And it shouldn’t take a law to end this bad habit, but we support any proposal that will.
State lawmakers are again trying to make it illegal for drivers to text or read texts or e-mails while driving. They should get the job done before the holiday recess.
Under the proposal, passed by the House Dec. 9, distracted driving would become a secondary offense. That means police would need some other reason to pull motorists over before they could be cited for texting. Drivers who are caught messaging while driving would receive a fine — a non-negotiable $100 — but no points would be added to their driving record.
While many lawmakers and law enforcement agencies would like the misdemeanor to be a primary offense, it doesn’t look like that will happen. Some lawmakers have pointed out the law can eventually be amended — like the seat-belt law was — to change the offense from secondary to primary. ...
Distracted driving has become a major problem on our roads. According to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve a driver looking away from the roadway within three seconds of the event
Several recent Muskegon area accidents also have been caused by distracted driving. A car-pedestrian accident in Ravenna in November was believed to have been caused because both the driver and the walker were distracted. The driver had dropped his cell phone and was trying to pick it up off the floor when he crossed the center line. The walker was listening to her iPod and unaware of the car coming toward her.
She was seriously injured. Numerous others across the state have been killed.
It shouldn’t take too much debate in the state Senate to get this bill approved. Anyone who has driven a couple miles in the past week has seen a driver distracted by his or her cell phone. The bill should not be stymied again because of a disagreement over making the offense secondary or primary.
Michigan needs to join the 18 other states that have laws prohibiting all drivers from texting and the 10 that have laws just affecting teens.
Saving lives should be an easy decision.
Source
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Distracted Driving Special Report
Most of us are guilty of it- answering the phone while driving or sending a quick text message to let a friend know we're running late. Our actions may seem innocent enough, but the results can be tragic. It's happened time, and time and time again- deadly accidents caused by drivers armed with cell phones.
David Teater, victim of distracted driving: "I think it's something we all have been doing, we all learned to do it, we all became dependent upon it and we had no idea how dangerous it was."
But David Teater and his family are living with the pain and devastation every day. In 2004. Teater's wife was driving his 12-year-old son Joe to an after school tutoring session.
David Teater: "She crossed a busy highway, went through a green light, and she wasn't the first one through the intersection, she was probably the fourth or fifth, and a young lady driving in one of the southbound lanes did not see the red light, she did not see four other cars and a school bus that were stopped in the other southbound lane, she didn't see the traffic in front of her, she was on her cell phone."
The distracted woman sped through the stop light and smashed into the vehicle carrying Teater's wife and youngest son. The impact destroyed the Teater's car and knocked young Joe unconscious. He never woke up.
David Teater: "He was just a, gosh, he was just a great kid. He had a lot of friends, he was getting into video production, he loved making movies with his friends."
In just an instant, Joe's plans for college, his goals and his dreams were all gone. At the driver's sentencing, Teater told a judge how his family's life would never be the same.
David Teater: "It's been 5 and a half years and I miss him as much today as I ever did. It never changes, you know, that just never changes. You learn to live with it a little bit more, but it changes your life forever, and in our case it was because of a cell phone. You know, that just doesn't seem right."
The distracted driver, Holly Jo Smacker, was put on probation and forced to pay a hefty fine, but if it was up to her, the punishment would have been far worse. 6 months after the fatal accident, Teater quit his job and devoted his life to making sure this never happens again. His campaign has taken him from Michigan's Capitol to Capitol Hill.
David Teater: "I want people to know I think we all understand that texting or looking at our emails is extremely dangerous, we shouldn't do it."
Several bills that ban cell phone use while driving have been introduced at the state's Capitol, and the lawmakers behind them say it's vital that the legislation gets passed quickly, so no more lives are lost.
Rep. Lee Gonzales, (D) Flint Twp.: "It's about our families, it's about our friends. This is an epidemic of major proportions, this is a safety issue."
Representative Lee Gonzales has personally felt the impact. His pregnant daughter in law was hit by a distracted driver. No one was injured, but that accident fueled his motivation to move legislation that bans texting while driving.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "It's time that we have better driving habits, two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road."
If the bills pass, Gonzales says he will push even further.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "Hopefully in the future we can ban cell phone use."
Teater supports Gonzales' efforts.
David Teater: "What's important about legislation is that it kind of sets the ground rules, it kind of says this is not okay."
But he hopes the rules and his own testimony will be enough to convince drivers to think twice before getting behind the wheel with a cell phone.
David Teater: "It would be rewarding to know that Joe's death had some meaning, and that maybe we prevented even one family from going thru what we are going through."
Source
David Teater, victim of distracted driving: "I think it's something we all have been doing, we all learned to do it, we all became dependent upon it and we had no idea how dangerous it was."
But David Teater and his family are living with the pain and devastation every day. In 2004. Teater's wife was driving his 12-year-old son Joe to an after school tutoring session.
David Teater: "She crossed a busy highway, went through a green light, and she wasn't the first one through the intersection, she was probably the fourth or fifth, and a young lady driving in one of the southbound lanes did not see the red light, she did not see four other cars and a school bus that were stopped in the other southbound lane, she didn't see the traffic in front of her, she was on her cell phone."
The distracted woman sped through the stop light and smashed into the vehicle carrying Teater's wife and youngest son. The impact destroyed the Teater's car and knocked young Joe unconscious. He never woke up.
David Teater: "He was just a, gosh, he was just a great kid. He had a lot of friends, he was getting into video production, he loved making movies with his friends."
In just an instant, Joe's plans for college, his goals and his dreams were all gone. At the driver's sentencing, Teater told a judge how his family's life would never be the same.
David Teater: "It's been 5 and a half years and I miss him as much today as I ever did. It never changes, you know, that just never changes. You learn to live with it a little bit more, but it changes your life forever, and in our case it was because of a cell phone. You know, that just doesn't seem right."
The distracted driver, Holly Jo Smacker, was put on probation and forced to pay a hefty fine, but if it was up to her, the punishment would have been far worse. 6 months after the fatal accident, Teater quit his job and devoted his life to making sure this never happens again. His campaign has taken him from Michigan's Capitol to Capitol Hill.
David Teater: "I want people to know I think we all understand that texting or looking at our emails is extremely dangerous, we shouldn't do it."
Several bills that ban cell phone use while driving have been introduced at the state's Capitol, and the lawmakers behind them say it's vital that the legislation gets passed quickly, so no more lives are lost.
Rep. Lee Gonzales, (D) Flint Twp.: "It's about our families, it's about our friends. This is an epidemic of major proportions, this is a safety issue."
Representative Lee Gonzales has personally felt the impact. His pregnant daughter in law was hit by a distracted driver. No one was injured, but that accident fueled his motivation to move legislation that bans texting while driving.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "It's time that we have better driving habits, two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road."
If the bills pass, Gonzales says he will push even further.
Rep. Lee Gonzales: "Hopefully in the future we can ban cell phone use."
Teater supports Gonzales' efforts.
David Teater: "What's important about legislation is that it kind of sets the ground rules, it kind of says this is not okay."
But he hopes the rules and his own testimony will be enough to convince drivers to think twice before getting behind the wheel with a cell phone.
David Teater: "It would be rewarding to know that Joe's death had some meaning, and that maybe we prevented even one family from going thru what we are going through."
Source
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)