Hey, were you aware that the State legislature passed a bill concerning texting while driving?
Nick Reilly
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Off the Wall
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It is now illegal to text while driving. I belief this is a horrible piece of legislation. Why does our government insist upon regulating our way of life?
Now we can't use our phones while driving? Texting isn't like typing, it uses incomplete words to communicate thoughts and notions. Really, does it really take more of your attention to text than it does to dial a number? Or eat a burger? Or put on makeup? Or put in a CD? Yeah right, who uses CDs anymore. But there was a time when they had these tapes that you had to rewind for like a minute to replay a song. Think about that.
And think of all the people who eat and smoke behind the wheel, how come the government isn't getting all up in their grills?
I wrote this article because I feel this subject deserves more press. The whole subject of texting while driving was kind of ignored by the mainstream media, there hasn't been a lot written about it, but here at Off the Wall, I hope to change all that and bring the UW-Green Bay community the latest in texting legislation.
The texting law will be in effect by the time you read this article. Even dialing wouldn't be a good idea, and the bill places texting while driving in a similar context.
Well, the bill attaches a $400 fine with a ticket for texting while driving, some people even had a prison sentence. There might have been some extenuating circumstances, but it doesn't really matter, what really matters is how this affects you, the UWGB students.
The Office of Public Safety will be setting up texting traps along the roads running around the perimeter of campus. Anyone seen dialing will be subject to a search of their phone. If a text was sent in the recent past, then you may get a ticket, in addition to the fine imposed by the state.
So remember, if you have to text, keep your phone below your windows. Reaching for a CD is still legal after all. Also, it's still legal to receive text messages while driving, at least for the time being.
Another way to avoid this new legislation is to talk to the person via your smart phone's old two-way communication feature. This allows you to have direct communication with the other person while still within your legal rights. It's a bit archaic, it requires actually talking to the person, but it won't get you arrested. Again, for the time being. Pretty soon you may have to give driving your undivided attention, OMG, ROTFLOL, WTF!
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