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Cell phones are one of the essential accessories of the 21st century, and cell phone users take their devices everywhere. It’s no surprise, then, that people sometimes send text messages while driving. But just like talking on a cell phone while on the road, texting while driving is dangerous.
Up to 8,000 crashes per day are due to distracted drivers, according to the American Automobile Association. Using your cell phone while driving can increase your risk of getting in a crash by up to four times, according to AAA. It's vital that people understand that texting while driving changes you into a distracted driver who can easily miss what is going on right in front of the car, and serious accidents can result.
Texting while driving has become a major public safety concern for everyone, but particularly for parents of teens just learning to drive. The BlackBerry now supports an application that will block texting, as well as any other activity that may distract the driver, while driving. The Mobilock application is available for BlackBerries from BlackBerry App World. The application is offered for a one-time charge of $4.99. The application senses when the device is in motion, and locks the texting and other applications such as Facebook and Twitter.
In Microsoft Windows, a device driver, also known as a software driver, is a program that allows for the the interaction between the operating system, associated application software and the hardware device. Windows lets you hide and show files of any type. If you have previously hidden a device driver and you want to find the file reference location for this driver, you must change the file settings via the Windows Control Panel, then find the file in the Windows System32/Drivers directory.
Using cell phones while driving has been made illegal in eight states and it is generally seen as a dangerous thing to do. Several states have policies of varying severity regarding the use of other phone functions, such as texting.
Driving while distracted is dangerous, and most states have laws against it. AAA estimates that between 4,000 and 8,000 automobile accidents occur daily due to distractions, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports driving distractions may have contributed to more than 5,000 deaths in 2009.
As of December 2010, no state has completely banned all cell phone use while driving. All cell phone use includes handheld cell phones, hands-free cell phones and texting. However, eight states have banned the use of handheld cell phones while driving. Eighteen states have banned all cell phone use by bus drivers. Twenty-eight states have banned all cell phone use for drivers younger than 18. Thirty states have banned all text messaging while driving.
Some towns and cities in Ohio have laws that ban texting with cell phones while driving, and the state legislature was considering a statewide ban in November 2010. Some laws in Ohio also ban other activities while driving, such as dialing a cell phone, eating, shaving, or using a cell phone without a headset. More than 5,800 traffic deaths nationwide in 2008 resulted from texting while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting factored in 16 percent of all car crash deaths and 21 percent of injuries that year, according to the NHTSA.
Washington state was one of the first states to enact laws restricting cell phone use while driving. Since then, the state legislature has passed several bills regarding handheld cell phones and other mobile devices. According to HandsFreeInfo.com, the majority of Washington residents support the current laws and fines in place as of November 2010, and the state has noticed a decline in distracted driving accidents since enacting stricter laws.
Florida is one of few states that does not have laws enforcing or regulating talking on cell phones while driving. Many states have some sort of law regulating this use, however, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association (GHSA), Florida is one of the few states that have yet to enact these laws. There are, however, a number of driving-safety bills that are continually being put to the legislation.
Many states already have laws in place to keep drivers from talking on their cell phones while operating a vehicle, but the states have variations on the cell phone bans and depending on what type of driver you are. According to LetsTalk.com, many states with no current law have a law pending.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that, in 2008, nearly 6,000 Americans were fatally injured due to driving distractions like texting. Many U.S. states have passed laws banning the use of cell phones while driving. Some states have prohibited sending text messages while behind the wheel. In the state of Wisconsin, the governor signed a law prohibiting texting in July 2010. The law will become effective in December 2010.
Driving while using a cell phone can have fatal consequences. In 2009 5,474 people died in cell-phone related accidents, according to a U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report. States have responded by passing laws regarding cell phone usage while driving. Some require hands-free technology, while some ban texting while driving. No state prohibits all cell phone use for all drivers.
Fox News.com cited an American Automobile Association study that states driving with loose pets in the car poses the same risks as texting while driving. Many dog owners pet, play with and even give food and water to their unrestrained pets while driving, which raises the risks for a car accidents. Surprisingly, while many states have a ban on texting while driving, none have a law that requires pets be restrained inside a vehicle, according to Change.org.
As cell phones have become essential to everyday life in the United States, laws have been enacted to minimize some of their harmful secondary effects. Mainly these laws center around the use of devices while driving. There are some states that have not yet banned their use while behind the wheel, despite a study from the University of Utah that shows distracted drivers' reactions are just as delayed as those of drunken drivers.
As cellular phone usage has increased in the past decade so have problems involving cell-phone usage. While 52 countries around the world--from the United Kingdom to Zimbabwe--restrict cellular usage by drivers, the U.S. government has so far left cellular regulation up to the states, resulting in a patchwork bundle of differing restrictions by localities. Because states frequently amend their laws, cell phone regulation is ever-changing; here are restrictions as of June 2010.
Cell phones have changed the way that we live. They allow us instant communication with others, no matter where we are, provided we stay in areas of cell phone coverage. There are times when using cell phones can be dangerous, and many states have legislation in place restricting cell phone use by drivers.
Text messaging is a form of communication using cell phones to type and send messages up to 150 characters long. As texting and cell phone technology evolve, so do the laws governing its use. A study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reveals that drivers who text behind the wheel are 23 percent more likely to get into an accident. In October 2009 the Obama Administration effected a ban on texting while driving for all federal employees and those operating federally owned vehicles. Many states and localities have bans on texting while driving, including those with laws regarding novice…
