such as a cellphone in the car. But yet, I see people all the time talking with no hands-free kit or texting or other things while driving and it puts not only their dumb A– at risk but mine as well. I do one thing while driving –Drive. Occasionally I will change the track on a CD or a preset memory station on the FM dial but that doesn’t take my eyes off the road since I know my radio and where the buttons are. Studies have proven that just talking on the phone is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. Texting is even more dangerous then that.
i admit it i used to text while i drove until i rear ended someone!!! not worth it!
Young people can hardly imagine themselves growing old. let alone dying. And that’s why so many of them don’t grow old. Add cell phones/texting to speeding statistics of teen deaths on the highway. We can preach and teach and warn all we want, yet some of the teens reading this will die in accidents caused by using cell phones. It’s heartbreaking.
I have heard they are working to get this banned. There are reports that many teenage deaths behind the wheel have been caused by texting moments before the fatal crash happened. I feel that a ban is actually essential to get that reduced at least. IF anyone continues to do that they will get fined when caught. I don’t know if there is any extent to having one’s driving license suspended or penalyzed in any drivng points in this but if not those should be part of it. I feel that drastic measures help to change that. It is not going to stop all that do it but I feel that consequences will teach those that still do this they are jeopardizing lives on the road to not pay attention as one looks at what they type instead the, there needs to be some price to pay if they continue that.
* I lost a cousin to his going for a car ride with 5 other buddies once and that was before cell phones existed. BUT there was a car full and they had an accident then so something caused the driver to have that happen. They were only in high school at that time. Only one of the 6 guys survived it. It is necessary to keep one’s eyes on the road always.
Texting or being on a mobile phone handset (not bluetooth headset) in the UK is against the law already, it is punishable by a £1000 fine and three penalty points (12 and your banned for a year) If you kill someone in an accident where it can be proved you were on the phone at the time (and you can) you can be convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, maximum sentence 14 years. Think on that.
I think a ban would be very effective.
I can’t tell you how many drivers I’ve seen well under 20 texting away. I’ve never gotten hurt from it, but young or old, it’s stupid and dangerous.
I’m too young to drive yet, I still have another year, but one thing I’ll always remember is to either leave my phone alone or just turn it off while behind the wheel. It’s really not worth it, unless it’s an emergency. It’s a pretty scary thought, to tell the truth.
Driving and texting is just stupid. In this day and age I can imagine having a law like NY, with a hands-free device needed. But every single state, if not the federal government, should pass a law banning texting while driving. Even if you have your hand to your head, your eyes are on the road. Texting takes your eyes off the road and “sucks you into the conversation”, in effect making you totally unaware of your surroundings.
I believe that people who text message and drive have to be the dumbest people on the planet. If you are with someone who is text messaging, just reach over and take the phone out of their hands. You are saving both of your lives and the person in the oncoming vehicle that he or she will kill.
” if they had cameras made to look in peoples cars at every stop light or something”
Kid, your idea scares the hell outta me. No I don’t text but this is ultra 1984 Big Brother
The law was passed in WA because a guy in his 50’s got into an accident driving while texting. The idiot was driving on a floating bridge. He should have driven into Lake Washington.
Im happy because i cannot drive yet. I mean 16 and you have to worry about your grades and driving. I wanna stay young forever
why would anyone think it is a good Idea to text while driving. At least when people talk on the phone and drive they can keep their eyes on the road. people just seem to get stupider and stupider everyday. It definately should be banned. and sure maybe some people will be stupid enough to still do it, but it will at least stop some of them.
It’s funny how the fine is a $101. Just a dollar overboard of a perfect hundred.
DWT shouldn’t be such a huge issue, while the occurrences of DWI is far higher.
Just don’t TWD. Please. Nothing is that important that you can’t wait until you stop at your destination. Imagine you are 15 years old and staring at your father’s body in a coffin the week before Christmas, all because the 17 year old driver of the other car was not paying attention to the road. Do you still want to TWD now?
a girl at my school was heading home from a football game, she was DWT, hit some black ice and flew off a bridge and drowned.
that’s why i won’t ever text and drive.
wow a lot of concerns here. I have to say im guilty as charged with TwD. I will most certainly think about this article next time i think about TwD, ill prolly still do it, but ill think of the article. texters use t9, its way better for texting on the go
Omg. That is illegal. It came into effect Aug 1, 2008. From now on, its illegal to text when driving. If police see, they have the right you pull you over, just like if you were speeding.
Actually, that’s just in MN right now…
Yeah My Friend Does This Sh!t Too, One Time When We Were Coming Back From A Texas Game To Make It Worse He Was Driving A Mustang And As We All Know Mustangs Are Stick Shift So He Was Driving, Texting, And Having To Change The Shifts
I’m Lucky I’m, Still ALive After That Ride
his Law Should Really Be Passed
Texting while driving is a lot more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving in my opinion. The only time I ever text while driving is at stop lights, and only when it is really important. Otherwise I just have my passenger type what I want to say into my phone.
Having watched a person texting just rear end a car, one must imagine – will they tell their insurance company? Is it so important to text and make some one else’s day sad?
I think that driving while talkin or texting is just as bad as drunk driving. You are putting others lives at risk and yours. I’m doing my speech for college on this subject, and I too was almost hit by someone who was talking on the cell. Also I was riding in front of someone that was texting and almost ran in the back of them because they slammed on brakes because they were texting.
I am a school bus driver and 2 days ago I had to fill in for a driver because he was rear ended by a driver TWD at 55mph + the students on the bus were shaken up by what they saw but were not hurt. unfortunatly the TWD”s 12 year old sister in the passenger seat is still in critical condition. I pray she makes it but it does not look good. When you look down to text you are not driving safely, even missing a huge yellow school bus with flashing lights and a stop sign. Please don’t text and drive the life you save might be your own.
Okay seriously if you ban cell phones and texting they are just gonna start banning ipods in cars and sooner or later were not gonna be allowed to have food in our cars
EVERYTHING can be distracting, live with it. Cops just want excuses to pull people over so they can give tickets and get money.
there are always drivers who are idiots that cant drive in the first place even if they dont have distractions.
honestly, i hate the new laws. yes i text white im driving but im alive and ive never killed anyone and the people that are texting while going over the speed limit on the freeeway and doing 3 million other things are not smart, you cant just ban phones because some idiots do irresponsible things with them.
Lmao, in the blog, it said, “ban driving while texting.”
Don’t you mean “ban texting while driving”?
What is really needed is some way for the patrol officer to detect if the phone is in operation. If it is, The officer should be able to stop the motion of the car, making a note of the vehicle and operator.If the same two pieces of data occur three time within an allotted time period, the operator would be ticketed. Even when driving hands-free the operator is distracted. The same rule should apply to eating or any activity that distracts the driver. If a data transmitting device is available to the driver, a caution should be issued.
WHEN DRIVING, ALL THE DRIVER’S ATTENTION SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON DRIVING.
I am going to come up with a patent for cell phones that can detect speed. Once a driver reaches 35 MPH texting will be disabled on the phone, and voice call and functions will only be available if you have a wireless device.
I will lobby the FCC so they’ll make it mandatory for all cell phones in the U.S. to have this safety feature, and when the laws are passed, I will be richer than Bill Gates.
