Do you text message while driving? Why not have a beer instead?
I was watching the News a few days ago when a story came on about a woman caught on video text messaging while driving. Though stories such as this are nothing new, they are always shocking and, quite frankly, really get me worked up. Would you drive drunk with your children in the car? Why not? It’s just the same as texting!
Photo by ozlady (Flickr)
In many places, text messaging while driving has been banned. For some reason, several Canadian provinces have proved to be as quick to implement a new law as my son is at cleaning his room. How many people need to die before provincial legislatures pull their thumbs off their cell phones and create a text messaging ban?
An article published yesterday in the Calgary Herald talks about a study recently released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. According to this study, the risk of crashing increases a staggering 23 times when texting. If you don’t think that’s much, why not look at it in a different perspective. Would you drive, or allow your children to drive, while under the influence of alcohol? Of course you wouldn’t! According to a different study done by Car and Driver, a driver’s response time is significantly slower when text messaging compared to when they are over the legal driving blood-alcohol limit. You can read this report here (make sure to check out the video too).
As far as I’m concerned, there is no doubt at all that texting while driving should be illegal. Period. There are far too many people with the “it won’t happen to me” attitude; most people recognize the dangers and agree there should be a ban but still they continue to text message while driving.
So, what’s your stance on the issue? Do you text message while driving? Should it be banned in every province? What do you think the penalties should be? What if it was your teenager who caused the accident? Feel free to comment!
WOW no wonder I believe cellphones and motorised vehicles DONT MIX! As soon as you take your mind off doing the one thing you SHOULD be doing in the first place and doing something else then YOU ARE THE DANGER everyone is trying to avoid! The Federal Governments of ALL COUNTRIES should be taking this issue way more seriously and BANNING the use of a cellphone by the driver in any type of motorised vehicle! If you drive alone and your cell rings,vibrates, beeps, etc then PULL OVER and answer/read/respond to the call, sms or email! If you have a passanger then let them answer/read/respond to it, at least then your NOT the danger everyone is trying to avoid, unless your breaking the law in some other manner.
i recall several years ago i was listening to a discussion about drinking alcohol and driving. This was not to many years after the interduction of the breathalizer machine to Canada. During the dicussion I distincly recall the spokeman of the group explain a persons reaction time and how it affected according to the amount of alcohol that was consumed.I very seldom drive and do not own a cell phone, but for pretty much as many years as cell phones I have allways expressed how stupid can people be to drive and be on a phone and how blind the laws are to let this go on. Naturally a persons reflexes are slower when we have drank alcohol and what do people don’t understand to realize that if your mind is focused on a phone conversation how could you not think your reflexes are slower. I would say that phone use is a lot worseor maybe eqivulant to drinking 6 beers, and if someone is telling you a joke or a conversation that would take some extra consentration, maybe more than 6 beers. Oh! so why the big political discussions and proceedures to have something abolished that is a no-brainer from the word go? Think about that and ask your politicians there explanation for that one.
I am constantly seeing drivers drift out of their lane, having to come to a sudden stop at lights because they didn’t realize there was traffic stopped in front of them, driving over sidewalks when making right turns – I could go on and on but you get the point. Whenever I see that, about 95% of the time I’ll notice that they are talking on their cell phones. It’s not just texting – talking on the phone should be illegal as well. As Monique said “Pull over!”.
I just want to get out of my car, walk over to them, take their phone out of their hands, place their hands on the steering wheel and say “Pay attention to what you’re doing before you kill someone.”
One article says 23x more likely the other says 23% more likely? ….. /=)
Although I definitely agree that all drivers should focus on driving alone.
I’m sorry to say, that MOST (~85%) of the drivers out there are total idiots to begin with. Even when they ARE paying attention. For these people to become distracted, is an accident waiting to happen. I think driving tests should be more strict, and more frequent.
For instance;
How many people actually use turn signals?
How many actually stop at stop signs? (10% if you’re lucky)
How many love to slowly creep through red lights?
Or drive the speed limit?
I agree totally and have a thought, suggestion to add of my own. Here is something for all drivers to consider very carefully.
Number “ONE” killer, bar none, habit .. on our roads today is { TAIL GATERS }.
This makes every other thing you can do which is dangerous, on the road today.
no signals, speeding, drinking, taking attention off the road and into your vehicle [for any reason] changing lanes.
