Will a $25.00 fine really deter the conduct of texting while driving? Text messaging is a part of the teenage culture. Kids don’t want to talk on the phone. My daughter will send a text and wait for a reply rather then call a friend. I couldn’t get my sister off the phone when I was growing up.        

As I am sure you are aware, Kentucky now has a law that prohibits texting while driving. The hope is that this law will help to prevent serous car accidents and crashes. You are not allowed to text and drive. I am not going to go the question as to why we would need a law that is simply common sense. Texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. Intexicated driving causes more accidents than intoxicated driving.

But my question is did Kentucky go far enough in the penalties put in place for violating this law?  Are the penalties enough to really deter the act of text messaging?  Are auto accidents going to be prevented? Are lives going to be saved?

Children of the 21^st century have grown up with cell phones. Text messaging is their No. 1 form of communication with friends.  Driving to work every day, I see people texting while they’re driving. Kentucky drivers are looking down at their cell phones and not looking at the road ahead.  They are not paying attention to the cars around them. What happens if a car suddenly stops or a child runs into the street?

 The penalty range for texting and driving starts at $25.00 for a first offense and $50.00 for a second offense, yet the consequences can be severe and deadly in many situations.  It has been said that text messaging is worse than driving while drunk as far as your ability to control the car.  This can be said of any type of distracted driving. 

My question is should Kentucky’s texting law have more severe fines and penalties?  In states like Utah it is a crime of manslaughter in a situation where you are texting and driving and have a fatal accident causing a death. Does this go too far? I think tougher penalties are more likely to deter the conduct that we are trying to eliminate from our roads.  As a personal injury attorney I can use evidence of texting while driving in a civil trial. This may enhance what a jury would award.

Text messaging and driving is very dangerous.  I know I have posed a lot of questions. Only time will tell if the law deters texting while driving and helps to prevent car accidents. I think the penalty for texting while driving in Kentucky should be more in line with what the actual damage done by this very negligent behavior. I am curious to hear your thoughts.

            Governor Steve Beshear signed the Cell Phone Text Messaging Bill into law in Kentucky on April 25, 2010. It is about time. I hope this bill will have its intended impact and prevent serious automobile accidents caused by inattentive or distracted drivers. 

Under the new law, any driver under the age of 18 is prohibited from using a cell phone in any manner while driving.  This applies to an instruction permit, intermediate license or a full operator’s license.  There is one and only one exception to this.  That is to summon medical help, law enforcement or a public safety agency in the case of an emergency. 

            There are also provisions that relate to ALL drivers. Anyone who is operating a motor vehicle cannot write, send or read a text-based communication such as text message, instant message or electronic mail while operating a motor vehicle.  My understanding is that there will be warnings issued on violations until January 1, 2011. 

The fine for a first offense is a mere $25.00. Second offenders on up are fined $50.00 plus court costs. These fines appear to be a mere slap on the wrist. What if a bicycle accident victim is seriously injured or killed by someone who is texting while driving? Is a $25.00 fine going to send a message and act as a deterrent? I would propose much harsher penalties, maybe even prison time and a charge of manslaughter in extreme circumstances. Texting while driving is said to be more dangerous then drunk driving. The penalties should at least be the same!

            Two weeks after the Cell Phone Text Messaging Bill was signed into law I was traveling down I-64.  Ironically I was near the Frankfort, where the bill was signed and debated.  I was passed by a driver who had a laptop computer wedged between the passenger seat and the dashboard. The computer faced him and he was typing as he passed me going well over the speed limit!  I had a “Did I really just see that?” moment.

We really need to use some common sense when we are driving a car.  I believe the Text Messaging Bill is a good start; however, I don’t believe the penalties are harsh enough to have a real impact. It didn’t faze my friend with the computer wedged in his front seat.  Inattentive driving can cause can cause severe consequences, such as brain injury, paralysis or even death. 

There are efforts nationally, such as Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone.” This is a push to get teenage drivers to enter into a contract abstaining from texting while driving or even using a cell phone in the car.  What a great idea! My 16-year-old daughter helped to get signatures and pledges at her high school.  Her class was able to get over 100 students to sign a contract or pledge not to use a cell phone while driving. 

This is a good start but as I said, Kentucky needs to go further with penalties and enforcement.  For now, we’ll take what we have and hope that all Kentuckians use common sense to prevent serious motor vehicle accidents and fatal accidents on our roads.

