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Still Texting While Driving?
Still Texting While Driving? “This number is huge,” says David Teater, senior director of transportation strategic initiatives at the National Safety Council, whose 12-year-old son was killed in a crash caused by a driver on a cell phone. “One out of every four car crashes in the United States is caused by cell phone distraction.” Only 6 states and the District of Columbia have banned hand-held cell phone calls while driving. However, 19 states have banned texting while driving. Interestingly enough, texting laws are much harder to enforce than using a hand-held cell phone because it is harder for law enforcement officers to actually see someone texting. According to an article by Kevin Ransom, AOL Autos, is that the laws are ineffective. Ransom reports that a study by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) found that that laws banning texting while driving did not result in fewer car crashes. In fact, there was a slight increase in insurance claims after the bans went into effect. These statistics were based on the number of such claims filed in four states (California, Minnesota, Washington and Louisiana) before and after their texting bans. AAA of Southern California reported similar statistics. FocusDriven is a new advocacy group just created by the US Department of Transportation. It is styled after MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) and will be working to fight distracted driving. The group will be headed by Jennifer Smith, whose mother was killed by a driver on his cell phone. US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “Just as groups like MADD changed attitudes about drunk driving, I believe FocusDriven can help raise awareness and change the way people think about distracted driving. Together, I hope we can put an end to this dangerous practice.” If the laws aren’t helping, what will help? Will advocacy groups help? How about software apps? There are some apps that virtually lock your phone from sending and receiving text messages while in motion. The apps usually respond to an incoming text message that the owner is driving and will get back to them at a more convenient (and hopefully safer) time. I have written about some text-blocking apps before. See my blog, 3 New Mobile Apps Can Block Texting and Calling While Driving. Humans are usually motivated by fear or greed. If the fear of crashing their car, or actually killing someone doesn’t stop the texting, and if the high price of tickets for being caught doesn’t deter them, what will? Perhaps the text-blocking apps will at least be a way for parents to stop their driving teens from texting. Obviously an adult would have to install one of these programs on their own phone. I doubt that will happen since they are already breaking the law and common sense. But then as one of my favorite sayings goes, “Common sense is not so very common.” Do you still text while driving? Shame on you. Do you have a Bluetooth or other hands-free device so you can talk while driving? If not, why not? You can get a great NoiseHush Bluetooth that has noise canceling, is comfortable and light weight, and very inexpensive at batteries4less.com. Click on the link and check it out. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com CellPlaza will bring you the latest and greatest information in mobile smartphone technology. Support for CellPlaza.org is provided by batteries4less.com, the leading online retailer of cell phone batteries, camera replacement batteries, Motorola RAZR v3 Battery, chargers and mobile accessories and cordless phone batteries. |
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