Ill occasionally text, but only at red lights.
my best friend is always with me. im 18. so when i get a text or send one, she’ll reply, text, and read it for me. so i can keep my eyes on the road.
call me old fashioned, but i am one of those people who believe that driving requires your complete attention – i will never answer my phone and texting is so out of the question, i don’t even smoke and drive! a ban/law has to be passed and more importantly has to be enforced/obeyed or way too many more innocent people will be killed
Some people ignore traffic laws and always will. We can’t help that. Laws do discourage irresponsible behavior in many people though. If no DWT laws will save one person’s son, daughter, mother or father it’s worth it. Look how traffic fatalities dropped when the DUI laws toughened up. I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I have seen them. Many lives have been saved as a result of making it mandatory to slap a drunk driver into a cell.
I recently read that DWT reduces our ability to drive safely by 90%. If a person wants to risk their life so badly they need to find a way to do it that is not risking my son’s, your daughter’s and the neighbor’s parent’s life.
There should be a $200 fine for first offense of DWT and it should be doubled for each future offense. Our ability to drive safely is reduced by 90% when we multi task while driving. i would love to see a law that attacks it all, putting on mascara, texting, reading the newspaper. A car is a weapon of sorts and we should respect others enough to give it our full attention.
i actually never even text. like, when im not driving. i guess im old school, LOL. well im only 21 i just never got into it.
BUT i am guilty of doing different things while driving. like, for instance, when my daughter is yelling for her juice, or her blankie- yeah i am usually looking for something and handing it to her. if i cant find something i will pull over though.
i think DWT is very dangerous. my sister actually can text without looking so she can watch the road while she texts!!! LOLOL.
Using anything that requires concentration while driving is bad. Using a cell phone, with or without a hands-free device, still requires that you concentrate on the phone call (or you sound like a babbling idiot). Most people can’t concentrate enough on driving witghout any distractions, so talking on a cell phone or texting just makes it worse.
Will bans work? I live in NY, where holding a cell phne to your ear while driving has been a violation for years, but I still see at least 2 or 3 drivers doing it every morning on my commute to work. Maybe, since talking and texting while driving are extremely reckless, they can change the penalty to a 3 month suspension for the first offense, 6 months for the second and revocation for the third. There’s no reason you can’t pull to the shoulder if you need to make a phone call. (Unless you’re calling 911 in an emergency, and, at least in NY, that’s exempted.)
It shouldn’t be legal, it simply makes drivers more dangerous and isn’t worth it in any way. I live in California though, and the cell phone law is sadly ineffective, I don’t know anyone who’s been caught, and the only people who follow the law are the ones who were already safe drivers. What makes it worse is now the ones who still do it are trying to hide it while talking, which makes it even more distracting.
It is incredibly tempting to TWD when there is a need to do so. I feel imposing a ridiculous penalty like a $700 fine could be effective. I just wonder how effective the enforcement could be. What would be the effect on the court system? How does a cop prove you were doing it? What if they were to truly misunderstand you with a tic tac box in your hand or something and wrongfully accuse you?
Texting is much more dangerous [than talking on a cell] because not only are you not looking at the road while driving, but you’re thinking about the words you’re typing, which distracts you even more.
I’m 21 and texted a few times while driving and probably was close to getting in an accident because it takes your attention away from what you should be doing–paying attention to driving.
how can any inteligent person drive and text at the same time Where do you keep your hands on the steering wheel or on your telephone
Well in my city, they have banned texting while driving for all ages and they have banned teenagers 16-18 (i think) from talking on the phone while driving. Although people are allowed to use their phones if their is an emergency. The law also says that if you are in an accident and the fault was because of a cell phone, their will be fines.
I agree with my communtiy on making this a law. texting and talking on the phone is a big distraction while driving and people need to concentrate on driving instead of talking.
Drivers may be able to hide DWT easily. But the true meaning of banning DWT is, like DUI, it’ll make that driver 100% at fault if any accident occur. To proof is very easy. The police/Insurance company can always check with phone company for the time of log/message. If it’s the same time as the accident, BINGO !!
So..don’t think that you can run away with DWT.
hohoho america is famous for straight roads… but WTF?!
I quote:
My (ex) friend was driving her car on the highway one night, going 80 mph (25 over the speed limit) while talking on one of her cell phones, blasting music, drinking and texting someone on her other phone.
A speeding car has about the same amount of kinetic energy as a ship’s anti-aircraft gun!
Texting while driving?!? What a surreal idea! In the UK driving while making calls is banned, because the studies showed that drunk people drive better than people with phones on their ear. I mean, drunk people have 2 hands lol.
but texting?! how is that possible? On some phones it’s actually harder than some computer games! I wouldn’t walk down the road while texting, let alone drive a car. Nuts! You can always just pull over, pop of a very quick text, and then drive off. Red light or traffic jam.
Texting is very dangerous. You don’t see where your driving and too many people have died from people who were texting and not paying attention. I don’t think a law would help however because cops cannot see into cars. I think educating people on these dangers is the only way it will stop.
WOW!!!!
Now this just sounds like a circus act! Not easy to do LOL.
“Here in the Philippines people text while riding their motorcycles, it is very common and often they have several passengers onboad at the time (here a 2 seater bike can be load with as many as 7 people)”
Whoah. Craazy, 7 people on a motorbike, and texting.
Nice try but how will they enforce every single car out there? We’re in a nation of idiots. Morons who are joined at the hip with their cell phones. They eat, sh*t and sleep with their cell phones and now they’re jeopardizing innocent people on the road with their irresponsible behavior. The only way to enforce this law is penalty by amputation or death.
These laws are about as useless as a three legged cat trying to bury terds on a frozen lake! Dristraction??? OK Guess you better take out the stereo that’s a distraction. And ya won’t need those extra seats because passengers talking to you WHILE DIRVING are a distraction too! Just because SOME stupid people out there can’t chew gum and walk at the same time doesn’t mean we all can’t.. I still talk on my cell while driving and will text too. Am I worried about getting caught? Nope! I keep an eye out for John Law and stop long before he even notices. It’s just a stupid waste of everyones time.
studies show that driving while talking on your cell whether using a hands free device or not, impairs your ability to drive. i admit i’m guilty for texting and driving though
I love TWD. I think it’s funny when I ran over that deer that one time. Usually I TWD so I don’t pay attention when my friends do it in the back seat, even though I secretly like to watch.
I was driving behind someone that I thought had too much to drink.They were driving a brand new truck and swerving and crossing over the center line. At the stop light I looked over to find a young woman(perhaps 17) texting…and ATTEMPTING to drive. I was shocked that someone would be SO irresposible to do something SOOOO STUPID. I guess Mummy and Daddy take care of all her whims and needs…including car insurance which goes up when there are incidents. People, I implore you to take more responsibility and when you are driving…you should just DRIVE..the phone can wait. Driving is a priveledge.
ok i do think its dangours cuz a few weeks ago there was a train conductor texting when the lights came on for him to stop, but he didnt stop or even slow down. So him and the other train conductor that he ran into both died. That doesnt really consist on driving cars but its just as dangours.
My mantra is “HANG UP AND DRIVE”
I’m amazed the people I see not paying attention with a phone to their ear. Adjusting the radio is bad enough and takes your attention from the road. It’s easy enough to see if someone has been texting when an accident happens, and if they have been it should make it their fault.
It’s already against the law to talk on the cell phone while driving so it sure as hell should be against the law to text while driving
I live in CA where the ban on talking on the cell phone has been enforced since July 1, 2008. The interesting thing to me is that they have banned talking on the phone without a wireless, but they have not banned text-messaging! So now, rather than having teen drivers holding their phone to their ear and taking 1 hand off of the wheel, we’ve got them holding their phone in their lap texting which takes both their hand off the wheel and their eyes off the road.