In many ways we are moving in the wrong direction.  Kentucky has been too slow in banning texting while driving. Automobile accidents due to distracted driving are increasing. The auto manufacturers are moving at breakneck speed to put more devices on their vehicles while lawmakers are dragging their feet.   

There has been some progress.  President Obama has banned text messaging while driving by all federal employees.  He views text messaging as a deadly epidemic.  I think we have seen through our behavior over the last few years that voluntary compliance of not using a cell phone or texting while driving is way beyond hope. We have too many gadgets in our cars.   

There are some states that have pushed the envelope such as Utah which punishes drivers who killed others while texting with the same penalties as drunk drivers.  That is up to 15 years in prison.  Ironically this law was able to be passed only after two rocket booster scientists were killed after being hit by an oncoming car that swerved into their lane and was texting at the time.   

            Focus Driven has a new web site www.focusdriven.org.   This web site has information on distracted driving, help for victims and family members and ways to get involved.   

In Louisville, Kentucky the police have stated that texting and driving is a growing problem on our roads.  It has been reported that Louisville lawmakers are looking to some 19 other states that already have laws against it for guidance.  Their real concern is how we enforce the law. 

Denise Harper Angel, a Kentucky state senator, is sponsoring a bill which would ban texting while driving. This bill is getting a lot of support.  The bill made it out of the Kentucky House on an 80 to 16 vote. Not only is texting while driving banned, but cell phone use is not allowed for those drivers under 18 years of age.  

There has even been a new phrase coined for texting while driving which is called intexticated.  I hope the new law will focus on banning all texting while driving and not just focus on teenagers.  It is time for us to finally make this change in Kentucky.  Call your State Senator today. If we work together you can save lives.  

We all know that the dangers of texting and driving. It is obvious.  In Kentucky we now have a simulator which demonstrates the dangers of texting and driving. The simulator can be requested from the Office of Highway Safety and is free to the schools.  It has not been used in Jefferson County but I hope our schools will take advantage of the program.  This new program has been developed to demonstrate the problems and many dangers of texting and driving to high school students.  This is presented for no charge by the Kentucky office of Highway Safety. 

Individuals are strapped into an arcade-type racing game.  The simulator has a seat equipped with a seatbelt, a gas pedal and a brake pedal.  There is also a steering wheel and a gearshift. You have three screens in front of you that gives the operator an 180?degree view of a roadway. The driver is requested to operate or drive normally. They are then handed a cell phone and asked to send a text message while they can continue to drive the simulator. 

When they are handed the cell phone it usually sends the car swerving into another lane.  Drivers are allowed to watch a replay of their simulation. When students are shown the simulation replay they see themselves swerving when they thought they were actually driving okay.  Distracted driving has become the leading cause of crashes among 16 to 21 years old.  Texting and driving is a big, big part of this.  

            The US Department of Transportation has banned all federal employees from texting and driving on federal-issued or personal phones while in vehicles owned by the federal government or in vehicles being used on federal business.  This includes the military.  Although the federal government may be the most recent, the National Safety Council indicates that hundreds of private companies and organizations have banned the use of cell phones while driving to reduce accidents at work. 

This needs to be the law in Kentucky and should be the number one priority at the next Kentucky legislative session.  The word is getting out in Kentucky partly thanks to Nicole Meredith, who is a teen.  She wrecked her car on the Gene Snyder last summer when she was texting a friend.  As she was texting she went off the road and totaled her car.  Miraculously she walked away from the crash without injuries.  Meredith has told her story in Frankfort to help kickoff the Transportation Department’s distracted driving campaign.  Hopefully there will be more than just a campaign and soon no text messaging behind the wheel will be the law in Kentucky.  

The statistics are one of the many compelling reasons to make this ban the law in Kentucky.  Some of these statistics are:

·        Distraction from the use of a cell phone while driving delays driver-reaction time

·        Use of cell phone reduces brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.

·        80 percent of all crashes are related to driver inattention.  The use of a handheld device increases the likelihood of a crash four times.

·        In 2008 nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving an inattentive or distracted driver.

·        Research shows that the youth are the worst offenders.

