Legislation Calls for a Ban on Texting

Legislation calls for a ban on texting

There is a lot of debate over the use of cell phones while driving; the newest debate is over texting while driving. The use of cell phones and other handheld devices has become so common that one of the first questions investigators seek to answer in many accident investigations these days is whether drivers were distracted when accidents occurred. Studies show that motorists who send or receive a text message have a tendency to take their eyes off the road for five seconds to do so. That is enough time for their car to travel more than the length of a football field at highway speeds. No one knows how many vehicular crashes are related to drivers distracted by text messaging, but evidence is mounting. A car crash made headlines when five teens’ friends died in a collision with a tractor trailer just a week after graduating. Police discovered the teenage driver had been texting moments before the crash. Similar accidents are happening with increasingly regularity nationwide.

 A new law is being proposed to ban texting nation wide and add to the list of cell phone restrictions. As it stands right now 16 states are considering legislations that would ban texting. “I know I shouldn’t but some times I have” said Matt Puckett, a teacher at a local high school. Only two states prohibit texting while driving. Washington banned texting May, and New Jersey followed in November. Similar bills are now in the works in Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. There will most likely be more restrictions on cell phone use while driving in the future, and they will most likely not be favorable with the general public.