Texting behind the wheel
08/28/2009Last July, six girls who just graduated high school were killed in New York when their car crashed into a tractor trailer. Records show the driver was texting just seconds before the crash. Now, sixteen US states have banned texting while driving. Ohio may be next.
According to WTVG in Toledo, one driving school instructor, Beverly Ricciardo, has set up a course in a safe area. When fifteen year-old Lauren came in to take her driving test, all went well&. Until she got a text message. Ricciardo says, "She thought she was doing fine, but in a fraction of a second, your atmosphere can change, and it's at that point you're hitting the car in front of you or you miss hitting a pedestrian." Beverly supports a law banning texting while driving. However, she recognizes this will be a hard point to drive home to young drivers who dont even remember a time when there were no cell phones.
A recent Nationwide Insurance poll showed 66% of those between 18 and 24 text behind the wheel. But that number may be low. Sgt. Eric Gonzalez of the Ohio Highway Patrol says, "Some people feel, with all due respect, stupid. It makes them feel inexperienced, maybe embarrassed." A similar poll by AAA shows 46% of that age range text behind the wheel regularly.
What this amounts to is a distracted driver. There are many distractions on the road, however texting while driving is extremely common. 110.4 billion text messages were sent last month. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 80% of all crashes were caused by distracted drivers. 65% of all near misses were caused by distracted drivers.
"Everyone's at risk of getting in a car accident, especially when you have your phone in your hand," Lauren said after her test. In a real scenario with other cars and passengers, instructors say texting while driving could be deadly and should be against the law. But they fear making it illegal may not be enough. The driving school's instructor Beverly Ricciardo says, "No, I don't think it's going to completely stop this. Unfortunately we're a society that learns from the punishment, not the act. So I think things are going to happen and when they see a friend in an accident or they themselves are in an accident, then that lesson will be learned."