I do not think the ban is at all effective. Quite frankly, those who will obey the law are the ones that wouldn’t have let talking on a cell phone impair their driving ability in the first place. It is the irresponsible drivers (that don’t care about the law) that cause the accidents with or without the law in place. Now they still hold their phones while driving, but if they think there may be traffic cops about they text instead. What a joke!
I think DWT is worse than talking on a cellphone while driving, because you can look at the road while talking, but not usually with texting!
It probably should be banned, but just like using your cell phone while driving is banned in some states, people still do it. My mom works with a women whos daughter was in a car that was being driven by a girl who was texting while drive. They crashed and now the girl is paralyzed. Not a month later the same girl who was driving was DWT again and hit a truck. Guess what, she died and now the poor bastard in the truck is in critical care. DWT can be just as bad as drinking and driving. The only thing anyone should be doing when behind the wheel is driving!
I got smashed into TWICE while my car wasnt even moving!! By who? By IDIOTS that were too busy talking on their cell phone and not paying attention to the road! So HELL YEAH i wish ALL states would consider passing a ban that any person seen using a cell phone while driving will HAVE to pay a fine of $500.00. I’m a nurse and i see first hand how IDIOT drivers come crying thru the e.r because THEY hurt another family or person because they werent paying attention to the road because of a cell phone!!
I read an article several months ago stating that texting can be far more dangerous than drunk driving. This can be true, because when you’re drunk, you still have somewhat attention to what’s in front of you. But while texting, you don’t have your eyes in front of you but instead on a small cell phone.
It should be a federal law that it’s illegal to text while driving.
I think stiff laws should be enforced for texting while driving and phone activity in general. You are in control of a car which if not attentive while driving it can be a deadly weapon. Peoples lives can be affected by someones thoughtless talking on the phone and texting is a thousand times worse since you are not in complete focus while driving.
Texting while driving is probably the most ridiculous thing to ever do. How can you expect to drive safely when you’re typing a freaking message, it’s worse than driving and talking on the phone.
The only thing I do while driving sometimes is drink a pop or eat. Honestly I think even that should be outlawed! My phone is turned off and in the cargo area of my car (attatched to my diaper bag) so I will not be tempted to answer it but it is still handy in case of emergency.
I live in California where talking on your cell phone was banned back in July. We are however, allowed to text while driving. This makes absolutely no sense to me! Hmm, let’s see..what takes my eyes off the road and my hands off the wheel more? It’s totally backwards. So now my husband and I both have different wireless devices (luckily our cell phones were both blue tooth enabled) which ended up costing a small fortune since all the affordable ones ($50-$80 range) suck for one reason or another. Good news though… (I say this sarcastically) in the near future, texting will also be against the law. Isn’t that fabulous! So those of us who have no choice but to use a smart phone due to our jobs or those who cannot figure out their blue tooth devices and have no choice but to text (this was me in the beginning-which made me realize how dangerous texting all calls can be) are pretty much out of luck. I am envisioning all the bay area commuters (I live in San Francisco) pulled over to the shoulders of the freeways using their phones. Those of us who have to rely heavily on our phones as a condition of our employment will either have to spend a considerable amount of cash on a cell phone which has blue tooth capabilities and a high quality wireless device or keep pulling over to the shoulder to take or make calls resulting in us being late to our jobs and eventually being fired. OK, I know some of you must be thinking that I’m being a little dramatic but really I’m not. Especially in these incredibly challenging times where in California, (especially the bay area where I live) so many people have lost their cars, houses, generally their comfortable middle class way of life because of the economic state our country is in. So with all of this going on we are expected to spend extra money which really isn’t extra anymore on something so trivial all because a few jack- a**** who probably shouldn’t be driving in the first place weren’t capable enough to multi task. my God, how hard is it to drive and talk at the same time? These lovely individuals have ruined it for all of us. It’s truly a bummer to say the least. I would however like to meet the super intelligent person who decided that it would be a good idea to outlaw talking on our cell phones while driving but at the same time allowing us to text. I want to shake their hand ever so enthusiastically while smiling and ask “How could you be such an idiot?”
The police would use more automated electronic traffic speed displays and high tech video cameras to capture speeders, but this would allow people to see how fast they are going, and would reduce ticket writing, thus causing loss of $ for police departments state to state. Yes, the ticket writing system is a business that makes police stations money. If it were not such a good business, many cops would be out of jobs and many police stations would lose money. To prove my point, many departments, if not all, have ticket quotas to meet especially around holiday time. Bonuses are offered to some police if they write so many tickets. Google traffic ticket quotas if you are skeptical about what I just mentioned.
In Australia it is illegal to use a phone while driving, with the only exception being if you are using a hands-free device.
The penalties for talking or texting while driving are pretty severe, and in general most people don’t do it, or if they do, it isn’t often.
Are a few text messages really worth getting into a car crash for? It’s not like you can’t text the person after you get out of the car. People who put their cell phones above safety shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
Driving while texting? You got to be kidding me! What is wrong with this generation Y kids? Isn’t talking on a cell phone enough? Man. Teenagers act like they can not live without a cell phone. I did it for years. I had a cell phone for 3 short years (texting was not a feature yet on my 2002 phone) and I didn’t need my cell phone on every minute of my day. What happened to the old “Cell phone for an emergency only” and what happened to “if I am not home, they can call me back later— If they do not call me back, then what they have to say to me is NOT that important!”
What is wrong with today? I drove while talking on my cell phone when I was a driver for my old employer. I hated doing that and I hated that lady calling me every 10 minutes asking “Where are you now”. Same old answer, “Still stuck in traffic, stop calling me, I’m trying to drive”.
Driving is a priviledge not a right. If someone can not turn their cell phone off while driving, that person does not need to drive. Keep eyes and toughts on road. No thoughts on conversation. It is more dangerous than drinking and driving. But I guess some people think that they are invisible.
I don’t want someone I Love or myself to die because your Texting or on the Phone. Please if you dont care about your life what about others? You can’t go back and change what is all ready been done. It is no differnt the driving Drunk or on Drugs.
DWT actually impairs reflexes by 91%. Yeah, you read that right. . . .91% ! That is even worse than DWI ( 31% impaired).
If you think you’re multi-tasking, think again. You’re just doing 2 things badly.
It would reduce some but not by much. I don’t text while actually driving, I’ve only responded to texts at red lights or stop signs when no one is behind me saying that I’m driving and I’ll text them later. They have some devices I’ve seen put in cars that you can hook your phone up to similar to a GPS that displays the text on a larger screen for you. I think it was on Pimp My Ride or some other show like that. Not like that’s any safer. But the idea of its out there. Some teens get dramatically upset by some texts, that’s bad on the road.
I am 37 ,been driving since 15.Best about tecnology is now anyone can upload his own crash while friends recording on a mobile phone.Problem about kill someone in car crash is the remorse about u was doing something else than pay attention on driving. Profesional drivers anticipate others action and reactions like bodyguards.You protect not just your life but also others innocents lifes.
I’m ready to vote YES. Make it illegal to talk on a cell phone and text while operating a moving vehicle. I’ve needed to talk to someone while enroute and have actually pulled over to make the call. How inconvienient, I know. I’m so tired of watching people in front of me weave between the lines or their speed increases and decresses randomly because they’re yakking on the phone. They make sudden jerks and slam breaks to make nearly missed turns because they aren’t focusing all their attention on driving. Why is this being tolerated at all in the first place? YES, if an officer sees your phone to your ear, give a ticket. Head down and a light glowing or otherwise suspicious activity, Give them a ticket after questioning and conclusion that person was texting. Go to court to prove your case, if you’re guilty, you’ll have no problem lying about it, I’d rather see it make an impact on how you conduct yourself behind the wheel.
