The Wininger Law Firm - July 30, 2012
- Car Accident
Alabama joins 37 other states in banning texting while driving. Starting Wednesday, August 1, 2012, those car driving texters, emailers, Facebookers and Twitters will become lawbreakers when the new law goes into effect.
Alabamans are split, according to an article on al.com, about the new law. At least those who responded online are split on not only the law’s value, but its enforceability as well.
One pertinent question was brought up by an online commentator. When a car, along with a cell phone, has the hands free option to dictate a message and send the message by voice command, will this be against the law? The commentator wanted to know if a police officer would differentiate between this type of situation and that of someone typing a text message. It does seems that the law will need clarification in the near future on whether or not hands free messaging is included under the texting ban.
There are those individuals who commented that banning texting will actually cause more accidents because some people will still text, but will keep their phones on their laps, out of the sight of law enforcement officials. The commentator wrote that now drivers will be looking at their laps as they drive instead of at the road so more accidents will occur.
The National Safety Council has found that 1,600,000 accidents and 300,000 injuries occur because of texting while driving. The council also found that eleven teen deaths a day are a result of texting while driving.
If you text while you drive, you are about six times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated and, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, has the same as driving after four beers. Teens report that texting is the number one driving distraction.
More texting statistics reported by various safety committees are that texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to crash, is the same as driving blind for five seconds at a time, and takes place by as many as 800,000 drivers at any given time.
Whatever your feelings on Alabama’s new texting law, statistics have proven that texting during driving can not only dangerous, but can be deadly as well.