Texting and driving ban will make roads safer
Erika Bonnell
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Opinion
Driving to meet a friend, your phone indicates you have a new message. Your friend wants to know where you are. The easy thing to do would be to call back and explain that you're on your way, but instead you reply with a short text. An eye for an eye, a text for a text.
Every day millions of people send text messages from behind the wheel. This seems harmless, especially to people who engage in the activity with little consequence, but texting and driving are two things that should never go together.
On Oct. 20 the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill to ban all driver texting, following a similar proposal to only ban teens from the activity.
Both plans are going to be considered by the State Assembly, and Gov. Jim Doyle has said he would approve the legislation for a full ban on driver texting.
To only ban teen drivers from texting would prove more difficult to enforce and would also ignore the fact that texting has become a problem amongst drivers of all ages.
The Department of Transportation reported 6,000 deaths last year and 500,000 injuries were the result of driver distractions such as texting.
President Obama has addressed the nation's growing problem by making an example of federal employees. According to the New York Times, Obama signed an executive order on Sept. 30 that bans federal employees from texting behind the wheel while they are conducting government business. The ban affected 4.5 million employees and military personnel.
Something like text messaging should not be on a president's agenda of legislation, but the dangers it causes on the road has made this a reality.
According to De Pere City Attorney Judy Schmidt-Lehman, a texting ban would be enforced the same way similar traffic violations are enforced, like safety-belt violations. If an officer sees a person texting on the phone, they will likely be pulled over.
Schmidt-Lehman said texting already falls under the inattentive driving law, but that the current focus on texting is why the ban has been proposed.
Every day millions of people send text messages from behind the wheel. This seems harmless, especially to people who engage in the activity with little consequence, but texting and driving are two things that should never go together.
On Oct. 20 the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill to ban all driver texting, following a similar proposal to only ban teens from the activity.
Both plans are going to be considered by the State Assembly, and Gov. Jim Doyle has said he would approve the legislation for a full ban on driver texting.
To only ban teen drivers from texting would prove more difficult to enforce and would also ignore the fact that texting has become a problem amongst drivers of all ages.
The Department of Transportation reported 6,000 deaths last year and 500,000 injuries were the result of driver distractions such as texting.
President Obama has addressed the nation's growing problem by making an example of federal employees. According to the New York Times, Obama signed an executive order on Sept. 30 that bans federal employees from texting behind the wheel while they are conducting government business. The ban affected 4.5 million employees and military personnel.
Something like text messaging should not be on a president's agenda of legislation, but the dangers it causes on the road has made this a reality.
According to De Pere City Attorney Judy Schmidt-Lehman, a texting ban would be enforced the same way similar traffic violations are enforced, like safety-belt violations. If an officer sees a person texting on the phone, they will likely be pulled over.
Schmidt-Lehman said texting already falls under the inattentive driving law, but that the current focus on texting is why the ban has been proposed.
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