The Pros And Cons Of Texting While Driving

Being able to drive is a dream come true, that can easily become a nightmare that you are never wake up from. The state of Florida is trying to make drivers aware of the dangers that come with distracted driving. Texting and driving is one of the biggest problems America is facing at the moment. Many people, especially teenagers, are dying from distractive driving. The state of Florida decided that they wanted to help with this problem and made it illegal to text and drive. They have also put up billboards all over the state to remind drivers about the law and the consequences of distractive driving. Not only could you be harming yourself but you could also harm others if you decide to text and drive. Do us all a favor and put your

This includes the House Bill 1013 which went into effect back in October. It bans any driver of a motor vehicle to engage in text messaging. A few other states that ban the use of a cell phone while driving are Illinois, California, New York, and Indiana has a ban on any one under the age of 18.

Wouldn’t you agree that texting and driving is a big issue nowadays? Many drivers are so caught up in their phones that they risk their lives and the lives of others just so that they could answer a simple text message. Now that this problem is becoming so big, it should have severe consequences. People who text and drive should get license suspension for six months and get $500 for the first violation and $1000 for the second violation.

Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using cellphones while driving.  The next law is the All Cell Phone ban.  Thirty-eight states and D.C. ban all cell phone use by teen drivers, and twenty-one states and D.C. prohibit any cell phone use for school bus drivers.  The final law is the Text Messaging ban.  Forty-seven states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban text messaging for all drivers (Essex).  Amazingly, people still disobey the laws and continue to text and drive.  Crossing the center-line and hitting an eighteen-wheeler while texting is a great way to die.

State laws and policies on the ban of texting and driving are important to society because they prevent distracted driving, reduce the number of accidents that could result in death, and lessen the costs associated with accidents.

First of all texting while driving is a dangerous and risky thing to do in our society. Texting while driving is illegal in almost all states. People are realizing how dangerous it can be and making it illegal. In an article called distracted driving only two states, Arizona and Montana had no bans on cell phones while driving and only one state had a partial ban which was Missouri. Everybody else had a full ban on texting and driving. In an article called 10 Programmatic Reasons that will make you stop texting and driving today, it said “As the correlation between auto accidents and texting while driving escalates, many municipalities and states are passing legislation making it illegal to text and drive.” This basically is explaining how texting while driving is becoming illegal in almost every state. The punishment for the first couple of times will just be a $100 fine but will increase if you're a repeat offender.. But do you really want to spend $100 on a fine when you could spend it on a new pair of shoes or your kid? Texting while driving is illegal and you can be fined.

Drivers can now be cited if they are found to be using electronic devices that result in the driver diverting their eyes off the road or becoming distracted to an extent that they put other people 's safety at risk. Talking on the phone may not fulfill this criterion but texting or using a mapping app could certainly qualify. When one is texting, one is actually doing all three activities that are considered distracted driving - their eyes are off the road, they are paying attention to something else and their hands are off the steering wheel. This is an open violation of the law and demonstrates a complete disregard for the safety of others on the road. It has also been observed that drivers who have a tendency to text while driving are also more prone to commit other offenses such as weaving through lanes.

Texting and driving was banned in 2011 in Indiana because of the overabundance of car accidents that involved cell phones and distracted driving. With this law in place, people thought that it would work and that people would stop using them while driving. This was not the case, however. In Indiana with the texting and driving ban there have only been, “fewer than 400 tickets written as of mid-2014” (Gormley 89). This is not surprising because cell phones are so modest that they are easily missed when police drive by cars. Texting and driving bans are used to better driving accidents, but are not always used to their full extent. On page 89 of "Indiana's Texting-While-Driving Ban: Why Is It Not Working and How Could It Be Better?", Gormley stated, “As it stands today, Indiana’s texting while driving statute contains gaping loopholes, which leave drivers free to engage in risky behaviors with little fear of legal repercussions” (Gormley 89). A loophole they have to get around are actually being able to see the driver texting while driving. Texting and driving bans are newer and do not have all the kinks worked out, but if more states begin using them they will become better used. Putting more of these bans into use will be able to work on all the kinks and better them to use to be more effective and save more lives.

