Texting & Driving

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Texting & Driving: Issue Statement: We’ve all seen the commercials on TV about texting and driving. This is a problem not only with teenagers but with adults as well. How do we plan on stopping this if law enforcement is doing it themselves and the law is not being enforced properly.

Current Picture: 1. According to Dodsonhooks.com over 3,000 teens die annually because they are texting and driving, and another 300,000 suffer injuries 2. According to aolautos.com an average of 18 texting and driving tickets per month are issued in Louisiana 3. According to textinganddrivingsafety.com, 77% of young adults are very or somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving 4. According to AT&T 49% of adults text while driving and 43% of teens text while driving, that’s almost half 5. According to 2.potsdam.edu, texting while driving a vehicle has now replaced drinking while driving. 6. Current law for texting and driving is all drivers are banned from text messaging. Under 18 prohibited from using wireless phones with or without hands free devices

Recommendations:

 According to Des Moines register.com, Iowa DOT made a device that disabled law enforcement’s on board laptop while driving. We could do this in Louisiana since it has the same risk as texting while driving.  According to his website, Toney Lineberry is a motivational speaker against texting while driving. 8 days after his eighteenth birthday he got in a wreck and is now paralyzed from the neck down. This is more moving than a video or powerpoint. We could get him or other people who have a personal experience to speak to schools each year.  We could put on a fake car crash each year in our high school through clubs at our school.  Use devices such as origo ( a device that disables your phone when you enter a car) or devices like it