Texting and Driving

Headlines have been made, laws have been past, and even Oprah had a show about texting and driving. Texting has become a ubiquitous communication that people text everywhere from the in the bathroom to in the classroom. The appeal of silently communicating, or contacting the outside world, has become so distracting that many people forget about inappropriate times and places to text, and the texting is having deadly effects. Oprah had a show a few weeks ago about the devastating consequences of texting and driving. She had 3 people from her audience do an obstacle course as a test run, and then while texting. People who thought they were good at multitasking and driving while texting had a huge wake up call. All 3 participants saw a reduced reaction time, hit cones, and had difficulty staying on the course.
Recent increases in car crash fatalities have led states to increase regulations on phone use while driving. For instance, texting and driving is illegal in Illinois and illegal in Missouri for people under 18. The Federal government recently passed a law that instate commerce vehicles are not aloud to text and drive, and many states are adopting similar policies.
It can be tempting to look at a text while driving, but it is not okay to endanger other people on the road. Those addicted to texting should try only texting while stopped at red lights or dictating the text to the passenger. Texting has become the new drunk driving and it is only a matter of time before it becomes a serious offense in all states.