1
Paul Christensen
Professor Nathan Cole
English 2010-042
7/22/13
Texting and Driving Laws
Texting and driving campaigns have started back in 2009 and have been rising in
popularity within the last two years. Texting while driving is a growing trend and a national
epidemic that is quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume they can
handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers don’t lie. Teen drivers must be
taught the tough lesson to not text and drive and come to terms with that concept when they’ve
just earned their license if they wish to keep it. The question that is on the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration and every concerned mother out there is: “How can we
stop people from texting and driving?” I have a few proposals and ideas on we could reduce
people from texting and driving
The most obvious proposal, which many states have already started to do, is to enact a
banning law against texting and driving.
Recently the Governors Highway Safety
Association commends Idaho for becoming
the 37th state to enact a texting while driving
ban on April 12, 2012. (Picture to Right)
2
Many states have their own variations of how strict they will be on the penalty for
texting while driving. Utah for example has a $750 fine and a 90 day jail sentence; however Utah
is not the strictest state. Alaska can be a $10,000 fine and a year in prison, which would make
anyone in that state from texting and driving. (“Distracted Driving Laws”) Many state laws have
quoted the reason why behind the severity behind their amount of penalties is because it is just as
dangerous as drinking or driving. “It’s a willful act,” said Lyle Hillyard, a Republican state
senator and a big supporter of the new measure. “If you choose to drink and drive or if you
choose to text and drive, you’re assuming the same risk.” (Richtel) Treating texting behind the
wheel like drunken driving raises complex legal questions. Drunken drivers can be identified
using a breathalyzer or a walking line test. But there is no immediate test for driving while
texting; such drivers could deny they were doing so, or claim to have been dialing a phone
number. Many legislators have thus far made a distinction between texting and dialing, though
researchers say dialing creates many of the same risks. (Richtel)
Although the penalties for texting while driving are very steep, people are still getting
into accidents and killing people even though against the law. Even though it’s against the law,
people are still doing texting out of ignorance or negligence. Which if you think about it,
penalties or fines doesn’t stop people from committing other crimes such as stealing, murder, and
other felonies. One possibility to prevent people from texting and driving since almost everyone
has smartphones is to use apps or applications on the
cellphone. Many applications that can be downloaded through
Google Play or the Apple Store can access the GPS settings in
your phone. Many applications have already been created to
gauge the speed that you’re driving for navigational purposes.
3
Safe Texting AR+ app uses GPS technology to reduce distracted driving. (“Safe Texting
Campaign”) When you’re driving at speeds above fifteen miles per hour, the application replies
to inbound SMS messages, letting the sender know you are driving and it may be a while before
you respond to their text message. Safe Texting AR+ also includes a Crash Gallery, Caught You
Texting and Safety Events galleries. From the app upload pictures or send pictures directly from
your phone's camera to the galleries. (“Safe Texting Campaign”) Although doesn’t really do
much as far as a penalty for driving, but it puts the pictures in your gallery for you see how often
you text while driving.
Personally I believe the best way for our society to get a hold on people to stop texting
and driving is to start with the car itself. Laws, apps or even parental guidance, where parents
don’t allow kids to have phones are definitely way to help prevent people from texting and
driving, however this doesn’t stop people from texting. Recently there has been development of a
new device called ORIGO Safe that can be installed into many cars that will require drivers to
put their cellphone into the dock in order to start the car. (Panetta) Upon entering the car, the
phone with the ORIGO Safe cover must be placed in the dock. If the phone is removed at any
point, the device will flash a warning. After a set amount of removals, programmable by an
administrator, the car won’t restart until the administrator enters a restart code. Just to be clear,
the car does not shut off; only once you turn the car off it won't restart. (Panetta) While in the
dock, the phone will operate hands free via Bluetooth so
the driver can still receive phone calls. A great concept
for teen drivers to inhibit them from texting and driving
or they might lose their vehicle privileges from their
parents. On the other hand, it still allows phone calls,
4
which means at the end of the day you’re still a distracted driver.
This is a promising feature to make the car not start unless the ORIGO Safe cover
properly placed in the dock. Making the driver stay focused on the road rather than on the phone.
However, as previously stated, that texting and driving is not the only distraction that happens to
people while driving. In my personal opinion I believe that this is the direction that all safety
originations and government officials need to support, because only the iPhone 4s/5 and the
Samsung galaxy S3 are compatible with this device to this date. Hopefully we can reach to a
point when all cell phone devices will be accessible just like every other cell phone cover.
No text is worth dying over!
5
Resources:
Doug Gross. “Survey: Adults text more than teens while driving”. CNN Tech. CNN, 2013. Web.
1 July 1. 2013.
Kasey Panetta. “Technology forces your teen to stop texting and driving”. ECN. ECN Mag,
2013. Web. July 26, 2013
Matt Richtel. “Utah Gets Tough With Texting Drivers”. The New York Times. Inside
Technology. 2009. Web. July 31. 2013.
Michael Austin “Texting While Driving: How Dangerous is it?”.. Car and Driver. Car and
Driver, 2009. Web. July 1. 2013.
N.P. “Distracted Driving Laws”. Governors Highway Safety Association. State Highway Safety
Office, 2013. Web. July 1. 2013.
N.P. “Texting while driving?”. Safe Texting Campaign. ELM & Associates, 2010. Web. July 1.
2013.
Phillip LeBeau. “Texting And Driving Worse Than Drinking and Driving”. CNBC. CNBC Auto
and Airline Industry Reporter, 2009. Web. July 1. 2013.