Think TWD is NBD? RIP.

WRITTEN BY: AMY PERRY

Texting while driving. Hundreds of thousands of people do it with no regard to the possible consequences. They are focused on sending that ever-important text message that can not wait until the next red light, let alone until they have safely reached their destination. There has been a lot of buzz (no pun intended) about recent laws proposed and implemented to increase the safety of all people on the road. Currently, only eight states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington State), D.C. and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones, for any reason, while driving. Thirty states, D.C. and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers. Eleven of these laws were enacted in 2010. The creation of these laws was inevitable. There has been a recent uptake in the number of accidents caused by texting while driving. In 2008, at any particular time, more than 800,000 Americans were using their cell phone in some way while driving during the daytime. In that same year, 6,000 Americans were killed by a distracted driver-or they were the distracted driver. Though young adults aged 16-24 is the age group who is pinpointed the most for texting while driving, other age groups are guilty of doing it, too. In 2008 in Newport Beach, California, Martin Burt Kuehl, 42, was sending text messages from his cell phone minutes before he struck a woman who was crossing the street. This incident occurred at 8:31 AM in broad daylight. Prior to the crash, a person who was driving behind Kuehl honked because Kuehl was waiting 10 to 15 seconds before proceeding through a green light (because he was focused on his text messages.) Kuehl apparently thought that the woman that he had recently met on a singles website was more important than his and others' safety. I'm sure that individuals will try to justify texting while driving, but there is really no excuse for it. Is answering that text message really worth risking others' safety-and your own? I think not.


http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell/statistics.html

REBUTTAL: BIANCA ROGERS

While texting and driving is a very serious issue in today's society, I do not feel it should be  the only issue that this law focuses on. Yes, texting while driving is dangerous, but so is putting on makeup while driving, eating while driving, etc. Texting while driving in some states is being considered the same as drunk driving, for instance in Utah, where the maximum penalty for texting while driving is 15 years in prison.  In my opinion, if you are going to single out texting, you should also include anything that would cause a distraction to someone while driving. I also think that people are not going to abide by these laws as need be. Take for instance the drunk driving laws, even though there are penalties that come with drunk driving, many people still today drink and drive. It is not going have that much of an impact the person until they kill someone. Also, policemen are finding it hard to enforce these laws. They say that it is hard because they do not have the proper training and it is hard to recognize if someone is actually texting or if they are just dialing a number. The laws in most states do not cover everyone for the no texting law. It mainly focuses on teenagers which seems a little unfair. If the law is going to be in-effect it should affect everybody.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/texting-while-driving-same-as-drunk-driving-in-utah-good-idea