Some states do more than others. In October 2013, the state of Florida passed a law that banned texting and driving. To some, this may seem like a good law, however, if we take a look at it we can see that it is actually very weak. In his article, “Florida Cell Phone & Texting and Driving Laws”, Rich Stim tells us that this law does not allow anyone to type or read any kind of messages while they are driving. He also points out that this law can only be enforced if a police officer pulls the driver over for another moving violation, making this a secondary enforcement law (Stim). So we can see that you can not be pulled over just for texting and driving, you need tone doing something else illegal first, such as maybe speeding or running red light or stop sign. If you do get a ticket for texting and driving, it is a non moving violation and the penalty is $30 (“The 2014 Florida Statues”). The State of Florida could do more to help decrease distracted driving.. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, there are 14 states that have banned the use of hand held cell phones completely, while 38 states ban the use of cell phones by novice drivers (“Distracted Driving Laws”). There are 44 states that have banned texting while driving, and of those all but 5 are primary enforcement laws, which means that a police officer can pull you over and give you a ticket just for texting and driving (“Distracted Driving Laws”). Florida’s ban on texting could be stronger if it were made a primary enforcement law. The state could do more to prevent distracted driving if it would add a law that bans either all hand held cell phone use, or at lease put a ban on cell phone use for novice drivers as many of the other states have

We know that Florida ranks second only to Louisiana for distracted driving. Almost 50,000 car accidents were credited to distracted driving last year. Approximately 37% of the drivers say they text and drive. Law enforcement officials should be more aware of what people behind the wheel are doing. People ought to have consequences for their actions. If using an electronic device while driving, receiving a ticket, in addition to having your license suspended for 30 days would make one think before attempting to operate a motor vehicle. The second time one is pulled over for using an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle the consequence should be severer, for instance losing a driver’s license for at least a year. According to Florida law, police are forbidden from stopping drivers specifically for cell phone use since texting while driving is not a primary offense. This is completely unacceptable, however, if the police commenced pulling people over for being distracted whilst driving there

A secondary offense means, in most cases, an officer cannot pull over texting drivers unless they violate other laws such as speeding. In many states where enforcement of the law is only allowed as a secondary offense, it is frustrating for police officers to see someone texting while driving and have to let him go. Nonetheless, as mentioned above, messaging while driving is a great menace to the safety of all drivers and pedestrians. If police agencies do not stop drivers who are texting while driving, in some situations, dangerous accidents that are avoidable may occur. Furthermore, texting while driving as a secondary offense does not properly convey the seriousness of this behavior, and it is not strong enough to deter drivers from texting

As of June 2017, 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands banned texting and driving (CDC). According to Knowledge Center, Washington was the first state to put a ban on texting and driving in 2007. Four states (Arizona, Montana, Texas and Missouri) are without bans on texting and driving. Texas and Missouri have a ban on texting and driving for novice drivers. Arizona and Montana currently have no ban at all. However, Arizona’s ban on texting and driving will go into effect on July 1, 2018 (Knowledge Center.org).

Some people might believe citations should not be given for texting while driving because they see it as just another activity to partake in while driving, such as doing your hair, or even changing the radio station. Some people seem to believe that they have it down packed; they put the cell phone up to the steering wheel and text. Drivers believe that using this method they are able to read ad respond to their messages as well as keep their eyes on the road. Drivers believe that they are actually helping others out and reducing the number of automobile accidents because they have their cell phone at eye-level. People may also believe that it’s the most effective way to communicate

The people on the other side of the coin think that texting while driving should not be banned because eating and driving or listening to radio can impair the driver as much as texting and driving do to a driver (Friedeman N. Pag). Also, many argue a law against texting would be difficult to enforce because it is hard to check if people are hiding their texts or not, just like some people do in class! Another counterpoint would be that people think it is

Texting and driving is against the law because “In 2012 Alabama became the 38th state to ban texting while driving.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) also “Novice drivers in Alabama- drivers aged 16 or 17 with an intermediate license less than 6 months- are banned from from using cell-phones (both handheld and hands-free) and, like all drivers, banned from texting. Even the bus drivers are banned from texting while driving.”(http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) Not only that but there are also fines you can get for texting and driving and those penalties are “Fines for texting and driving are $25 (first offense) then $50 and $75. A driver will also be penalized with two points against the driver’s license. Alabama’s cell phone and texting laws are considered “primary” laws. A primary law means that an officer can pull a novice driver for texting without having to witness some other violation. That is, the officer sees the novice driver texting and simply issues a citation.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php)