There is absolutely no excuse to even need to talk on the phone while driving. Teenagers, your friends will be around when you get home, call them then. Grown-ups, check on your kids or friends when you get home. If someone absolutely needs for you to answer your phone, have a set of rings to use so you’ll know its an emergency.
I don’t want to die because you had to make a call or talk to someone about something unimportant that could wait. More than anything, I don’t want my 3 year old daughter to get killed over such ignorance.
I’ll vote YES.
I think texting while driving is not a good thing if it does in fact take your attention away from the road. I have a standard keypad, and i have all of the buttons memorized so i don’t have to look at it while i’m texting, and it’s more important to me to keep my eyes on the road, than text at all. But, if the text is important, the person will understand if you have a few errors, it could save a life.
i believe it is dangerous, even though i must admit to doing it occassionally, and i admit it is dangerous, but it is too easy to get caught whilst talking and driving, so i just text. I try not to, but sometimes in in a hurry and i need to read it, so i do.
I don’t text while I’m driving, but I do talk on the phone while I’m driving. It’s not that different from having the radio on or other people in the car. For me, talking on the phone is actually less distracting than having kids in the backseat. I wonder how many accidents are caused by people’s kids acting up in the back of the car. Are they going to make driving your kids around illegal next?
i could be safe if the person “DWT” uses the T9 or the itap method without looking allowing them to keep an eye on the road at all times
Only when at a stop light, LOL I live in Los Angeles, and frankly traffic is a way of life. Texting while waiting at a stop light should definitely be legal…and I believe it is. No law specifically prevents it. A small pass time.
I think its ridiculous. The same ppl who get in accidents becuz they are txting are the same ppl that would get in accidents regardless. I have done this for 2 years, and never have a swerved, or almost crashed, or missed something. How did i acomplish this amazing feat you ask? Simple.
i txt while driving, but i’m not asking ppl “What’s up?” or “How are you doing today?” or even “I’m txtn while driving! Send multiple replies to entertain me while i’m going 70 mph and not paying attention!” while driving. It’s fine to reply to whatever you receive, but don’t go out of your way to txt.
When driving, you really shouldn’t open your phone and use both thumbs to txt and try to use your palms on the top of the steering wheel to control the car. Bad things will happen. Fingers are helpful when driving.
Don’t txt during turns. Unless the txt reads “I’m really stupid and i may die becuz i’m txting while driving on a turn.” Otherwise, you should wait until after the turn.
Don’t look down to txt. Teach your fingers. Txt blind. Its a lot easier than driving blind. look down quickly whenever you have a chance to make sure spelling and puncuation is correct.
Txting while Driving isn’t a sin. Some stupid ppl make stupid decisions and think txting is a higher priority give it a bad rap. Its fine to multi-task. Just know that driving comes first. Txts can wait till its safe, and trust me, its possible to TWD. but if someone is so concentrated on txting and is that distracted, and is so stupid to not think, ” Hey, i’m awfully distracted right now!” then they are gonna find a way to get in accidents anyway.
I’m only 14 years old, and I agree that this should be banned. My dad has been driving since my age and he texts while he drives. He actually taught me a “technique”. You put one hand on the wheel, put your knee under the wheel, and steer with those. Then you text with the other hand. He’s 41 years old. He hasn’t crashed yet but I’m still worried. My mom doesn’t do it only because English is her second language and she has to concentrate real hard to text, she asks me to proofread everything. But I think that texting while driving should be banned in every state, there are too many accidents because of this. I know that I would never do this unless I was at a red light or stuck in traffic –thats it.
Still think texting AND talking on the phone is not a big enough deal to stop and pay attention to what the hell you’re doing?
http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/cellphone.asp
…at 24 yrs old even I have to tell my mama I’ll call her back later. Some people are bad enough drivers even while not on the phone, why add more things to the mix that need either my undivided attention, or just most of it?
Those of y’all treating it like it’s no big deal, are not even worth the sperm it took to fertilize the egg…..
Okay, if I could count how many times I’ve nearly gotten in an accident cause some moron was paying more attention to her phone than a red light or the divider lines on the road. What really peaves me the most I think is when people swerving and texting, then PASS me cause I’M going the speed limit, and don’t even use their blinker. I’ve been driving 2 years now, and when I see 40 year old people laughing away on the phone and not paying attention, it just makes me sick. When are they gonna learn?!
I can’t believe this question needs to be asked!
“some experts believe to be very dangerous”?????!!!!
Who needs an expert? Look around you… random speed and lane changes, non-existent turn signals, missing stop signs altogether.
Driving a 4000lb deadly weapon is a complex skill deserving and requiring ALL your attention.
Its been documented any number of times that operating a cell phone while driving significantly slows reaction time, regardless of whether its a hands free device. Everythings fine as long as nothing unexpected happens around you. Its getting worse as more and more people attempt to drive and yap (or text) at the same time. The odds of two nitwits occupying the same space are getting higher by the day.
Yes, I’m a little sensitive. I spend a lot of time on a bicycle, so I don’t have the 4000lb metal cocoon. I fear cell phones more than I fear drunks, mostly because I’m not riding when most of the drunks are out.
Cell phones should not be allowed to operate in vehicles. Period.
I did do this one time and I felt bad because I wasn’t keeping my eyes on the road. I still can’t forget the Oprah interview with a young driver who killed someone while text messaging. If I really need to do it, I pull over and park. I have to keep my eyes on the road at all times.
I remember sitting at a stoplight on a Sunday morning … looking into rearview mirror … a man in a mercedes was driving toward me … talking on cellphone … and I realized he didn’t see me
He hit me, pushing me into the car ahead, which was pushed into the car ahead of him
My car was drivable but hurt
people who speak on cellphones while driving demonstrate a certain arrogance
texting might not be as arrogant (I don’t know) but it’s probably MORE dangerous.
I think the law against it is “well-intentioned” but also probably ineffective .. UNLESS law-enforcement crossed over a “Big Brother” line and started using “positioning”-correlation with rate-of-change to pinpoint driving cell-users and … well, the details are tiresome and complicated … but, it’s conceivable that an automated system could be put into place [which would violate a couple 'privacy' areas] that could tag drivers’ infractions.
an ugly erosion of civil liberties if “law” went that route … although to cater to insurance companies’ virginally *pure* desire to *serve* their customers, it is now prbably a standard practice to examine cell-phone-usage history in the event of accident-benefit-
claim.
and it’s lilely that “texting” would serve as basis for denying benefit award
Driving while distracted is a major contributing factor in so many accidents. I think texting should be banned in all states, talking on a cell phone should be (its been banned in NY for years now), wireless device or not, it still distracts you. If the phone call is that important, pull over and deal with it. You are putting everyone’s safety at risk by being distracted. Think about everyone else and why young drivers are in so many accidents, it happens for a reason.
I think that there should be a ban on DWT. DWT is worse that talking while driving. At the very least if you are talking while you are driving you can keep you eyes on the road although I don’t condone either action. I have a 17 year old friend that got into a small fender bender because she was having a text conversation whil driving and other than that she was a really good driver for her age.
