October 21st, 2009 by admin

In Utah, if you were to crash while texting, the punishment could be extremely severe – up to 15 years in prison. It’s a harsh law but we can’t deny that texting while driving is incredibly dangerous.

Passed after a texting driver killed two scientists, the law would put texting while driving in the same legal category as drunk driving if any crash happens. It’s a far stronger law than most of those already existing in other states; California’s, for example, punishes offenders with a tiny fine, usually around $20.

PSA Delivers Bloody, Bone-Crunching Message: Stop texting and driving

See this item on vids.myspace.to

The video was done with local actors by the Gwent police department, to be shown in area schools as part of a 30-minute deterrent movie about “texting while driving.” It’s effective, violent and bloody.

“Texting While Driving” victims:

A motorist who sent and received more than 20 text messages before she crashed into another car killing its driver has been jailed for 21 months. Philippa Curtis, 21, from Suffolk, was texting before she hit the back of a stationary car at 70mph on the A40 near Wheatley in Oxfordshire. Victoria McBryde from Northamptonshire, who was dealing with a burst tyre, was killed in the crash in November 2007. Curtis, of Bury St Edmunds, was also given a three-year driving ban. Judge Julian Hall said it had been “folly and madness” to use a phone while driving and it had been “disastrous” for Curtis, Ms McBryde and her family.

Here’s something that is ridiculously obvious but still needed some official study to make it official:

Texting while driving will increase the likeliness that you will get into a crash.

This study comes to us from the Virgina Tech Transportation Institute that suggests texting while driving will increase your chance of crashing by 23x. To put this into perspective, the NHTSA says that driving while on the phone or with a .08 blood-alcohol level only increases your chance of a crash by 4x. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as when you’re texting your eyes are situated on the handset rather than the road for prolonged periods.

The bad news is that this will be extremely hard to police as those who text usually keep the phone in their laps or otherwise out of view from those looking into the car. Wales police department shows you what happens when you text while driving Texting while driving isn’t safe, we that. We’ve seen studies, we’ve seen new laws go into place, we’ve seen it all, don’t text while driving, simple, right? It seems that drivers in Wales aren’t getting the memo which has caused the Gwent Police department to compile a PSA video to show people just how destructive texting while driving can be. We’ve included the video for you to view after the break but be warned, it’s very graphic.

President Barack Obama has signed an executive order instructing federal workers not to send text messages while driving government vehicles or their own vehicles while on the job.

Thursday’s order came Thursday, the same day a new state law took effect in Maryland prohibiting driving while texting. Thus, the state’s 112,000 federal employees could face sanctions from both their state and their employer for violating the texting ban. The White House action follows a recent move in Maryland, where Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a similar order covering state employees in May.

Some local jurisdictions in Maryland have also adopted such policies. In Baltimore, Mayor Sheila Dixon issued an order more than a year ago forbidding city employees to send text messages or use cell phones while driving on city business. Neither the Obama nor the O’Malley orders go that far.