Washington State Patrol to Teens: No More Texting While Driving
May 16, 2012
The policemen and women of Washington State want their message to be heard loud and clear by teenagers statewide: No texting while driving.
“When you’re on the road, things can go from good to horrible in the blink of an eye,” Sgt. Kirk Rudeen told the The Daily Herald recently.
Washington banned drivers from using cell phones nearly two years ago. Officers say they’ve tried to use the time as an educational period, but in 2012 they plan to cite offending drivers in earnest.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, two new studies show that texting while driving or even thinking about texting while driving might distract teenage drivers enough to cause them to wreck a vehicle.
One study looked at the position of the cell phone to determine if it affected drivers’ performance, but found that there is no safe “position” for texting while driving and that drivers who engaged in texting were eight times more likely to swerve between lanes.
The other study by the University of Washington, investigated if thinking about a phone made an impact in driving safety. The results: Each driver who displayed either an emotional attachment to his cell phone or felt frequent anticipation of calls or messages was more likely to be engaged in a car crash.
The Washington Auto Accident Lawyers with the Defoe Pickett Law Office want to remind teenagers—and adults—that texting while driving is never worth the risk.
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