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WCNC BLOG |
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April 2008
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Drivers are eating food, changing the radio, fiddling with their GPS, caring for a baby in the back, and more than anything else, playing with their cell phone. Here's the scary part: You know when the light turns green, the distractions don't go away. For many drivers, it's one hand on the wheel and one hand on the phone. Their eyes go up-and-down, side-to-side - with little regard for other drivers on the road. Consider these numbers from Nationwide Insurance: 73 percent of drivers use their cell phones in the car, and 20 percent text message while behind the wheel. WOW! How scary is that? That means 1 of every 5 cars around you isn't devoting their full attention to the road. They won't see the car weaving in and out of traffic; they won't see the truck speeding way too fast; and they won't see the SUV pulling out in front of you. While doing our story, we put three teens to the test. With the help of CMPD, we put them on a private track and forced them to send text messages. Then, with cameras inside the car, we watched their driving and their behavior. More than anything else, I was struck by just how quickly our teens' eyes went from the road to the phone. In many cases, they were looking at the road for less than two seconds at a time. Obviously, this was just a test and they were never in any danger. But if they did that out on the road, they would be putting not just themselves, but also everyone else in danger. Look no further than Rochester, N.Y., to understand the danger posed by text messaging. Last June, five teenage girls were killed when their car crossed the center line and slammed into a tractor-trailer. Police later revealed that the driver had been sending out messages just moments before the crash. As a result, a number of states have either passed or proposed laws that ban text messaging while driving. According to US News & World Report, it is now illegal in Washington and New Jersey. A number of states - including Florida, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee - are now trying to follow suit. There are no plans in the works in either North or South Carolina. But should there be? We'd like to hear what you think. And the bottom line, whether it is illegal or not, it certainly isn't safe for the rest of us out there on the road. So, let the message be clear: NO 2 TXTIN 4 DRVER. To see Jeff's story "A Dangerous Message," tune in to WCNC Thursday at 6 p.m. 6 CommentsLeave a comment |
NO 2 TXTIN 4! Absolutely, It is a huge distraction to turn your head when a horn blows, let alone hitting keys on unimportant data. Death comes by the seconds.
I do not see the importance of texting or yapping on the phone when driving, it should be banned! This law has been in effect in England and although it doesn't stop everyone, it certainly makes you feel safer knowing most people are watching where they are going and not messing about on their phone. Can they not wait until they get somewhere or pull over if it is that important? What did we all do before we had mobile phones????
Your experiment is interesting, but I would like to know more details, such as what the ages were of the teens involved, what kind of driving experience they have, whether or not they used pre-set messages called "Quick Texts" or entered the entire message manually, etc. Hopefully that will be cleared up in your televised broadcast. I also wonder if legislation were to be enacted here in NC, would CMPD require their officers to no longer use their laptops or cell phones while in motion?
I agree with Angie. Having been to the UK several times it has been illegal to text or even use your cell unless it is completly hands free for some time. They have devices put in their cars that upon entering the car the phone is set into a cradle and it is used through the cars radio. We have got to do away with this type of disraction. Make the law so all cell phone operations have to be hands free, regardless. There are enough distractions already, we're just piling it on.
I absolutely hate this so called practice (or behavior). I actually just finished a six page argument research paper for CPCC last week on this issue. I don't understand why individuals do this while driving. There is no point. Like I said in my paper, "if you can live with yourself accidentally killing another human being for stupidity, then I hope you receive the prison time that is deserve." It's not fair to take another human beings right to live to have a two minute convenient conversation. This has to be one of my most hated pet peeves. Drivers should learn the possible consequences or maybe drivers should read my paper to get the message and data I have found. You might think twice.
Mark,
To answer that question of yours. Here is a link to get all the stats you might want to prove Mr. Campbell's truth to this issue. I have many others if this doesn't convince you and yes they are all very reliable sources.
http://web.utah.edu/unews/releases/05/feb/cellphones.html