100% more likely to make your innocent mistakes into deliberate, murderous acts. ANY one who tailgates by closer than ‘ 4 ‘ seconds distance of travel behind another vehicle, is a killer! Child-Killer! Sister,brother,husband wifeKiller!
Tailgating is worse than drinking and driving!? Seriously!? Tailgating will reduce or eliminate reaction time but it’s not a 100% fatal, that figure is more like 30% of total incidents and 6% of total fatalities (with some regional variation). Speeding is far more serious issue with a higher fatality rate. Arrogance is the biggest problem, whether it’s someone who thinks that they can text and drive at the same time or that guy speeding and weaving through highway traffic – these are the people causing the incidents – I don’t say accidents because these are completely preventable. Also if you’re going to cite the “4 second rule”, at least do it properly: 2 seconds for dry, ideal road conditions; 4 seconds for wet/rainy/non-ideal conditions; 10 seconds for slippery/snow/icy conditions. Do some research next time, FactKiller.
Although there are dozens of bad driving habits out there texting is by far one of the worst.WHY?Because the drivers eyes are off the road and typing on a 2 inch screen.It is a bigger problem.The problem is the lack of law enforcement in this country.Living in Edmonton i can drive to work and back on 137ave and never see a cop for months.This in it self sums up the arguement.
i dont use my signal, i dont even slow down at stop signs, when i see a yellow light i floor it, and i always to atleast 20 over the limit on city streets and 30 over on the highway, and i like to talk and text while i do it all, how do u like that grandpa
ha ha. I think you’re pretty darn irresponsible.
If he isn’t having us on , Mike2 is an idiot and should be banned from driving for life .
You are a murderer, looking for your victims!!!
I agree except the stats are probably higher.
I agree that driving tests should be stricter overall. The examiners should also test prospective drivers for their road senses as they do in UK, and not just for the fact that they can drive a vehicle. For as my driving school instructor once mentioned to me years ago “any idiot or monkey can drive a car, but not everyone has good road sense while behind the steering wheel”.He was referring to a former New York city taxi driver who failed to pass his driving test in England for the 30th consecutive time. The guy complained to a reporter that he had been driving in New York city, for the last 30 years, one with the busiest and craziest traffic in the world. He obtained his driving licence on the first try in New york 30 years before that and had never stopped driving,and never had an accident, and how dare the Brits fail him so many times . He, however, he did not mention how many accidents he caused or how many innocent people he got killed or maimed. Apparently more than one. He claimed that he was always extra careful whenever he “burnt” a red light or cut in front of other road users when he was in a hurry to get his fare from A to B in the minimum time for example. His policy was :- if the others can`t drive properly, they should not be on the road.
Unfortunately one cannot legislate on the lack of common sense, although one can be sensitised to it. It is never too late.
To those with good common senses out there, my salutation. Hope you are not among the 23% out there or even 1% of the 23%.
I dont know why there needs to be laws to dictate NO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. Ive been driving for 25 years and when i took drivers education it was taught that you are not supposed to do anything that is distracting while driving, ie yelling at the kids, reading, make up, eating, etc. All of these things are a distraction. People who text and drive are complete idiots. They should have their licenses taken away as they are a danger on the roads. New laws wont help the police cant even enforce the old ones. The problem is that people are in too big of a hurry, maybe if people slow down a bit and enjoy life they would be happier and healthier, If you need to answer a text PULL OVER YOU IDIOTS!!!! If people are caught texting or on the cell while driving as well as any other distraction should lose their driving PRIVILEDGE. (please note driving is not a right)
ya bud ur the one that will be the idiot on the road who cant even drive when ur not even distracted idiot
If you spell, like you drive, I wouldn’t give you a drivers license! Do you know what a complete sentence is?
If any one is the idiot, it is you!
you know what, if you have not learned how to multitask, then you shouldnt be on the road. texting is NOTHING, when you have a screaming baby yelling in the backseat, and the wife complaining to you and still are able to filter all that out and still be able to drive normally, then you will see, ill be would never pull over my vehicle in the middle of rush hour to type, ” NO ” on my text phone. that is stupidity at its finest!!
