Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

A new poll conducted by CBS and the New York Times found that almost all Americans believe that the government should outlaw texting while driving. Results of the nationwide poll, which was conducted by random telephone interview, revealed that 97 percent of Americans think texting while driving should be illegal while merely one percent felt the practice should remain legal.

The poll showed that both men and women from all parts of the United States favored a form of legislation outlawing text messaging while behind the wheel. The poll questioned both frequent and occasional drivers alike.

52 percent of the respondents also said that punishment for texting while driving should be as severe as the punishment for drunk drivers. 44 percent of those polled believed the punishment for texters should be less severe. Two percent thought that the punishment should be more severe.

Studies conducted to quantify the dangers of texting and driving consistently show that it is as bad as or worse than driving while legally drunk. A Car and Driver study conducted last June found that the baseline reaction time of one driver texting while driving nearly tripled while the physical distance he traveled after a brake prompt increased nearly twenty times over his stopping distance while intoxicated (319 feet vs. 17 feet).

As we have reported in the past, a number of civic and safety organizations are aggressively spreading the word about the dangers of texting and driving through hard-hitting media campaigns and other efforts that appear to be paying off in some ways.

Earlier in October, President Obama signed a new bill into law prohibiting federal employees from texting while driving under any circumstances while conducting government business. 18 states have already passed laws making it against the law to text while driving.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Legal, News, automobile accident, safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.