What exactly is text messaging?
Texting originally came into use in the early 1990s. However, it was a good while before the act actually caught on for the mainstream public. Recently it has become much more popular among all types of people. A text message is usually a short word message sent from one mobile phone to another. It is typed using either letters on the number pad, or on a miniature keyboard on the phone. Most text messages are short, with the phone having a limit of how many letters can actually be used in a single text message. Recently phones have come out that allow longer messages. Texts can also be used to send other unique messages such as pictures, video, and sound clips. Texting can be very useful in a situation where one is in a situation where they can not call. Another new use for texting is for advertisement. There are accounts that you can subscribe to, in which a text will be sent to all subscribers for updates on that particular product, person, team, event, band ect ect. You can also send a text from an email provider to a mobile phone. This is common for people who do not have a cellular phone.

This was stolen from http://blog.seattlepi.com/swminsea/library/text_messaging.jpg
Why????
Your first thought may be why? Why would somebody send a text while driving? Why would somebody want to be in a car crash? Why would they want to increase their chances of hurting others? Cell phone use while driving causes 2,600 deaths every year and 330,000 accidents, according to the Human Factors quarterly journal. Senetor Charles Shchumer released his own report on statistics from New York City. He found that nearly 100 teenagers have been killed because of texting while driving, in metro NYC over, the past 5 years. He also mentioned that one in every five collisions occurs besause of a driver using a cell phone.His reasons for doing the report was to simply show that too many drivers, mostly young, are dying. Nobody needs to die because of somethng as preventable as texting while driving. He plans to present this report to President Obama, while demanding a nation wide ban on this dangerous activity.
Who would want this....
                                        Stolen from http://www.mikeandmandy.us/wp-content/uploads/texting_while_driving_crash-2.jpg



How many drivers actually do it????
You may also wonder, how often does this act occur? According to the American Automobile Association, 46 percent of teenagers text while they are driving.This is a very alarming number. Its also crazy to think that texting is becoming more popular everyday, so this number is sure to increase over the near future. Another study was done by Vlingo, a mobile application vendor. They discovered that 26 percent of all drivers admit to texting while driving at some point. The state of Tennessee had the highest percentage of texting drivers at 46 percent, and Arizona had the lowest percentage at 18 percent.  Some Americans feel it is wrong to text and drive, but the majority of young drivers feel feel completely different. If you are looking for a way to help improve this act, talking to young drivers of the high risks is a good place to start. They are the drivers that will be most affected by this.

stolen from http://trebord.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/texting-while-driving-accidents.jpg



How will texting affect your driving????
Many studies have been conducted to attempt to prove that it really can increase your chances of wrecking. Clemson University used a driving simulator to find the results of texting drivers.They found that drivers are at minimum, 10 percent more likely to leave their desired lane if texting. Virginina Tech also wanted to compare the rusults of driving without text messaging to driving while text messaging. Their study was a little more in depth, as they also compared texting while driving a car to texting while driving a truck. They found that you are up to 23 percent more likely tp be in a crash if you send/receive a text while driving. The highest amount of risk would be while driving a truck, followed by an SUV,  then a car. The study also shows how dangerous texting is compared to talking on a phone. Texting was significantly more dangerous, being as one can see the road while talking. It is alot harder to see the road when texting. There have even been studies to compare texting while driving to the dangers of being under the influence of alcohol and drugs while driving. The Transport Research Laboratory found that texting while driving gave a slower reaction time than drivers who were intoxicated from alcohol. Texting also gave a slower reaction time than drivers who had taken a form af cannabis. It would seem that with these driving under the influence being illegal, and texting being more dangerous than that, that it should be illegal as well. It seems that some states just do not get it.

Stolen from http://www.clemson.edu/newsroom/multimedia/images/2008_images/january/drive_simulator.JPG

What are the laws on texting while driving?
With all this talk about texting while driving, I must fill you in on the laws surrounding texting and driving. There are currently 38 states in the United States of America(including Washington DC) that do not have a ban on texting while driving, or a ban set to take place in the future. There are five states that do not have a law banning texting while driving, but have a law that will come into effect in either December or January of 2009/2010. That leaves only 18 states that have a ban all drivers from sending and receiving text messages while drving. Some of the states do not seem to make much sense with their laws. Many states ban texting for certain drivers, but not all drivers. I would agree that certain drivers, like teenagers, are more likely to text, but are not the only ones that the laws should apply to. Some states also ban texting for bus drivers, which is very good; but why would you not ban it for all drivers? This is an outragous statistic, that needs to be improved as soon as possible. Anything that can be done to reduce the number of deaths, needs to be done. Making it illegal would certainly be a step in the right direction for out entire country.

What do you think?
I hope that these surveys and statistics have been able to show you exactly what texting while driving can do. We all need to contribute on our own way. Lives do not need to be lost over something like this. Helping save a life should be motivation for anybody to attempt to help the cause. So where do you stand on this issue?


Stolen from http://roadsafety.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/do_not_text_and_drive.jpg