Let's Stop Distracted Driving

As I drive around I'm seeing enough distracted drivers that it's got me genuinely concerned.  It's a real safety hazard and I'd like to see some very stringent enforcement before too many more are injured and killed.  Thirty years ago drunk driving was fairly prevalent and more or less accepted by many.  Mothers Against Drunk Driving was formed, public attention was focused, and those attitudes all changed.  Now it's treated as a serious offense.  Distracted driving, especially texting, is the contemporary equivalent: a driver is twenty-three times more likely to cause an accident while texting.

California made talking on handheld phones and sending and receiving text messages while driving illegal in 2008.  A first offense got you a ticket for $20 and subsequent violations dinged you for $50.  The amounts are now up to $159 and $279 respectively.  These are steps in the right direction, but more is needed.

Research shows that driving while texting increases the risk of accident and death equivalent to driving above the legal limit for alcohol.  This is serious stuff.  Statistics from the Transportation Department  found that 5,474 deaths and 448,000 injuries were linked to distracted driving in 2009.  Ominously, they also show that especially among younger drivers, the practice is becoming highly common, perhaps even prevalent. 

A survey of 5000 San Diego area college students released this month found that 50% reported texting while driving on the freeway, 60% while in city traffic, and 87% while at red lights.  Only 12% marked that they "never" text while driving.   

As of yet, the penalties do not seem to be having much effect among young people.  The California Highway Patrol issued 168,000 citations in 2011.  The same survey earlier cited found that majorities of the young drivers said they would curtail their proclivities if heavier penalties were imposed, such as a 3-month license revocation, adding a point to one's driving violations record, or exempting insurers from having to cover accidents in which their insured was engaged in distracted driving behavior.

I hope to see more strict enforcement of these rules and much heavier punishments for violating them.  I don't know about you, but I feel quite unsafe when I'm on the road around people who are looking down at their hands rather than paying attention to me and the other cars around them.  I hope soon to see the cops nailing people left and right and the violators seeing their insurance rates go through the roof.  Then it will become "not ok" to text, tweet, or even chat with one hand holding a phone to one's ear while behind the wheel.  Until then, I can report that I have never driven more defensively than I now do.  I hope it's enough.