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Show k, J A T exing while driving: """ Texting can be as distracting mentally as when you are under the of students who don't text while driving of students who text while driving influence. James Dunnigan by dangerous driving. She was sent to prison for 21 months. Arguments for and AGAINST THE BILL ' t 25 five students were surveyed for this chart. They all agreed that texting while driving should be illegal. Hillyard said most of the lobbyists against this bill were cell phone companies that wanted to make sure hands free werent covered completely. In his particular bill, Hillyard made sure that hands free sets werent under the bill, ensuring people could still talk on their cell phones while driving. His strategy in doing this was so that he didnt add anything so controversial that might kill his bill. Hillyard said the broader and more extensive a bill gets, the more terms a Senator must add. The Senator wanted to make his bill simple and to the point. He wanted people to know once you text in a car, you are in trouble. Other individuals argued against the bill saying we live in a free country and we should be able to do what we please. Hillyard said, This doesnt fly with me. You lose some of your freedoms when you have someone recklessly driving 100 miles per hour down the road putting others lives in danger. in behavior and law Changes believes Drecksel also said that the majority of his friends text while driving. Ive noticed that the majority of the time when people are driving out of control they are either talking on their cell phone or using it to text, and not paying attention to the way they are driving, Drecksel said. Texting laws in OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, (GHSA) many cities and states are adopting laws banning cell phone use without a hands free device. That means drivers must use Bluetooth or have a speaker and microphone installed in their car. Reiter hopes Utah will adopt a law banning cell phone use without a hands free device. Hillyard said Utah and Alaska are the only two states that treat texting while driving as a serious offense. In 2007 Alaska passed a bill for no texting while driving that applies to all drivers. This is not the case in many states. Those caught texting or using other specific types of technology while driving may face up to 20 years in of 15 years. prison in Alaska, much like Utahs penalty the According to the GHSA, many states are in process of banning texting while driving; however, there are still some that dont have any law that bans texting while driving or other cell phone laws. As of now 14 states enforce a no texting while driving law for all drivers. On Jan. 1, 2010 similar laws will be in effect for a total of 19 states. Twenty-eig-ht states have some type of restrictions on texting and driving. However not all 28 states specify the law to all drivers. Some states restrictions are made for age and license types. NPR reports some of these states have penalties with as low as a $20 fine. Cell phone use while driving has come up as an issue in countries other than the U.S. In November 2007 Philippa Curtis, from the U.K. hit Victoria McBrydess parked car going 70 miles per hour. McBryde was in her car on die side of the road because she had a flat tire. After the crash, McBrydes car spun into oncoming traffic and hit two more cars. Curtis suffered an arm injury and McBryde suffered a brain injury and later died. The BBC reported Curtis sent and received more than 20 text messages before she crashed her car. While Curtis admits to texting while driving, she said she did not at the time of the accident. Curtis was convicted in Feb. 2009 of causing death Hillyard changes are beginning to take place involving the new law. We still have a ways to come, he said. Dunnigan also believes changes are being made, but even so in the last week of October there was an accident that police suspect texting was involved. I think a lot of people are still texting and driving, Dunnigan said, but I do think people are beginning to change their habits. Recendy a press conference was held by the county attorney in Cache County. The county attorney reported four recent deaths in Utah attributed to distracted drivers, according to Hillyard. Law enforcement is getting much stricter about this and will continue to crack down on this new law, he said. The next step would be to use cell phones only as a hands free device. There are the hands free ear sets which would be better than where we are now, Dunnigan said, but it is still a distraction mentally. Hudson is unsure about a total cell phone ban. But he said, It would certainly eliminate the opportunity to recklessly drive because a person was texting. It would make things easier to enforce and cut down on distractions. Currendy Hillyard doesnt have any future plans for this particular law, Ive got what I wanted to, accomplish. Hillyard said, I think there will come a time when there will be a no cell phone ban, but Im not going to do it. f NOVEMBER I i 10, 2009 i |