In California, they've outlawed talking on the phone while driving, unless you're wearing an ear-bud or some other hands-free device. (Or unless it's a radio-style phone - blame the lobbyists & politicians for that gaffe.) The National Highway Traffic Safety has known since 2003 that cell phone use while driving was potentially fatal, driving up accident rates by 400%.
Now U.S. text-enabled phone users send 1 billion text messages per year, many of them while driving a vehicle. When lawmakers penned this law, they overlooked the issue.
Texting (typing those messages with the cell phone, or reading such messages sent by friends, family or spammers if you have an internet enabled phone) while driving is inane. Seriously. How can we DRIVE, and TYPE and read a TINY SCREEN all at one time, while doing ANY of them well, or at least safely. The truth is, we can't.
What text is more important that your life, the lives of those you're shuttling, the lives of the other people on the road? None. In fact, if it's that important, pull to a safe spot off the highway, and make a call. You can communicate all that life-altering information more quickly by voice, while keeping yourself and everyone around you safe.
As this video discusses, it's not just the texter's life in jeopardy; it's everyone else on the road as well.
Please take 15 minutes to view it, then send your friends here to view it (or to the Utah Department of Transportation site from whence it originated).
For more information about texting and driving follow the links:
Texting riskier than pot, alcohol when driving, Wichita Eagle;
Five Teens Die in Crash, Cell Phone May Have Been Involved, New York;
latest texting news.
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Thank you for posting this! When I sent it to mom, I didn't even think about blogging it (DUH). That just goes to show that I'm still an internet/blogging novice. Thanks, again, to a pro!
ReplyDeleteWell, I wanted to spread the word, too, so I did it by any means available to me. :) Thanks, Kristi, for sending it to YOUR mom so she could send it to everyone SHE knew (including me) to share on down the line. :)
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