Driving is a form of mulitasking all by itself. You need to be looking at what is ahead of you on the road, where are other vehicles around you, and for the people walking without looking. If the Federal Government made an exemption in the privacy laws to permit the insurance companies to check your cell phone record to see if you where using it while driving, and they then did not cover your accident, you would not be having to worry about all your other distractions, because they wouldn’t bother you so much on the BUS.
Having ploughed into a snowbank in the split moment that I turned my head to tell my kid, in the backseat, to put his seatbelt back on, I’m on it.
i dont understand why people think texting and driving is so bad. i can understand that while your in the city and in heavy traffic areas you shouldnt text but whats wrong when your on the highway? i can text and drive quite fine, the ONLY time i have to look at the screen is to read the text. once i am done reading i can reply to it without looking 95% of the time. what needs to be outlawed is retard drivers who can’t drive if their life depended on it! every day i see drivers who are worse than a 12 year old kid.
95 percent isnt 100 percent buddy…that 5 percent is the difference between life and death…but i agree with the retard drivers ahah…aka old ppl…they should have a manditory license renewal test at like 65 ahha
What about a deer in front of you and a line-up of tailgators behind you? What about bikers, cars, tractors, kids, pulling out of hidden driveways while you are diving 10+ lms over speed limit and looking at your d.m phone? wake up . highways more dangerous, because you are traveling faster.. IDIOT..
The insurance companies in Perth Australia compared drivers OWN records to find that they increased their crash rates by 15% to when they were not talking on the phone (hands held/ hands free made no difference). Their State laws let the insurance companies check phone use for the time of accident. Looking at the message that you typed takes 4.6 seconds. At 55 MPH that means that you have travelled the length of a football feild. It the semi in front of you slams on it’s breaks as you look down, you will look back up after you are wearing your engine. Put your phone away when your driving.
BS TO DONALD
i think ur all stupid just for even writing this blog like let people kill them selves if they want nomatter what anyone say people will still do it so why bother bitching about it
They dont care about the retards they care about who they hit
Yeah, but we’re addressing the ones that take others out (without their permission). If someone wants to commit “vehicular suicide” do it away from traffic and other people. I say this lightly. It is flirting with death, itself, to not respect your life more than that. You only get one and cats don’t drive. They’re too smart and they don’t text either, Alvin. P.S. You must be a chipmonk or you’re reply would have been more intelligent, right??!!
it’s not only teens that text and drive.
The whole thought of you compairing Driving Drunk to texted messaging is completly INSANE, your so worried about the stats then look at this, there is over 6.6 Billion people on this planet and Half of which has or uses Cell phones, 1 quarter of that are driver’s that do it, why? cause the law says we cant talk(IE:VOICE) on a cell phone while driving,ITS ALWAYS ABOUT SOMEONE TRYING TO CONTROL YOU AND YOUR WAY OF THINKING Sooo the only means of communication is threw texting. i wont dispute the fact that it is SOMETIMES A DISTRACTION to some degree, but you can put down the cell phone and concentrate on driving very easily, Being intoxicated, YOU CAN’T IF YOUR DRUNK THEN YOU ARE DRUNK!!!!
That was a very stupid example to use.
One more thing, i do texting while driving, but i only do it when I feel it to be safe to do so, i use my best discretion and not at any other time. I have been for years and nothing has every came about from it, LUCKY?? NO, just smart!! so people if you are Texting while driving, use common sence, Texted when you no that there is NO POSSIBLE THREAT!!!
“SOMETIMES A DISTRACTION to some degree” quote, unquote. Distracted driving is unsafe and can lead to your death and the death of others. Very similar to drinking, rethink!!! Drive consciously not partially, thinking of what to say and where the letters are. Duh?
Thank you…can I tell you I agree..that was the stupidist comparison to make!
IF THATS THE WAY YOU SPELL ALL THE TIME, I SUGGEST YOU DO`NT TEXT AT ALL. PEOPLE WILL SEE THAT YOU ARE ONLY SEMI-LITTERATE…
My mom does this all the time, not only texting, but will attempt to look through her purse or apply makeup. She does this after I tell her I’m worried and that I want her eyes on the bloody road. It’s not only dangerous, it’s very stressful and worries me. She frequently rides the highway and has too much confidence.
It’s definitely something I hope to see hit hard by law enforcement.