Its obvious that doing any activity other then concentrating whilst driving is clearly dangerous.In the U.K it is against the law not only to text or use your cell in any way but also to eat or drink whilst on the move, there are true stories about people being prosercuted for eating a Mars bar or such, as a result the English roads are much safer then many other countries and the driving standards are far far better, I have driven all over the world and marval at the driver ability in some countries in England society helps police the situation by calling hot lines and handing over licence plate numbers of those who offend. All this said and done I think that the car manufactuers and the phone/satalite companies should be made to work together in all makes and models on a global scale it realy is a cheap simple thing to have a hands free kit in your car even if its after market.I have been living in Canada for three years now and often wonder how a Country as great as this is so far behind the rest of the world in its laws and opinions and its technology, the answer to the problem is so easy, just ban all activities whilst driving,Texting is just a stupid thing to be doing behind the wheel of the car its dangerous and could wipe out your own and other peoples lifes before you have time to hit the send button……here in Vancouver I was lost for words the oter day when I saw a lady trying to butter a slice of toast whilst having a conversation on the phone I mean come on..and whats more its not just the car drivers here on the west coast the other week I saw a cyclist on his bike no hands READING a book and listening to his ipod immpresive multitasking yes but he’s lucky to be alive and perhaps he is’nt.The worst thing about the whole argument is that its a problem that we are now trying to resolve rather then a problem that should have been pre thought with the invention and subsequent development of the phone technology indeed why are phones not registered to the cars as well as your address the car should be made to automaticaly switch to hands free whilst the engine is runing its simple blue tooth is an old technology so immagine what is possable now…..the one thing that is anoying however is the fact that the cops are able to drive around in there patrol cars whilst using a lap top!
i live in california, and even though their is a ban on hand-held cell phone use, i see people doing the exact opposite everyday.
i believe that there should be a ban on texting while driving, but i doubt it will be very effective, unless they are caught or know someone who was caught breaking the law.
thank you for this very informative blog. i knew DWT was dangerous, but i didn’t know the actual facts. i am definitely going to change my ways. thanks again.
DWT is so much more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both! It most definately should be banned. I have been a passenger in a vehicle when the driver is texting & I have told those drivers to either hand over their phones to me & let me do the texting, or just pull over right now & let me out!!! I will not be another statistic & not let that driver endanger my life or anyone elses.
The law should absolutely be in place. All I see is 16 year old girls and boys on their cell phones almost sideswiping me because they don’t realize where on the road they are. At that age, NOTHING is important enough to text or talk on a phone while you’re driving. If it is, get a bluetooth and speak it. It takes 100 times as long to text a conversation than speak it. I don’t even like using my bluetooth sometimes while im driving if I’m in heavy traffic, in front of a kid on a cell phone, or a similarly frustrating situation. They should have some enforcement on these laws, but not enough that we have a ton of cops on the roads everywhere.
In Alaska driving while texting was recently banned as well. I think that it would be hard to prove if you were really texting, and the only reason they have these laws is that if someone gets in a car accident, they can check with the cell phone company, and if a text was recently sent, they can charge them with more offenses. I don’t know that it will have that much of an effect otherwise.
i text wen i drive. i no what im doing. i look at the road the whole time.
Don’t do it!
I’ve done it before and avoided any type of accident, but my friend’s best friend died a couple weeks ago because she was texting while driving.
Please don’t do it!
it is utterly unbelievable that this is a question, that is “is texting while driving dangerous?”
people need to wake up. i am absolutely fed up with other “drivers” who cannot seem to pay attention to the road. they are a menace to society, whether they are talking on cell phones, to folks in the back seat, whatever. the idea that you are going to type and look at a screen while operating a motor vehocle should result in a permanent loss of driving privileges. cant avoid doing this? PULL THE F OVER BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEONE!!
Make it a law…AMEN. Enforce it every chance you get. The sad thing is about the only time you can enforce it is after the wreck when you get the proof from the cell phone provider. Then when the family of the victims sue the family of the textmessager the police can enforce the law. The lawyers can get wealthier and the parents of the textmessager can wish they had taught their children to be more responsible. Or better yet, if it is an adult person being irresponsible, they can lose everything they have worked for, or live with the fact they have killed or maimed someone because they could not pull off the road to talk or text someone.
How long has there been life on this planet that we have been able to survive without calling someone or texting someone for the length of time it took us to drive to our destination. If it is too distracting to apply lipstick then it is dang sure to distracting to talk or text on a cell phone. Most teenagers as well as many adults, can’t concentrate enough to drive without cell phones. (Statitstics prove this, not just my opinion)
I have a client who has severe back problems for life now because she was rear ended by a young girl who was looking down texting and didn’t realize traffic had stopped and she was traveling 45 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour speed zone. My friend was blowing the horn and had no where to go to get out of the way. Cell records showed she was texting at the time. She tried to say her brakes gave out.
I used to DWT until a girl at our school flipped her green spyder eclipse while she was texting. I can’t believe her parents gave her a new car, that pisses me off.
To the poster who said ” they just want to make more laws to control us… and if you can’t drive and text don’t do it”… This is to you bud – I could care less if you text and drive as long as you do it in a controlled environment with just you and a bunch of light poles where you can’t put me or anyone else at risk… the point is those of you who do it are putting those of us who don’t at risk. The laws are not to protect you if you don’t care about yourselves. It is to protect me and my grandbabies and the other innocent people. Think of someone beside yourself. OMG what if someone hit you while texting, killed you or your friends, you can bet your sweet @%&( someone would cry, hurt, wonder why and there would be a lawsuit over the idiot driver of the other car who was texting. Sorry I have to get off of here, I can’t believe what selfish and ignorant children people are raising these days.
Texting while driving is downright dangerous. I have done it once and almost killed two people and myself.
Needless to say, I havent texted behind the wheel since. But i think that it wont stop people from texting even if they ban it with prision penelty. It wont stop every one…
I was nearly hit three times in the space of 2 minutes this morning by the same phone-yapping drive
1. Ran a stop sign. Probably didn’t see it.
2. Came back around another side street and made an unsignaled turn in front of me.
3. Random u-turn in front of me, causing me to dive for the grass (I was on my bike).
My guess is she was getting directions on the fly.
Here’s a thought: Know where you’re going before you get in the car and turn the key. If you get lost enroute, park the car and get it sorted out instead of endangering the rest of us.
so the person that says you should go to jail for 10 years is ridiculous that would never happen. i agree with the person that said you miswell take out the radio and other seat bec thats a distraction to which is true i think the government is just gonna keep finding ways to make money off of us. i text while driving going a 100 on the highway with a full keyboard and i’m fine
When I took driving in high school I was told that when I get behind the wheel of the car, the ONE AND ONLY THING I should be paying attention to is the road. Times used to be that as you were driving defensively AND courteously, you trusted everyone ELSE was doing the same so just in case you had a temporary lapse in attention, your fellow drivers would be on the lookout for you. But today it’s a free-for-all. Not only do I have to watch out for myself but for all the OTHER drivers who are texting, cellphoning, eating, drinking, applying makeup, using their Blackberry, knitting a sweater and performing brain surgery AND pushing the traffic regulations to their limits to boot! It seems a little unfair for me to be watching out for everyone else while everyone else is doing everything but paying attention to the road. Driving is a PRIVILEGE, not a right, and with that privilege comes a burden of RESPONSIBILITY: if you’re driving on the road, you owe it to yourself and your fellow motorists to PUT AWAY your distractions and focus on the task at hand.
