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A ban on texting while driving comes into force Thursday in Pennsylvania, but remains legal in some other US states. Do you agree with a ban?
Over 96% of people voting of a online poll on the Guardian UK’s website agreed texting must be banned completely when driving.
My own experience is almost hypocritical as I have sent many an sms while driving on roads in Johannesburg or CapeTown. Sometimes it was emergencies, sometimes it was laziness, sometimes it was due to bad planning or simply boredom. And yet I know this is not safe behaviour while driving.
Oprah has managed to collect over 430,0000 pledges via her website for turning cars into a no phone zone. She frequently asked celebrity guests to take the pledges before her show ended. I pledge to make my car a No Phone Zone. Beginning right now, I will do my part to help put an end to distracted driving by committing to drive as responsibly as I can.
“It’d be difficult to enforce, but most definitely yes, I agree with the ban. Same for talking on cell-phones while driving. I can’t count the number of times I’ve almost been run into because some twit was yakking away or texting on their cell phone. I think anyone who gets stopped for it should have the offending cell phone rammed up their bottom on the spot.”
“Texting WHILE DRIVING (ie the car is actually moving) is unquestionably a crazy thing to do and definitely should be banned. But texting while stopped at a red light, or while pulled over on the side of the road is often necessary and very useful. While I hope the police throw the book at anyone texting while their car is in motion, I fear that people texting in a safe manner (when the car is not moving) will be caught in the police net if thrown too widely. I know from experience that the police are more interested in locking people up than following the spirit of the law, and unless anti-texting laws are written very carefully, I can EASILY imagine cops arresting people for texting while parked, or for glancing at the GPS map/locator app on their phone.”