Should Texting Whiling Driving Be Banned

Imagine riding a bike and being struck from behind. Imagine finding out the driver was texting.

A Julian motorist struck UNCG professor Mark Schulz from behind on his way home from work on the night of March 26, 2008, knocking him unconscious, breaking his ribs and sternum, shattering his kneecap and crushing his vertebrae, according to the News and Record. The crash left him with a concussion and ongoing physical therapy. He started physical therapy in the hospital seven days after the crash and is still having to do physical therapy today.

The crash has changed Schulz’s life in a few ways. “It has made me grateful to be alive and able to walk, more committed to remain physically fit, more of an advocate for wearing bicycle helmets and for laws banning cell phone use of any type while driving a motor vehicle,” said Schulz.

There are at least two versions of a bill to ban texting while driving that have been introduced in the House and Senate that now await committee hearings.

Under these bills it would outlaw texting or using other auxiliary functions on a mobile phone such as e-mail. Drivers would be fined $100 and court costs under one version, according to the News and Record.

It is bad enough being out on the road with drivers talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to driving. It is much worse with drivers who are texting and taking their eyes completely off the road for a couple of seconds.

“An estimated 20 percent of drivers are sending or receiving text messages while behind the wheel, according to a Nationwide Insurance study in a U.S. News and World Report.

Texting while driving is 50 percent more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving, according to a University of Utah study.

In 2006, there were more than 158 billion text messages sent, according to CTIA-The Wireless Association in a USA Today story.

Something needs to be done to make it clear to drivers that texting while they are driving is not good driving practice. It will be difficult enforcing this if the bill passes, but having a ban banning texting while driving is a step in the right direction.