The biggest problem with this whole ‘multi-tasking in the car’ thing is where do you stop? Yes, TWD is dangerous, if you’re not capable but there are so many other things that people do that are just as distracting. Fiddling with the radio or CD player, GPS systems, putting on make-up, eating food or drinking, turning around to yell at the kids or give them lollies or whatever. And there are so many things that can distract someone. It doesn’t have to be a material thing like a phone. Someone can be distracted emotionally or mentally. Have you ever had to drive home after a big fight or something? Crying is kind of distracting. You can’t ban something like texting just because some people can’t do it. If you can do it one-handed, without looking at the screen, and really quickly, then its no different to changing a gear or something. And if you have it on your lap, you can drop it if anything happens and you just move your hand down when you’re going straight or at a light or whatever. Some people will have accidents without any of these distractions because they’re just stupid. As someone said earlier, some people are capable of doing the multi-tasking and some people are not. So why should we all be penalised? I respect that there have been accidents involving TWD but there have been accidents not involving TWD, so there’s no simple answer. As I said, there are a million things inside a car and outside that can be distracting, so where do we draw the line?
I’m from Newfoundland, Canada.
Here, we have a point system on our license. Every fully licensed driver has 12 points – they lose these points (besides getting fined or ticketed) for things like speeding, dangerous driving, illegal parking and all that other stuff. How many points you lose depends on the type and seriousness of the offense.
Here, if you’re caught using a cellphone while driving, you automatically lose all 12 points – and your license is suspended.
You then have to go through the year-long process of obtaining your driver’s license all over again.
the problem isn’t simply texting while driving or being on the phone while driving. the problem is that people who arent good at it do it. Im 17 and text while i drive, except in bad weather, construction zones, and busy, high speed roads. I have never once even almost had an accident due to texting. however, i have been cut off and nearly hit by people who are on the phone and not good enough at multi tasking to do both.
I think driving while texting or doing any activity on the phone is dangerous, me and my friend were walking down the stree, btw im 14 so is her, but anyways this guy was playing with his phone and came through the red light and ulmost came up the curb and hit us on the sidewalk, he hit the curb swerved a bit and was STILL TEXTING!! ridiculous
I was in an accident that was caused by a 19 year old girl who was texting on her phone, and ran a red light and t-boned the vehicle I was in. I was 7 months pregnant at the time, but the crash killed my child. It should be illegal and carry the same punishment as drunk driving. They both impair your judgement, and put lives at risk. I can never know what my daughter would have been like because of an ignorant person. There is NEVER any reason to anything but DRIVE while behind the wheel. For everyone’s sake…
They already have laws that will cover texting while driving, its called distracted driving. There is no reason to make new laws that cover the same stuff as old laws.
That being said… I’m 34, and have been a truck driver for a little over 10 years. I average about 25,000 minutes a month on my phone, and on average send/receive about 5000 texts a month while driving. Texting or talking on the phone while driving isn’t the problem. Its not knowing what your limits are. Don’t blame the phone for you driving distracted, its a choice you make.
Shouldn’t you call it…Texting while Driving? Not Driving while Texting?
I think that TWD is a very stupid thing to do. My friend’s mom does this, and she is in her early fourties. And I’m nervous whenever I have to get a ride from her, because when she does this she is not focussing on driving and putting herself AND the passengers at risk.
especially if an accident happened
Yea well I drive and text cuz I can and I drive stick shift…see the trick is too memorize ur keypad…if u can do that u never have to look down, plus I keep both hands in the middle of the steering wheel
Any1 hit me DWT and I’ll personally see that they do it with their Arse the rest of their stupid arse life
Who Davy, your idea sounds like quite an invasion of privacy. Perhaps with the patriot act the can enforce it if they think you are a terrorist. That would not be a viable way of enforcing such a law. That being said, common sense should tell us how to go about this. Texting should be limited to stop lights, but definitely not while moving. If what you have to say can go in a text, it can wait a couple of minutes.
Grant-
The cops don’t have to prove anything. how can they prove that you were talking on the phone, how can they prove you ran a red light. they don’t have to!
Texting WD is Dangerous and stupid!!! …But will a ban prevent it from happening? Not likely; it may slow it down, there are still some honest folks out there, but the ignorant people for whom the laws would be made would still do whatever they felt like doing.
For all the teens out there who admit to texting – you don’t even have enough experience behind the wheel of a car and here you are risking your life and that of others playing with your phone. You claim people don’t respect you for your youth, but you don’t respect the danger you put yourself and others into.
I don’t text while I’m driving, and unless I have my bluetooth on, I won’t answer a call either. I have pulled off the side of the road to make a call, I ignore texts until I can safely pull over somewhere to respond to them, the phone gives the ID of the person calling, they can wait until I can safely call them back. No phone call is worth a life – it can wait. I had a brother and a sister killed in two different accidents by drivers not paying attention. I think the laws need to be so well defined that people are afraid to do so for fear of the consequences.
As for the girl who said they can’t tell if you are texting. Your phone gives a lot of information. If you are in an accident. They can access your phone information and see WHEN you made your last text or phone call and when you received your last text or phone call and they can determine from there it was a factor in the accident – which if someone is stupid enough to be on the phone texting – it’s NOT an accident. IT’s down right arrogant neglect and should be punishable in the extreme – ie loss of license for a period of time based on length of time the person has been driving.
How would you feel if someone killed one of your family members because they were too busy texting to pay attention? Until it happens to you, don’t whine to me that it doesn’t matter it does. It did to my family. I couldn’t have my sister as my bridesmaid in my wedding, she’ll never meet my daughter. My brother’s son will never see his father again. Anything that distracts a drive from full attention is dangerous and cell phones are something you can LIVE without, but can die if you use them in the wrong place.
I think texting is ridiculous anyway, but if you feel that you must engage in such a practice, why don’t you wait ’til you’re off the road, for Chrissake!?
Everywhere I go, people are totally absorbed in their phones, making annoying little clicking noises. It doesn’t matter if it’s in lecture, at dinner, in the bathroom, or even behind the wheel!
Nothing can possibly be so important that you can’t tear yourself away from the phone long enough to drive. What ever happened to turning off the phone and just having some quiet time (that does not involve killing other drivers)!?
Texting is a much bigger issue then most people seem to admit. Although it seems many people do it. With political pressure people generally will even stop driving in such was that by all means are not dangerous (speeding, look at the real statistics) so if you are worried about you safety then make it more of a political point if you want to be noticed.
Personally I’m a bit liberalterian when it comes to driving (so long as its been safe in one internation test, i’m okay with it) i don’t think texting makes these qualifications at all though.
Speed however does, people just need to realize that being passed on the highway is more likely to damage their egos then it is their bodies.
The city I live in was the first to have a ban against talking while driving in the US. So everyone I know avoids talking on them, because you will get fined, I know someone that has actually gotten ticketed the only time she ever talked on her phone. It also drives me nuts when people text/talk while driving. I actually take the drivers phones from them, so that way they can pay more attention to the road.
I text and drive occasionally. Sometimes while on the highway, sometimes when parked at a stoplight or in heavy traffic. I don’t make a habit out of it all day every day because I know that impairs my ability to drive. I don’t think texting bans would work; how many people do I see on cell phones in their car every day? Today, no joke, I saw a COP on his cell phone in a squad car.
It is dangerous to text and drive, but it is also dangerous to eat, drink coffee or even have children in your car.. where do we draw the line?
I think “DWT” is bad. I’ll admit I might send a text while at a light, but never while actually driving, and I never talk while driving unless I have my bluetooth in, if it’s important, I’ll pull over otherwise they’ll have to wait. Some people true are better at multi tasking than others, but those people are not as good as they think they are.
