Projo Cars Blog

Kudos to Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, D-South Kingstown, and Rep. Peter F. Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket, who were lead sponsors of recent bill outlawing texting while driving.

And kudos to the General Assembly and Governor Carcieri for respectively passing and signing the bill.

As the Providence Journal's Gregory Smith recently wrote, the law will make Rhode Island the 19th state plus the District of Columbia to prohibit the activity.

At the same time, he added that six states and D.C. go all the way by prohibiting the use of handheld cell phones while driving.

Maybe it's because I'm a Brit, but I believe that's the way to go. Britain has long outlawed the use of handheld cell phones in favor of hands-free alternatives. Drivers caught using hand-helds are ticketed for careless driving.

I know the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cites research that shows that only a total ban on cell phones for motorists, whether hands-free or not, will reduce traffic accidents.

But I think hands-free is safer than handheld and such a total ban would be unenforceable. I know a lot of you disagree as you have written to tell me so in no uncertain terms.

And last year Britain went even further. According to The New York Times, 2008 British government directives treat prolonged texting as a serious aggravating factor in "death by dangerous driving." And dangerous driving that carries a recommended sentence of four to seven years in prison.

The Rhode Island bill is certainly a step in the right direction and social pressure - texting while driving akin to smoking? - will no doubt further curtail the activity.

But for my money, only the banning of hand-held cell phones will really tackle the problem head on.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

 Tags  cell phones hand held cell phones hands free cell phones Texting while driving

Comments

John Rob said:

When my friends send text messages to me, drivesafe.ly mobile application respond with a message I am not in a position to look at their messages. I am not distracted from what I do.

Link | November 15, 2009 5:03 AM
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