by Ryan McKeen
Talking on a cell phone is so 5 years ago.
Now phones are all about texting, chatting, emails, twitter and facebook.
More and more when I’m on the road, I see drivers on their iPhone or Blackberry typing away. Have you ever tried to wrestle an iPhone or Blackberry away from someone? It’s like trying to take a cub away from a mother bear. These devices are the most engrossing inventions known to human kind.
Recently CNBC ran a story about tests that Car and Driver magazine did that concluded texting and driving was worse than drinking and driving.
Rigging a car with a red light to alert drivers when to brake, the magazine tested how long it takes to hit the brake when sober, when legally drunk at .08, when reading and e-mail, and when sending a text. The results are scary. Driving 70 miles per hour on a deserted air strip Car and Driver editor Eddie Alterman was slower and slower reacting and braking when e-mailing and texting.
The results:
- Unimpaired: .54 seconds to brake
- Legally drunk: add 4 feet
- Reading e-mail: add 36 feet
- Sending a text: add 70 feet
Many times I’ve used this blog to poke fun at the volume of laws on our books. In fact, I think our state nickname should be the “Nanny State”. After all, we’ve got no beer on Sundays and an Attorney General on the front lines of the war against virtual beer pong. But this is serious stuff.
Certainly Car and Driver’s study isn’t exhaustive but I think its conclusion that texting while driving is a bad as drinking while driving is probably correct. At least from what I’ve seen on Connecticut’s roads.
I think our legislature should get serious about texting while driving. By serious, I mean that the penalties for operating a vehicle while texting should mirror the penalties for operating under the influence.
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Right on the money. As a cyclist, I’m increasingly scared of being hit by a driver texting. It has almost happened numerous times. DUI punishment is apt.
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I agree – I have almost been hit both while on my bicycle and while driving, by texters weaving all over the road. One young woman in an SUV who nearly hit me was still clutching her phone in her lap texting when we caught up to her at the next light, tapped on her car windows and informed her that she had nearly hit me (I saw her coming in my bicycle rear-view mirror and swerved off the road but was narrowly brushed by her side view mirror). She admitted that she never even saw us on our bicycles. But she still didn't put the phone down.
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Texting and driving is beyond dangerous and I've never been clear why anyone believes they can do it safely. Think about the amount of time it actually takes to look down at the screen and type the text. That's a long time to have one's eyes off the road. I have almost been taken out more times than I can count by texting drivers. It's worse than those drivers who refuse to use a hands-free device when making a call. They really don't understand how distracted they are. And when they nearly kill you and you catch up to them to point it out, they look at you as if YOU are the one with the serious issue!
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