A very highly debated subject across the United States has been the use of cell phones while driving. Talking on a phone was always seen as dangerous, but now that the world of texting has taken over there is a large concern about safety on the road. The new phones such as the blackberry, the I-phone, and other smart phones have so many activities that can be done while driving it has cause a problem to the safety of others on the road. It has even been said that texting while driving is as bad as driving drunk. When I person text they do not have any of their attention on the road or concerned about the safety of other on the road. Because of this there has been a bill presented to Iowa's legislature about banning texting while driving. This bill has passed and is law HF 2456. This law prohibits texting and emailing while driving, but not reading the messages or doing anything else on the phone. This is just the start. Iowa legislatures are hoping to ban such things as surfing the internet and playing games while driving. Below is a link to an article on the law. This is just a short article, but it is a starting point to read about if you have any interest in this law. But, do not worry they are only passing out warning during the first year that this law is in effect so you have a while to get used to the restriction. But, then again how many people still speed?...
http://www.wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_878a5cce-217a-11df-8632-001cc4c03286.html
This was a very interesting article. I would be curious to know how many people would actually adhere to this new law. Given, yes, it is a very dangerous activity but so is eating while driving. I feel that people will still emit the same behaviors even if caught by Johnny Law. An example from my own personal experience deals with texting and driving. A day before my birthday five years ago I was driving along a road I didn't know very well and texting. I was - keyword was driving my '98 Chrysler Sebring at the time. Long story short I ended up sliding down a 20 foot ditch, flipped over once (that I know of) and totaled my car so severely that the roof of my car ended up being LOWER than my trunk. I was lucky enough to escape with a few scrapes and scars. The sheriff told me I was one of the luckiest people he had ever met and I believed him just by the look on his face. Stupid, I know - learn your lesson right?! I would strongly urge anyone who texts and drives, to at least refrain from using your phone on the highway. Take it from me - it's not worth your life.
Prior to this article I did not know that texting or emailing while driving has become illegal. I knew that Iowa was looking into that fact and I knew that Dubuque has passes a lot prohibiting talking on the phone while driving. Therefore, if I read the article correctly this whole texting and emailing while driving law is new to me. However, I am not surprised or disappointed by this law. Personally I feel as though this passing a law prohibiting texting or talking on the phone without a hands free set is a good idea. Society today is on this never stop always going and doing something phenomena and there is no reason that someone has to be browsing the internet while driving to work, to lunch, or on vacation. My parents live in the state of New York which as prohibited talking on the phone without a hands free set for a while. When they moved out their they it took some getting used to but now they are happy to put in their ear piece! Therefore, I think the state of Iowa did the right thing passing this law and I feel as though progressing into prohibiting talking on the phone without a hands-free device and other limitation to phone use is a good move to make.
While reading this article, I was kind of confused because there are so many loop holes in this law. One that really makes no sense to me is that a person cannot send a text message, but they can read them. The reason this makes no sense to me is that a lot of people can send text messages without ever looking at their phone, therefore they can keep their eyes on the road. When a person recieves a message, they have to take their eyes off of the road to read the message. I think if they are going to make a law about texting and driving, then they should ban all texting, including reading them. I was also kind of upset about the statement in the article that said there should be tighter restrictions for young drivers. They are assuming that it is only young people who text and drive, when this is not entirely true. I know plenty of people that are my parents age that text all the time and they do it while they are driving as well. In my opinion, there needs to be more deliberation between the law makers so they can find a reasonable law about texting and driving.
As of July 1st, the texting law has become effective. This law includes no writing, sending or reading of text messages or emails. This includes all drivers and drivers under the age of 18 cant use their phones at all. The first year, police are just giving out warnings. I think this is a good law, but I really dont understand how police are going to enforce it. I really dont think the law is going to stop people from doing it either. In this article: http://handsfreeinfo.com/iowa_texting_cell_phones , Iowa safety commissioner Eugene Meyer said: “We’ve now eliminated a very important distraction. Our roads are going to be dramatically safer.” and I really don't agree with that. I think some people may stop, or at least not do it as often, but most people probably wont change at all. And the main reason being that they're probably not going to get caught. People definitely do need to stop though, including myself, because it does make roads really unsafe and it causes a lot of accidents.
It's been almost 3 months since the law became effective and I don't see much change in the amount of texting on the road. Every car trip I make I see at least one person texting, usually more. While I think part of this is probably habit (once you're used to texting while driving, it's hard to give it up unless you consciously make a decision to do so), at the same time I think people just don't care about the law or they don't think they'll get caught. After all the facts that have been presented I personally understand completely why it's so dangerous to text and drive, but I don't think many people get it. There needs to be better enforcement of the law and more severe punishments to those who break it. And even though the law is targeted mostly at young people, I know plenty of middle-aged and older people who text and drive too and make the roads jusst as dangerous. Oprah started a project to end texting on the road, and I am posting the link to the episode that started it all.
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Watch-the-Full-Hour-Americas-New-Deadly-Obsession-Video
I don't know about this for sure (but I heard it from a police officer), but apparently you cannot get pulled over for texting while driving alone, meaning the police officer will need another reason to pull you over in order to be "caught" texting and driving.
I'm all texting being illegal while you are driving because it does make the road unsafe for other people and also for the driver. When I was in high school a friend of mine was texting and drove his car in to the ditch full of water. I had to pull him out in the middle of the night, but his car was trashed. His car probably could have been spared if he only wasn't texting and was focused on the road. The law is gonna be hard to enforce because how can police officers really tell if someone is txting and not calling someone on the speaker or reading a message. If they want the texting to actually become illegal while driving then they need to ban all forms of texting and for that matter talking on the phone unless it is on a hands free device. I like to think of myself as a good driver, but I do text every once and a while, but for the most part I do not like to do it. The biggest concern for me on the road is all the other drivers and wondering if they are paying attention.