Get your mom to watch the very beginning of the movie, Far From Home and tell her of your concern. If she doesn’t wake up, then you must come to the realization that she isn’t very smart and you were, probably, adopted.
My error..
The movie is Fly Away Home.
You made my day. I could only wish I was adopted Sue.
People are so oblivious to the reality of this. It is a problem and I’m not surprised at all this article is being published. I think anyone disregarding it should consider a second glance.
I completely agree with you on this subject; there is no reason for you to text with driving. Just like the picture above demonstrates, you vision is not as good as it should be while you are texting.
While, yes, it is true, there shouldn’t have to be a law against texting while driving since it should be common sense not to do it in the first place, there is such an increase in the number of accidents that occur. I know a couple people who have been in a car accident, whether it be minor or major (both would be preferred not to happen, dont cha think?), and a few of those individuals have admitted that they were texting and it caused such a distraction that, ultimately, they crashed.
I think you some recieve numerous demerits for texting while driving; it is not a safe practice, and is happening way too consistently.
I got sticker on my car behind…HANG UP AND DRIVE!I hate seeing one who talks while driving n they looks like illiterate people to me.so HANG UP AND DRIVE!!
It openly states in the learner’s manual to avoid distraction’s while driving as driving is serious. Having your FULL attention on the road while driving is simple common sense. Unfortunately common sense isn’t all that common. Anyone texting and driving is a sub-moron regardless of environment, and road condition’s as driving habit’s become permanent.
I absolutely agree that people shouldn’t text message while driving. But do we really need a separate law to cover every conceivable scenario? What about driving while eating? With your dog in your lap? The list goes on and on…
Why not just enforce the laws under the “catch all” reckless driving, or some other such, more general ruling? No wonder our legal system has gotten so complicated – everybody thinks that a knee jerk reaction to the “problem of the day” is warranted, but even in the best of times the legal system takes years to catch up with trends in society. I’d much rather see the legal system to have teeth to nail those who are simply not giving driving the due diligence it requires, regardless of whether a specific subparagraph/subclause designates the distracting activity.
We shouldn’t need a separate law to cover all scenarios. We already have one called “impaired driving”. Impaired refers to one not giving 100% of their mental or physical ability of paying attention to the road, being drunk is just one example and texting or cell phone talking is obviously another. Law enforcement needs to buckle down on these law breakers.
Funny how all the comments that don’t agree with the article are coming from those that do the texting.
If people can’t use their common sense and think of the others they are putting in jeopardy then they should not be entitled to drive.
Amen.
You’re right. The only problem with people is they will not learn until there’s absolutely nothing left. For some reason those who have the confidence to text while driving, or try to multi-task in such a way that potentially exposes them to risk, don’t recognize that they’re even doing anything wrong. It’s something they believe they can do and because some are completely foreign to the concept and how incredibly risky it can be, they go on with their day and just like smoking, if they continue, it will one day get the best of them.
There are such ridiculous laws these days, the system is incredibly flawed, but regardless we must live under them and those who don’t have the common knowledge to sense whether their actions are a potential hazard to others continue to do so. At least these minor problems are being acknowledged.
I’ll admit, I do text well I drive, and it is probably wrong to do so. But it feels soooo good! The feeling of driving 110 km/h on the highway, while fingers jumping from key to key, just gives me an adrenaline rush that no roller coaster or thrill ride can fulfill.
Christy has got it right. I text while I drive all the time. And how many times out of 10 do we get into accidents anyway? On top of talking and texting, I brush my teeth in the mirror and have sex with my girlfriend while I drive. Life’s too short to walk around scared.
Nathan, no one wants to walk around scared all the time and I don’t think most of us do, but, to know that there is someone with your attitude is out there driving is abolutely frightening. The complete lack of care and consideration your comments show towards others is bordering on anti-social behaviour. GET HELP
The reason many of us “walk around scared” is due to the Adrenaline addicts.
For instance I willingly break the law when bike-riding and ride on the sidewalk. And I’ll quite willingly dispute it with any cops having a bad day.
(sorry if I offend) but, I ain’t trusting my life to some adrenaline junkie with ADD who can’t focus on the task at hand.
