Texting ban... does it work?

     At a time when there's so much talk about the dangers of texting, a new report from the Highway Loss Data Institute shows that states that ban texting and driving may not be any safer.  Some say catching someone in the act may make it too hard to enforce... or perhaps drivers are getting dangerously good at hiding it.  But transportation officials say that report is flawed... pointing out the bans are still new, and require solid laws, good advertising, and police enforcement in order to build success.  What do you think?  Do you think the laws like the one passed in Louisiana, which ban texting while driving, are not really effective?  Is it too hard to enforce?  Are drivers getting too good at hiding it? 

Comments

[Dumb gets Dumber]

16,000 deaths last year , seems to be catching up on drunk driving , OBTW texting accounts for approx. 30% of all traffic deaths , real dumb !!!!!!!

[Rusty Flavers]

33.56% of all statistics are made up.

[curly]

if they catch 1 out of 10 people then it’s better than 0 out of 10.

[Mike]

I don't think you will stop people from texting (or doing anything else) while driving until you make the penalty so severe that nobody would want to risk getting caught. Texting is just another form of driver distraction so where do you draw a legal line between what's acceptable (tuning a radio or talking to a passenger)and what's unacceptable (texting)? I don't have an answer to that question. I fully realize that texting is much more distracting that talking to a passenger but how do you determine the degree of distraction? My suggestion would be to add severe penalties for any accident in which willful driver distraction could be proven to be a contributing factor. I say "willful" because if a wasp was loose in your car or if smoke suddenly began coming from your dashboard, it would certainly be a distraction but not a willful one. Anyway, make the penalties severe enough to be crippling and I doubt that you'd see much texting going on. I can already hear the cries of "foul" and "it's not fair" if this sort of penalty were enacted but you'll never stop this behavior by simply slapping the hand of the offender.

[SEE]

I really think that they should ban talking on cell phones completely and that way the police can stop a person for just being on the phone while driving and maybe they will stop texting. Wake up people please wake up. Please STOP STOP' YOU CAN'T TEXT OR TALK AND DRIVE. IF YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE BUT YOUE SELF THINK ABOUT SOMEONE TEXTING AND ON THE PHONE AND RECKING WITH YOU MOM.DAD,SIS,BROTHER OR EVEN YOU KIDS THEY ARE OUR FUTURE.

[Mom]

As I've said before YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE HUMAN BEHAVIOR!!!

[LAKE UPCHUCK]

next will be "should old people drive" or hell, blame it on the kids again like you do with everything else.

and as for the other "big news" on people who do not vote,,

GIVE US SOMETHING WORTH TO VOTE FOR OR PEOPLE WORTH OUR VOTE.

I know how you can get them to vote, FIRE ALL THE POLICE JURY, hire news ones.

Want to know another reason why people don't vote, due to the fact when we have SOMEONE who wants to "HELP" our town, they don't want them,, why have someone who wants to help and not be a crook.

I grew up with politics and law enforcement..CROOKED PEOPLE...that is why I don't vote,, HAVE NOTTA TO VOTE FOR.

EVER NOTICE HOW SOMEONE GETS VOTED IN,,,AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN IN FOR A WHILE, NOTICE THE HOUSE THEY LIVE IN, THE CARS THEY DRIVE, THE SCHOOLS THE KIDS GO TO, THE WAY THEY DRESS AND PLACES THEY SHOP.

AMAZES ME.

Know how I know this,, well we do construction work for lots of them... nice homes, nice cars, pools, outdoor kitchens, etc.,

SHAME SHAME AND YOU WILL HAVE TO STAND BEFORE GOD ONE DAY YOU NAUGHTY THING YOU

[elohssa]

Oh yeah, it works exactly as planned...

NOT!

Now, instead of holding the phone up where they can text and still glance at the road, they hold the phone down on their laps and text, so they pay even LESS attention to the road.

Banning stuff works soooooo well!

After all, we have laws against illegal drugs. No drugs, right?

We have laws against felons getting guns. No guns for felons, right?

Laws protecting you if you get a restraining order against somebody, and those are never violated, right?

Let's just pass MORE laws and fix EVERYTHING!

[Moi]

Not enforceable.....dumb law...

[Roy Miles]

There is more than texting that needs to be banned. What about applying make up while driving, eating, reading? Law enforcement should set the example, not by writing tickets, but stop using their cellphones while operating a police unit. They have radio and computers for communication with their agency.

Roy
Lake Charles

[Harry]

Louisiana does a poor job of inforcing driving laws and when they do, a well paid law firm will help reduce the penalties. It's not just texting, have you seen what the new phones are capable of while your driving? Driving in Sulphur I find police cars nearly non-existent, it's almost lawless on their streets.

[k-nob]

this ought to be as good as the sagging pants thing.......