WASHINGTON - April is Distracted Driver Awareness Month, and the focus is on a dangerous combination of texting and driving.
It is illegal in Maryland, Virginia and D.C., but teens here and elsewhere appear to be ignoring the law in large numbers. In some surveys, almost 50 percent say they text while driving.
Rocco Panetta, executive director of the Texting Awareness Foundation, says texting can be more dangerous than drunken driving and creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving under normal circumstances.
Why is it they always say "teens" texting and driving. I see plenty of grown people texting and driving or talking and driving. I guess they just must be doing it in a "more responsible" manner ....
ReplyDeleteKids start young; saw a girl who was probably not yet a teen, riding her bike, no hands, texting.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is not the texting, but the inattentiveness often caused by it. Someone can still text or talk on the phone driving at posted speed, not cutting corners on turns or weaving across lane separators, or sitting at green lights if they are mature enough to have some personal responsibility. It's those fools who yell, after you tap the horn to alert them to the danger they've caused that yell "Can't you see I'm on the Phone" that are the problem, not the act itself.
Until they crack down on all the State Troopers who are glued to their phones I don't want to see anymore finger pointing at teens. Idiots, drivers from Delaware and the elderly are just as responsible for traffic incidents.
ReplyDelete