Texting while driving: A combination more deadly than drinking and driving

By Melissa Griffy Seeton

The driver in front of you swerves, drives onto the curb and nearly hits a pedestrian.

Surely, this driver has been drinking.

But the culprit may be doing something authorities say is more dangerous: Texting.

The Obama administration has called a panel of experts together to figure out what to do about the growing problem of texting while driving.

Several fatal crashes across the country have involved texting, including a train crash last year in California in which 25 people were killed and 135 injured. The train operator was texting at the time of the accident.

Two years ago, five teenage girls were killed in a fiery head-on collision in New York. Law enforcement said text messaging was to blame.

It’s stories like these that have caused lawmakers across the country to consider ways that would make it illegal to text while driving.

Alliance is one of those cities. Lawmakers there have outlawed texting while driving. More cities are expected to follow suit.

Recently, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released a study stating that when drivers of heavy trucks texted, their chance of being involved in an accident was 23 times greater than when not texting. Making a call on a cell phone, by comparison, increased the accident risk about six times. The researchers told the Associated Press the hazards of texting could be applied to all drivers, not just truckers.

Other studies have found that texting is more dangerous than drunken driving.

Alliance is the only local municipality to outlaw texting while driving.

In June, Councilwoman Susan Ryan, at-large, introduced the legislation, which amended the city’s previous ordinance regarding distracted driving. The amendment specifies that texting while driving is “inherently dangerous and can cause substantial risk of harm to persons and property.”

“It is something that has concerned me more and more,” Ryan said. “Rather than react to a local tragedy, we wanted to be proactive. There are just so many distractions already when you are driving. We wanted this (law) so no one has any doubt that texting while driving is definitely dangerous.”

Police, she said, have been looking out for texting drivers, but it’s too early to speculate on the law’s impact.

Alliance Law Director Andrew Zumbar said no one has been cited yet. Charges, Zumbar anticipates, will be on a “cause and effect” basis.

While a driver could be pulled over if a police officer suspects them of texting, Zumbar said it’s more likely the driver is pulled over for erratic driving and the officer discovers texting is the cause. Texting while driving is a minor misdemeanor, carrying a $150 fine.

“Texting while driving is one of those inherently dangerous activities. Your mind and your eyes are diverted from the roadway,” Zumbar said. “We think it should be common sense, but, unfortunately, there are people who think they can actually focus on both (driving and texting). Clearly, you just can’t.”

Zumbar said if texting citations are contested, the city may consider subpoenaing cell-phone records depending on the severity of the crash, but “I don’t know that a minor misdemeanor would justify that expense.”

Other city officials aren’t so sure such a law would be enforced easily.

Canton City Councilman Karl “Butch” Kraus, D-8, chairman of the Public Safety and Thoroughfares Committee, said the enforcement of texting while driving could prove costly.

“It is great idea. It really is,” Kraus said. “But with the shortage of police, how would you enforce it? It would put an enormous strain on our police officers, and if a (texting ticket) was challenged in court, that’s taking more police off the streets. All cities are hurting financially, not just Canton.”

But some statistics are hard to ignore.

The American Automobile Association reports that car and traffic accidents are the leading cause of death of 15 to 20 year olds, and that nearly half — 46 percent — of teens text message while driving, and 51 percent talk on cell phones while driving.

Lt. Tony Bradshaw, spokesman for the Ohio Highway Patrol, said the department doesn’t keep statistics specific to texting while driving, but any distraction while driving is a danger.

“There are numerous distractions in a motor vehicle, from attending to a small child to even changing stations on a radio,” Bradshaw said. “Those things all play a part when you have to refocus your attention on the roadway. There is hesitation, reaction time slows, and accidents occur.”

Three bills have been introduced in the Ohio House that include prohibitions on texting while driving. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Robert Hagan, D-Youngstown, told the Associated Press “it’s ridiculous to even try to send a text while driving.”

Cleveland has a law against text messaging while driving; repeat violators face fines of up to $500.

Oral Ray, owner of A Better Choice Driving Schools in Jackson Township and Uniontown, said he would support such legislation locally. He has made texting a part of his driving schools’ curriculum.

“Driving is distracting enough with an experienced driver; an inexperienced driver can become very distracted,” he said. “If I had a child of driving age, I’d take the texting capability off their cell phone; that’s how strongly I feel about it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.





Texting: Did you know?

• As of last year, more than 75 billion text messages are sent every month compared to 18 billion in 2006. That number has increased by 250 percent each year the last two years.

• There are 68.7 million text users

• 86 percent of people in the United States own a cell phone

• A typical U.S. cell phone user sends or receives 357 text messages per month, compared to placing or receiving 204 phone calls.