Thursday, March 11, 2010

Ban Texting While Driving



















This is unique to me because it shows that some of what I say to my 16 year old son it getting through to him as sometimes it seems I talking to a wall.  

We went to dinner with some friends a month or so ago and one of the topics that came up as my son had  gotten his grades up enough to get a learner's permit, was not texting while driving.  It was brought up that the popular son of a former co-worker had passed away after a crash while he was texting while driving.
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090211/LOCAL/302119995/1044/LOCAL08 .

A few weeks later my son wrote the following for an English class project and his teacher liked it so much that she submitted it to our local newspaper and it was selected to be used in the "Letters To The Editor" section yesterday.

"Nineteen states have a law prohibiting texting while driving. All 50 states should put this law into effect.
Drivers already have distractions such as the radio, GPS systems and MP3 players. Teen drivers especially have enough on their hands at 16 or 17, and they don’t need to text. If a person needs to text, he or she should simply pull over to the shoulder or the nearest parking lot to avoid an accident.

We all know that it takes only a second to be in an accident. Is a car really worth a text message? Or what if a person or a small child gets killed because someone wanted to text?

For the states that do have the law, there are hefty penalties up to $2,750 for trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The Indiana legislature should enact this law here and enforce it.

KYLE SPROWL Fort Wayne"

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