Most of the accidents and near accidents or stupid things I see in general are because people are using their phone. Are we all in that much a hurry that we can’t wait for a good time to these things concentrate on the road? Theres enough stupid people on the road as is without messing with their phone.
I know a bus driver (for city bus) that texts while driving… in the bus…… he’s only 23 and would probably deny it if his boss asked about it but he hasn’t caused a wreck yet……
I think driving while texting is even worst than talking on the cell while driving. A person has to take their eyes off the road in order to find the letters and punctuation. I think a person should get a ticket and pay a fine,if caught talking or texting on their cell phones. I also found out that a person tends to excelerate while driving. I often see people on their cells when I drive,and I make it my business to either pass them up,or drive behind them. I don’t turn my cell phone on while in my car. LEAVE A MESSAGE,AND I’LL RETURN YOUR CALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE-THANK YOU!.
hey mike, smartypants u driving and texting iz just bout the worst thing u can do while driving. It can not only be deadly to yurself but also to others. And geez u dont have to text 24/7 u obbsesive compusive lil teens. Just put yur phone away till yur done and then brainwash yur brain with all yur texting stuff. nowdays ppl r not as safe. ppl who r safe were already that way and those who r not may never be thats the bad part. good part iz, well actually there is nothin good bout texting while driving and who knows u cant rlly multi task like mike said SO ITS IMPOSSIBLE! just wanted to get that through those teens thick skull. u will probaly regret if u dont listen up. dont be a fool even though u feel like yull die just put it away for five minutes till yur done. thats all i say and u cant blame if u die cuz ill just say: told u so!
I only use my phone when it’s a stoplight. I limit my phone message to short ones. I only text when I’m about to pick up someone, and there’s usually no parking space in the drop-off area.
When someone is calling me, I get irritated with the sound, so I try to answer them at a stop light for a few seconds only, saying I’m driving and I’ll call them later.
I just want to be safe; plus I get irritated when other drivers use their cellphones and hog two lanes and go extra slow at the same time. I don’t want to be a hypocrite.
A friend of a friend of mine was texting while driving. He swerved and almost hit a truck. he missed the truck; however it swerved making the crates fall on his car. He did not make it.
No, banning texting while driving will not keep people from doing it. I’m sure they reduce it somewhat, but I live in California where cell phone talking without a headset while driving has been banned, and I see 2-3 people per day driving on the freeway holding their cell phone to their ear.
im a teenage, age 17. and i believe theres only one thing to keep people from texting while driving, and ive been through. its experience.
once while checking my phone on a curvy rode, i went up on the sidewalk. it scared me so incredibly much, i was so lucky there wasnt a person, tree, or building or anything there. after that, i couldnt bring myself to even pick up my phone while in the car.
but now, i must admit, i do answer the phone, but only when its my parents or boyfriend, and when i say im driving they let me go right away without even starting the conversation.
no one should text while driving, when you do youre not paying attention one bit, you might say, oh well i can do it without looking, well how do you read it? looking down for just a moment can cause fatal crashes.
if only we had a simulator, i mean a full on simulator, where teens and even adults could see what its like to get in a crash or even drive up on the sidewalk as a result for texting.
oh and for you bluetoothers, and people who run your phone there your steros, that really doesnt do anything but give you and extra hand to run into another car with, youre still in the conversation.
friends dont let friends drive with electonics.
For everyone that was picking on that kid for saying that a cop wouldn’t be able to tell if you were texting or not. He’s right… A cop can’t take your cell phone and check records unless you give your consent. And who the heck would give consent. And also Chris if you dispute a ticket like that and threaten to take it to court and cop isn’t going to challenge that because there is no sound evidence for him. He’ll either let you off with a warning or drop the ticket after he sees that you have disputed it and are going against him in court. So you pretty much get off either way. Also thanks to Daniel R for calling out all the idiotic drivers that just happen to have a cell phone in their possession when they do something stupid in a car. Its not the phone’s fault its yours. Learn your limits.
It really depends on who you are and the circumstances involved. As someone mentioned before, you need to know your own limits.
Personally, as a normal driver, I choose not to text while driving. I have, on occasion, flipped the phone open to check a text that I received, but not while the car is in motion. Stuck in traffic, not moving, I’ve made quick replies.
That’s me, though. Most of my friends drive truck for a living, and text constantly. They know their limits, and put their job first. I’ve been hung up on countless times due to it, because when something requires their attention on the road, they give it. When they deem it safe to do so, texting helps them to keep in contact with their friends and family.
However, these people are away from their families, as are many others with different types of traveling jobs. As calling isn’t always the best option, many resort to texting.
We have too many laws in this country already, simply because too many people lack common sense and good judgement. Thousands of people are able to text and drive safely and responsibly.
Unfortunately, too many are stupid and irresponsible, and everyone else has to pay the price for it.
The probelm with texting is caused by greedy politicians who made talking on the cell while driving illegal for no reason other than to make more money for their cities and states threw taxes. I’ve almost been in a couple accidents while texting and would rather not do it, but now I’ll alwyas text instead of call because I don’t want to get a ticket for holding the phone to my ear (i HATE those ear pieces). It really doesn’t matter if you make texting illegal bc a cop would never be able to prove that you were texting as opposed to going threw your phone book or pressing the send button… besides you can just hold the phone where no one can see. It would be a pointless law.
I took a driving class once for speeding and the instructor told us that “texting while driving is suicide”. At least you know they talk about it now in the defensive driving classes because it is such an issue.
i think cops should ban and give people tickets while they are driving because it’s really dangerous what if you were texting and wasn’t paying attdence to the road and you hit someone or kill them you are going to go to jail and your liesnce will be taking away driving and texting is not a good thing. if i was your mother i would take away your phone when your about to go out onto the road because you never want to kill someone and knowing that you killed them because YOU WERE TEXTING, so what i think is that there should be a law that you can’t text at all and if you get caught you get a ticket and get your driver’s lisence takeing away for 3 years
Chris, a cop DOES have to witness or prove something.
And for the record, I never used to text while driving until it was banned to talk and drive. How stupid was that? Talking on your cell phone and driving is way safer….noe people will text more! But if you do not hit send on your phone while texting when you get pulled over, there IS NO RECORD ON YOUR CELL PHONE UNTIL YOU HIT SEND! I admit it’s dangerous as crap, but I do it all the time. We all have to die sometime, don’t worry about it. I don’t.
Doing anything mentally distracting while driving is dangerous and any number of statistics/studies will show this. It’s not a matter of limits, its a matter of degrees and you’re ALWAYS more liable to have an accident when you’re distracted. TWD is irresponsible and greedy. An accident usually involves 2 or more people, not just yourself. Show some respect to the people you share the road with and don’t text while driving.
I do occasionally text while in the car, but only when I am stopped at a light. I can’t stand it when my bf drives while texting though.
I know I get distracted on the phone, so I do not talk while driving. As far as bluetooth, it is just as unsafe. Distractions are distractions. Anything can be a distraction, such as passengers or the radio. So where would we draw the line?
Candy, 22, from Texas
I’m 19 and I text while I drive, I also do various other things while I drive. I just pay more attention to what im doing. To be honest I have only gotton into an accident when I wasnt multitasking, meaning music off phone away no one in the car 100% of my attention on the road. Some people just shouldnt multitask when they drive. Im confident doing it cause i do it cautiously. but dwt isnt as bad as some of the things i did in the past. in which i probably shouldnt have even been n the car let alone driving it
It has been proven using a mobile phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving while drunk. In Australia, this is already illegal and there are hefty fines for it if caught. Doesn’t stop people doing it though.
