Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
Do we have any hope of tackling a complex problem like global warming when we can't even handle the easy stuff?
I can't think of an issue that should be more easy to resolve than distracted driving. Anyone with a smidgen of common sense should see that it is uber dangerous to talk on a cell phone or send a text while trying to maneuver a vehicle. For those with no common sense, we have scientific evidence showing that talking on a cell phone while driving is the equivalent of being a drunk driver. (Texting and driving must equate to being unconscious behind the wheel.)
Want to feel secure the next time you are behind the wheel? Check out this study from the University of Utah: "A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver." It's scary, and it's from 2006; things have gotten much worse since then, with the proliferation of hand-held electronic devices.
If we know there's a problem, and it shouldn't be too hard to fix, why aren't we doing something about it? Why do we keep reading stories like this one out of Alabama last week? The headline: "Texting Blamed in Deaths of Mother, Infant Son on I-65."
From The Birmingham News:
A young woman who was texting as she drove on Interstate 65 in Chilton County lost control of her car and crashed Thursday night, killing herself and her 10-month-old son, authorities said.
Randreaita Coleman, 18, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Her son, Carter, was taken to an area hospital where exhaustive resuscitative efforts were performed, but he was basically dead upon arrival, said Chilton County Coroner Randy Yeargan.
Did Coleman have her mind on driving, the task at hand, when the crash occurred? Evidence at the scene indicates she was focused on something else:
An investigation showed Coleman was texting while driving when she lost control of her car.
Authorities said Friday her phone activity showed she had been having a text conversation for about two or three minutes before the crash and still had a message on the screen that she had typed but not yet sent when they recovered the phone after the crash.
What would it take to bring distracted driving under control? First, we need laws to make it unlawful to talk on a cell phone or text while driving a vehicle. And the laws need serious teeth; minimal fines aren't going to cut it. I would suggest a three-month suspension of a driver's license for a first offense, six months for a second, and one year for a third.
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