I’m with you, Mike
Christ, Alvin & Nathan: You must all have A.D.D. or you’re on drugs or something. If you want the adrenaline rush so bad, find some wild animals to chase you in a field or something. Leave your last names here for us so that we can watch the papers for you. You will either get into accidents or you will cause them. Still your fault. Grow up! I’ll peg you all under 18 and if not, you have even a bigger problem because that means you’re incredibly immature and my guess is that you can’t even hold down jobs. How dare you take the life of another into your own hands.
You are playing with other people’s lives as well as your own. Your rush will cost you whether it is your life and it will be your parents that really lose or you will take a loved one away from someone, maybe many. Think about that one.
Yeah, an can you imagine the rush as you bounce off another car, truck, bike, go through the guard rail and into oncomming trafic….cool…TWIT !
“How many people need to die before provincial legislatures pulls”…heh that would be either “a provincial legislature pulls” or “provincial legislatures pull”…but anyways, completely agree…It should be gone, along with listening to music and talking on the phone (whether hands-free or non-hands-free)…and I wouldn’t mind the aforementioned texting and listening to music to be gone not just while driving either…Too many people disregard their surroundings while doing these things, putting people around them at risk. In my opinion,that shows disregard and disrespect towards other people and I would not be dealing with someone who texts all the time or is plugged in all the time (or both).
I’ve been doin it for 7 years and so have all my friends no crashes yet. I think natural selection has a key role in this. If your dumb enough to not be able too multitask then pullover or do it at a light. Why does everyone else always have to suffer for the dumb actions of a couple people? NATURAL SELECTION THIN OUT THESE MORONS PLEASE!!!!!
survival of the fittest doesn’t count in this situation, because the unfit that do not survive are going to be the ones that smashes into you…moron
Agreed, technology allows the unfit drivers to drag the good ones down with them.
The problem with your natural selection theory is the dummies who cause accidents while they are texting tend to kill other people too, who were totally innocent. How does your natural selection theory explain that? If any deaths could be limited only to those who are texting while driving, then I am in total agreement with you. Unfortunately, that is not possible. I don’t want my family to be killed by some dummy who is not paying attention to driving.
Multi-tasking is what you are already doing while you are driving: watching the road conditions, watching the car in front of you, behind you, and next to you, planning the roads you need to take, watching the traffic lights ahead of you to see if they will change before you get there, etc… There is no reason to add another activity to driving to make it even more difficult.
Just because you have been driving for seven years with no accident yet, does not make your actions safe. That is like saying I have been playing Russian Roulette every morning for 7 years, but have not died yet, so it must be a safe game. The
You’re clearly too confident. Take a second look at the situation. You’re a risk to other drivers who aren’t taking the risk; who want to arrive home. Perhaps when they pull over you’ll be the one to crack their rear end?
Alot of people shouldn’t be texting while driveing. But i’ll be honest I text all the time while I drive. When I text though I don’t look at my cellphone, I can pay perfect attention to the road while I just move my fingers around to send a message. I find it more dangerous eating a big mac while I drive then for me to send a text. There are so many potential distractions when driving, like eating or watching the people walking by on the sidewalk. I don’t belive it’s possible for most people to be watching the road 100% of the time. Textin while driving shouldn’t be banned, but I tihnk it’s the responsiblity of the drive to decide whether or not the texting is imparing there driving. And just because texting gets banned doesn’t mean people will stop doing it either. Just look at drunk drivers.
Adam, you may not be looking at the phone when texing while driving, however, you are still distracted because your mind is on composing the text and not on driving, your brain is busy sending messages to your hand and fingers to operate the keys on the phone. There’s a lot involved in texting besides watching/not watching the road that takes your attention from driving and what’s going on around you.
I text when I’m stopped waiting for a light. If I need to text badly I pull over or wait till I’m stopped.
Wow, I can’t believe how many hypocrites there are here. These people who completely understand, or atleast partially acknowledge, the dangers of what they are doing and yet continue to do so because they are too addicted to texting. This is almost as bad as those who refuse to admit there is anything wrong with it at all. The whole reason it is bad is because you are supposed to focus as much of your attention on driving as possible, but while texting you are focusing on your message as well as where your finger/thumb is going. I have seen many people who can barely walk and text, so why would we want people to drive while texting? Now consider that you need to read the message, which means you are focusing your entire concentration on the phone screen, even for a second at a time. One extra second of reaction time can be the difference between a close call and a wreck.