Several new organizations have popped up to combat the rise in car accidents due to cell phone use. As previous reported, Focus Driven is one such organization whose efforts at raising the awareness of the dangers of use of hand held electronics while driving have been extremely effective.
Other web sites have been launched to combat auto accidents while texting including the official US Government web site for distracted driving.
In 2009 NHTSA published a research note stating among other things:
• Driver distraction was involved in 16 % of fatal crashes
• The under 20 age group is most likely to be involved in a fatal distracted driving accident
• 21 percent of injury accidents is estimated to be attributed to distracted driving
It is worth mentioning that secondary distractions such as eating, drinking, and interaction with electronic devises (stereo, DVD's ) also is a part of the statistical analysis in addition to cell phone use email or texting.
Many States and Municipalities have enacted some form of texting or cell phone restrictions while driving. In an effort to become more uniform in approach the DOT released a sample bill for prohibiting texting while driving.
I believe that only legislation at the State level will be effective in reducing automobile accidents in Texas and across our nation. If our representatives take action at the State level coupled with a Texas advertizing campaign similar to "don't mess with Texas" or "click it or ticket" we would have less automobile accidents on our Texas roadways.
Is Texas behind the curve in dealing with reducing auto accidents involving texting?