I am an ex deputy sheriff in Ohio and we have a law against texting and driving. A little girl was killed in Cincinnati just because of this issue. So we will pull you over if we see your car moving while you are even looking at your phone. It’s called distracted driving. It’s the same ticket you’ll get if you have a dog sitting in your lap.
Some guys go as far as to give you a ticket even if you are texting at a red light. That’s a bit too far IMO.
I know most will agrue, “how you gonna prove it”. We don”t care – let the court sort it out. We win 9/10 times anyway and plus the court pay is nice.
No message is worth your life or someone elses. Or even the hassle of the fender bender. If witnesses see that you were texting, you have just compounded the problem with add’l legal trouble.
Where I’m from, there already is a law against using your cell phone while driving. If you are running around in town, in your car, with a phone to your ear, you will get the maximum fine possible. I think it’s a good idea. People who talk on cell phones are normally bad drivers, and cause accidents. (Though they are too busy texting and talking to even see).
I read some of the responses.. here is mine.
1. I would approve a ban on texting ( BY THE DRIVER) in a MOVING vehicle
2. I would approve a ban on the use of cell phone, while vehicle is turned on ( can’t be in use if it isn’t turned on ! lol)
3. For those who think the above won’t work… why is it that IT NEVER HAPPENS TO YOU ? Its always the other person ?????
Sorry it does happy to you and you are the other person !
4. Vehicles are deadly weapons.. driveing is a privledge.. protect your privledge to drive and don’t do stupid things like talk or text while driving a vehicle.
5. I saw something I couldn’t believe yesterday.. a young guy., on a motor bike ( not a M/C ) driving down a road way talking on his cell phone.. one hand on the bike one on the phone !
Idiots !
6. I would approve a law in ever state.. that requires drivers to go to a class.. and sit and watch a movie of re enactment and results of many accidents.
Results of them.. and how people die, and are scared for life.. from texting or talking on a phone.
7. I would approve a mandatory contraption.. that disables any electronic in a vehicle ( including radio that goes over a quiet level) once the vehicle is started.
I’m not going to be so dependent and addicted to other people that I need to text or even use the phone while driving.
i text while riding my motorcycle…
Honestly, I tried DWT one time and could not drive. Of course I’m not that great at multi tasking while driving anyway. I was never one that put on makeup or aything while driving. So, it wasnt from lack of trying when texting while driving. I cant even turn a corner while talking on the phone. So thanks for bluetooth.
Driving while texting, Brittney Spears’ comback, MTV, The counrty blaming Bush for the economey when it’s American’s borrowing more and spending more money then they make and De-Regulation in 1996 that caused it.
The counrty has gone retarded; quick, simple, and all about me is what everything boils down to.
Texting while driving is more of the “I don’t give a damn about anyone but me” mentality that America is stuck on. No regard for anyone else.
DWT, drinking, smoking, cell talk, eating, etc., are inevitable behind the wheel. It’s our society – do more with less. Some insurers are getting into the act.
My quote:”Multi-tasking is for computers, NOT commuters!”
please everyone when you get in to your car just turn your cell phone off. You are not going to miss anything just enjoy your drive and focus on that, it for everyone safty.
I once saw a man driving with both elbows while texting with both hands. Thats dangerous if anything is.
So kids, let me tell you a story.
Last year in the town next to mine, a seventeen year old girl went to jail. Honest to goodness jail. She was driving home one night and texting to her friends about what kind of shoes she was wearing to the prom when she hit a police officer that had pulled someone over. She crushed him between her car and the car of the person he had stopped.
Next time you TWD, ask yourself if what you’re texting about is really worth five years in prison.
As for the ban? I’m all for it. I’m 19 years old and have to drive 30 miles to work and school everyday. I’d like to be around to see 40 at the very least.
hhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy how do u drive and text
We all know it’s dangerous but we still do it. Im guilty!! When I see cops I just put it on my lap. Its to the point where I dont even need to look at the phone to text. Its really an addiction, a stupid one! It doesnt matter what age. Im 29 and cant help myself.
I must admit to having done this a time or two however, I realize that just one short look away from the moment can cause accident and injury. I do not text anymore while driving. In fact, I hardly talk on the phone when driving. It is not safe, and I doubt it can be regulated.
i cant walk and text at the same time. so theres no way in hell i would even consider doing it while driving. thats just stupid
its still legal in south carolina as long ad you dont have a provisional license. which you have here until 21.
my husband doest twd and it drives m crazy. although he can do it without looking down at all. still doesnt make it safe. far as i know he has stopped
we had a fatal accident here involving 6 young adults all 18-22 alcohol and texting were the cause
.the driver was texting another girl about a party they were all going to. and skipped a median and crashed into the side of an underpass killed her self and 4 of her passangers one was left critical and is now wheelchair bound. she is left with the memory of what happened that night and the loss of her friends.
to me its not worth it but others dont care. i hate swerving to avoid texters or people talking on the phone
put the damn phone down and get there safely and in one piece
the life you save by putting your phone in the glove box in your purse in the floor board or in the console out of sight and mind could be your own life
driving is a privilege not a right respect the roads and the other drivers
That’s bad news! If you do that, your car could end up like this:
http://www.bofads.com/stories/baddriver.htm
People have been spoiled with the hi-tech communications they have today that they forgot all about safety while using them.
Not only with cell phones and text messaging, but whaty ever happened to the laws about having TV monitors in the front driver area. Today, cars and trucks are filled with DVDs and all kinds of monitors in front and back of the vehicle with some right there in front of the driver.
From people talking long periods on their cell, text messaging and watching their favorite DVD in their car, there is no reason not to believe that people have become spoiled and impatient.
Many times, there are drivers who drive extra slow while they are on their cell and that can be a nuisance also. These people have become so spoild and arrogant that they don’t care how their cell phone use disrupts other people.
I remember when people had to wait til they got home to talk on the phone and watch TV. People seemed to have gotten along find then, so why can’t they now.
i think those laws do help quite a bit. i know that when i heard that certain areas were placing bans on driving while using phones, i went out to get a hands free device immediately. there are bans in chicago and many areas in wisconsin. i know that it prevents a lot of people from using phones while driving, but i also know of many others who will say, “hold on a sec.” i had a friend put her phone down while she was driving becaue she was driving past a cop in an area that has a ban. overall though, i think the bans are fairly effective.
I do think that driving while TEXTING is dangerous. We live in NJ and they just banned driving while talking on your phone… and THAT I think is completely stupid. Texting requires that you actually take your eyes off the road, talking doesn’t. Is the problem that you have only one hand on the wheel? Do you know how many people I know, including myself, that normally only drive with one hand anyway? That’s right. I naturally place my left hand at 6 o clock, and my right falls into my lap. It’s just how I drive. When something happens that requires two hands, I grab the wheel with both. Those laws are not effective. People still call and text while driving, just like they still speed, don’t signal, drive aggressively and drunk… the list goes on. While I agree that texting shouldn’t be allowed, I firmly believe that if you can’t talk on the phone while driving, you should be licensed to drive to begin with. What will be next? No passengers allowed in the car because they are a distraction? No radios or music allowed because they are a distraction? No reading road signs because they are a distraction?
It is now 8:17 and Yahoo answers is still not back yet
what’s going on?