Just yesterday, December 1, 2010, Wisconsin became the 30th state to enforce a new law that prohibits texting while driving. I was very happy to report that to my son who has his learner’s permit.
Of course it opened up a whole discussion about what constitutes texting while driving. For instance, is it considered texting while driving if you just look at a message?
I was glad to answer those questions. While there can definitely be a fine line between what falls under texting while driving, I simply referred to what the Milwaukee County Sheriff said in a newscast I had watched.
In a nutshell, it’s best if you don’t use your cell phone at all while driving. Texting while driving is only one distraction amongst many others…such as dialing a number on your cell phone or even talking on it.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff was letting the public know that if it looks like you are texting, such as noticing that your head is down, they can stop you and check your cell phone.
To me there is no point testing the system. However as I have confessed in a previous blog, I am guilty of checking text messages or punching out a short message while sitting at a stop light. Now I have to stop. I didn’t realize how difficult that was going to be until yesterday.
Since the pull to look at my cell phone is too much, I have decided the only way to solve that is to mute my phone and turn it over so I can’t see anything flash on the screen. I told my son that he will need to do the same once he gets his license and he is driving on his own.
Maybe others have the ability to overcome the temptation but I don’t. I guess it shows how tied to our electronics we can really become.
Do you live in a state that has banned texting while driving? Are you guilty of doing it even though we teach our teens not to do it?
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