Texting while driving has been the source of many accidents and heartache in recent years, which begs the question, is it really worth it? The state of Pennsylvania decided that no text is worth losing a life.
On March 8th, Pennsylvania enacted a law that bans texting while driving. Pennsylvania became the 35th state to ban texting while driving and Governor Tom Corbett advises that if drivers need to text they should pull over and park. The bad habit has become more commonplace in recent years and could be a tough adjustment for Pennsylvania drivers.
Driving already is one of the most dangerous ways to travel, but this is mostly due to distractions on the road. Texting is one of the biggest distractions , and in reality anything that takes the focus away from the road and onto something else presents extreme danger.
Texting while driving could be considered one of the most dangerous things to do while driving, right up there with drinking. According to the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, the chances of a driver getting into an accident when texting or dialing increases by three times.
Pennsylvania decided to put a stop to this distraction for drivers and to start pulling over drivers who appear to be texting. The first offense will result in a fifty dollar fine.
Despite the fact that this law could save lives, many people may feel uneasy about the law because the police could pull drivers over based on their own interpretation of what the drivers are doing.
“I think it is a great idea to make our roads safer but enforcing the law is going to be difficult due to the amount of grey area” said North Penn Senior Mitch Yetter. This could be true if in fact the police pull somebody over because they appear that they are texting when in reality they could be doing something else.
“I am a pizza delivery guy, if a cop pulls me over for having my GPS, which is on my phone, in my hand, I will be late” said Yetter. So for those specific situations, this law could give both police and drivers trouble.
Some drivers also have concerns over what is considered texting while driving. Texting while driving is considered to be the typing, sending or reading, of texts or emails. It also is using the web in some other way such as twitter or facebook.
The American Automobile Association Foundation for traffic safety also stated that teens and young adults are more likely to be using a cell phone when driving than the older generation. So, for teens of today’s generation the new texting while driving law could be a tough adjustment, not just because of the addiction to texting but also to tweeting, and the general reality that texting and tweeting have become a way of life for many.
It becomes imperative that drivers, young adults specifically, remember that whatever they have to text can wait, and if it can’t they must pull over. Drivers must also remember that whatever they have to tweet is unnecessary and should be done off the roads.
No text and certainly no tweet is worth the loss of a life, and law enforcment in Pennsylvania will now see to it they do all they can to prevent these behaviors from causing danger on the roads.