Law against cell phone texting while driving.

[Just A Girl]

What are your thoughts on texting while driving? Should it be legal, or not legal? I was listening to the radio yesterday morning and they were talking about this. A lot of people that are saying it should be illegal are all basing it on stories that start out like this...

"a teen caused an accident while texting"

Okay, so my point here is that the keyword is "teen". I had also heard that they were considering increasing the acceptable age to start driving. I think that is well over due. I'm sorry, but 16 year old kids do not have what it takes to be driving these days. They make terrible decisions and are horrible at multi tasking in most cases.

So, I really don't think it's a matter of the texting being a problem for everyone. I think it's the young kids texting and trying to drive that just can't handle it. They are careless about it.

Texting to me is like a person who knows 10 key type. Or better yet... right now as I type, I am not even looking at my keyboard. I know all the keys by touch. It's the same way with my cell phone. I know all the keys without even having to look at it. So yes, I text and drive. But I pretty much don't even have to look at my phone. That is the major concerning factor. That people aren't watching the road.

Other people have tried to say that it's the focus on the conversation itself that is too distracting. If that is the case, then you would have to ban anyone from speaking to another person in the car. Or using the hands free blue tooth systems in cars. Because you are saying people can't hold conversations and drive at the same time.

They mentioned on the radio (and I think this is a good point), that if the government is going to ban texting, then they also have to ban eating, doing make up, messing with your radio, or anything else that would be distracting while driving. Because those things are equally distracting, if not more.

I guess I just don't agree with banning the texting. I think that other measures need to be in place for other factors that have an effect. For example, I don't think that people get adequate training in driving before they get their license. Their should be required courses. Not just... go in and hope you pass a test from info you read in a pamphlet. That just makes no sense.

[NW Admin]

I have to agree. I don't think it should be banned either. Just like I don't think pit bulls should be banned for being a "vicious breed". The idiots that don't know how to make the right choices should be banned!

[CarolineWH]

I just now saw this thread and wanted to answer it. I don't text...Never have...Yet when we purchased our last new car in December of last year, it came with the Blue Tooth deal. To go along with this, we got two new telephones. One for my husband and one for me. These were very expensive phones and I asked the salesman who we work with each time we purchase a new car, if these would text. Personally I know nothing about this but I just wondered....His answer to me was yes they do...BUT, don't do it...I only have a few clients that want to do this and I text with them and know quite a bit about it. He said I discourage people from doing this.....This was the end of that conversation.

Now I type near 100 wpm. Part of the old secretarial skills...BUT, whether you know your finger placement or not, it is your mind that is moving. I do not believe you can concentrate on two things at once...Even with the Blue Tooth, when this has to be turned off I have to look at the steering wheel to figure out where is the telephone in the air or on it's cradle. There is a difference in night and day.

Now I do understand that people will say hey, you are older....But I would also think people would realize that my mind also goes a mile a minute...A conductor on a train in Los Angles, I believe, was texting and he missed the stop sign on the track...He plowed right through the stop sign and into another train...From this mistake, he and 26 other people are dead...Many others were critically injured. Whether you are on a telephone or putting lipstick on, I know I used to do this and probably still do, it, in my opinion, distracts you....BUT saying this the laws will not be changed because it is progress......People do not change and along the line they probably will just suffer and people will die....

To me it is another mini-war of he says, she says...One says it is OK and the other side says no.....I know one thing and that is that one of the most dangerous things nowadays to see is a person with their hand to their ear talking and trying to drive.....Mind off somewhere else and completely unaware of their surroundings.....I guess that is why I like a double lane highway....

[crassus]

I find it to be another thing that government is getting involved in, that it shouldn't be. I, myself, do not text while I am driving. I hardly even use my phone in the car. If a person is able to so without doing any damage---so be it.

[jamesb]

I read a newspaper article from Holland yesterday. A lady was using her phone to send a SMS while driving her car. She did not pay attention to the road and she hit and killed a three year old who was crossing the road.