Sunday, March 25, 2012

Texting a Common Distraction


I know that today we think that the state of Illinois is just trying to find ways to bring money in, this could in fact be the case in most circumstances, but when it comes to texting and driving I would like to believe that it is more for people’s safety. Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA) People do drive as if they were drunk if they are texting someone. It’s hard to believe that in such a short amount of time someone or something could be harmed. My biggest goal in time is to hopefully lower the behavior in texting and driving. I don’t want to be the one cop that just pulls people over for that specific traffic stop, but to me it’s a lot more than just bringing in money for the police department that I will be working for.       
A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into an accident than a non-texting driver. (2009, VTTI) Due to this statistic it should make people uneasy when they are driving next to, behind or in front of a person who is texting and driving. The youtube video below shows how a person becomes distracted while on a cell phone. I know in my own experience that I’ve had my number of occasions where I have tripped, or ran into a wall due to texting and walking.  In the video you see a women trip while texting and it’s only for a few seconds. Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field. (2009, VTTI)
            Illinois laws state that a driver is prohibited from texting while driving, but just like any other law, it gets broken from time to time. Illinois’s mobile phone and texting laws are considered “primary” laws. A primary law is a law that a police officer can pull a person over for, for the specific offense of texting and driving without having to witness some other violation.
           If people are punished for drinking while under the influence they should be for texting and driving as well. I understand people feel that it may be cruel to get “easy” money, but people have been hurt from people texting and driving. My dad lost his best friend of 30 years to a girl who was texting and driving. He was like another uncle to my sister and I and it defiantly opened up our eyes to people who violate the law of texting and driving. Overall Illinois has advanced in making sure that citizens abide by the laws, I am for officers pulling people over for what people think is just a money maker. It can save a person’s life by making sure that driver doesn’t cross those yellow lines.  

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7 comments:

  1. I definitely think that texting and driving is something that should be punished by law and that this is not one of those things that Illinois is doing just to get some more money into the system. I actually have been on the Neuro floor of the hospital for the past few days and one of the families here is waiting for a loved one who was hit by a teenager texting and driving causing him to hit a pole and has been in a coma for 2 months now. This is a serious problem nowadays and even companies such as apple realize the problem and have created helpful tools to address the issue. Siri allows you to speak into the phone to create a text without ever having to take your eyes off the road. Granted this is still a distraction but much less than a normal text would be.

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  2. I agree with the comments made in the blog itself and the comment above me about how texting and driving should be punished by the law. Not that it is right, but like many, I am guilty of texting and driving and have noticed how it effects the way I drive. When driving most of us don't think about many of the dangers until something bad happens and the fact that texting and driving is comparable to drinking and driving is scary. The smart phones that have been created are helping with the problem a little bit by allowing you to speak into the phone and it producing a text. But at the same time the touch screen keyboards require a person to look at the screen the majority of the time. Overall it is just a bad idea to text and drive and law enforcement should be punishing those who do so more often in order to keep our streets a little bit safer.

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  3. I agree that texting and driving is extremely dangerous. I do think it should be punished by law because then hopefully people will be deterred from doing it. It’s really sad to see how many people especially teens and young adults get in serious accidents and even die from texting and driving. I feel like there is enough distractions while driving like reading directions or talking to people in our car we don’t need that added risk. In addition, it’s so unfair to those people who don’t text and drive to risk being hit by a driver who is texting. Overall, I feel law enforcement should get stricter on texting and driving.

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  4. Even though i find myself texting while driving quite often, whether we like to admit it or not, I try not to because I understand the dangers of this. I have been texting while driving and I know I can easily drive off the road in a matter of seconds. Yes it may be an easy way for a town to make money off these tickets but I believe it is more of a safety issue than a money issue. Overall, i agree with the no texting while driving law, if the law is deterring people from not texting while driving it can save lives.

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  5. Texting while driving has to be one of the most preventable accident causing distractions out there. Let me start off by saying I've texted while driving multiple times; but, I'm making a conscious effort to refrain from ever doing it again while driving. I agree that citations should be issued to drivers texting while operating a vehicle. People often forget that it's not a right to drive but a PRIVILEGE. Texting while driving is a well documented distraction that rivals a driver being drunk and that alone should convince people to leave their phone in their pocket.

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  6. I agree, their needs to be a law against driving while talking on the phone or text messaging. I drive by people all the time either on a side street or highway texting looking down at their phone not even paying attention to the road. It might be that no one is on the road driving towards them but you never know when a little kid might run out into the street to get their ball. You might look up and by then you already hit them or you swerve out of the way and cause an accident. I believe texting and cell phone calls should not be allowed when you are driving.

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  7. I think that I will have to agree with everyone else on this issue. Texting and Driving should certainly be illegal and should be punishable by law if caught. Regardless: sitting at a stop light or driving down the road, it should be illegal and not tolerated. I work fire/ems and have seen many terrible accidents which that have resulted from distracted driving and inevitably texting and driving is a large one. The guilt one has to carry for causing an accident and the sorry loved ones endure is nowhere near the benefit of a text message. I also agree that it is not a economic bonus for the states or municipalities, it is simply a law to protect innocent drivers and pedestrians from being killed by distracted drivers. There are many other common distractions for those behind the wheel but texting and driving has got to the most common and significant.

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