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----- Original Message -----

From: bahatiansari@gmail.com

To: bansari@nmpcr.org

Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 10:22 AM

Subject: bahati asked us to send you this post from Politics Daily

From: Politics Daily
URL: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/05/the-coming-ban-on-texting-while-driving/
Sent from: bahati (bahatiansari@gmail.com)
Sent to: bansari@nmpcr.org
Comments:

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The Coming Ban on 'Texting While Driving'?

08-05-2009

It seems fairly intuitive: Sending text messages while driving a car is extremely dangerous, and is a pr actice that should be outlawed. Several states have already limited the use of cellphones for those behind the wheel, requiring hands-free devices and issuing fines to those who do not comply.

As yet, however, there is no way to text without looking down at your phone's keypad or screen, which makes that practice much more dangerous than simply having a verbal conversation. Well, this logic has not been lost on Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood, who is convening a "distracted-driving summit" to explore ways to get drivers to stop multitasking so much:

"People in America got fed up with their children and loved ones being killed by drunk drivers. And people in America are very tired of the idea that people can text and drive and use cellphones and drive in some states."

Recently, it came to light that officials in the Bush a dministration had kept from public view a report that equated driving while talking on a cellphone to driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent. Though statistics are difficult to ascertain, the Department of Transportation blamed cellphone use for 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents back in 2003, when text messaging was not a common practice. A study undertaken at Virginia Tech put a number to the belief that truckers who text are endangering themselves and other drivers: While texting, they are 23 times more likely to crash than when they are not.

Surveys of American drivers show that texting while driving is a common practice on our roads, but should it be made a crime? Should we add TWD to the list of forbidden acronyms like DUI and DWI? We live in an era of the constant data stream, and for some, kicking their addiction to that information feed -- even while driving -- might not be as easy as it sounds, whatever the consequences.

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