Believe it or not there were 53,000 distracted driving-related crashes last year in Kentucky.  Link Kentucky kicks off campaign to cut down on distracted driving.  Governor Steve Beshear is considering a policy that would limit distracted driving for all state employees.  Do we really need to have to tell them that it’s time to make this the law?  I hope Kentucky follows suit with Colorado. Their new law dictating how you use your cell phone while driving takes effect December 1, 2009.  After this date no one under the age of 18 will be allowed to talk on a phone while driving.  Everyone will be banned from texting while driving.   

Let’s hope Kentucky is next and a ban on text messaging while driving will be law in Kentucky in the near future. This will help to precent car accidents on our Kentucky roads.

I was driving my 16 year old daughter to school this morning.  She has her driver’s permit and is learning to drive and is very excited about it.  She told me that there was a program on Channel 1 at her high school here in Louisville that was preempted by the school.  For those of you that are not familiar with Channel 1, it is a national news program that is shown in high schools. My daughter’s school felt that the content was too graphic.  So what does a sixteen year old do if her school tells her she can’t watch a video because it is too graphic? She gets on the computer and performs a search on YouTube and was and finds the program. 

The preempted program is a community awareness ad from the United Kingdom depicting the dangers of text messaging and driving by teenagers.  I have to admit that it was very graphic.  It showed three teenage girls driving down the road while using a phone to send a text message to a friend.  They were driving and paying more attention to the phone then to the road. Their car went across the center line and struck another car head-on. The airbags deployed.  Heads hit the windshield. There was blood everywhere. As the car came to a stop it was T-boned by another car. One girl died in the lap of the driver. 

It went on to show the families in the other cars.  There was a toddler who kept asking; “Why won’t mommy and daddy wake up?” A child in a car seat was also shown motionless with eyes wide open, obviously dead.

Although it was quite graphic I disagree with the school’s decision to pull this informational video. Teenagers who are new drivers generally have no idea as to what the real dangers that driving a car entails and how text messaging behind the wheel can affect not only their life, but the lives of others.  I don’t believe that most teenagers have a true understanding of the real dangers of driving a car. My old boss at the Commonwealth attorney’s office, Ernie Jasmine used to refer to an automobile with a drunk driver behind the wheel as a 2-ton projectile with a license to kill.  I believe he would have referred to a driver who is texting in the same way. Teen drivers need to be shown that a car is a very dangerous weapon that can kill people and change their lives forever. 

Click here if you want to watch this video.  The video is graphic, but no more graphic than what we watch on the crime shows on television.  I believe all drivers should view this.  This type of public awareness ad could help make our Kentucky roads safer and help eliminate serious automobile accidents that occur almost every day due to driver inattention.

To me this is stating the obvious. You should not send a text message, read a text message, read an e-mail or be on your facebook page while you are driving on Kentucky roads. Once again, stating the obvious, this lack of attention to the road and what is happening in front of you causes serious auto accidents. I drove up to Chicago last week for a conference. As I passed cars or they passed me I was watching the drivers. Before it got to dark to observe I counted eight people who appeared to be texting while driving down I-65 at 70 mph. This is, shall we say not smart and dangerous.

Tennessee has just passed a law banning text messaging while driving. They join eight other states that ban text messaging and nine states that ban texting by teenage drivers (I guess you have the ability to text and drive once you turn 21). This is a law that needs to be in place. Awareness will prevent auto accidents.

Kentucky considered a law banning texting while driving last year and talking on a cell phone while driving if you are not using a hands free device. If I recall it didn’t make it out of committee. I hope Kentucky will consider revisiting this issue in the next legislative session. We need a law that can be used by the police to make our roads safer. Tennessee has a proposed penalty of a maximum of a $50 fine; hopefully Kentucky will look at a stiffer penalty that will be more of a detriment. I would also like to see tougher penalties for repeat offenders. I urge the Kentucky legislature and Governor Beshear to look at this issue and give Kentucky a law banning text messaging and cell phone use with some teeth. This will prevent auto accidents and injuries on Kentucky roadways.

I met with a client earlier this week to get an update on her recovery. She had suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. At least that is what it is classified as. Anyone who has been around someone that has any sort of “mild” classification knows that the effect that the injury has on life style, work and daily activities is anything but mild. The injury can cause a dramatic change in lifestyle and personality that affects the injured accident victim as well as her family and friends. These cases are sad to say the least.

What got me angry was the fact that this accident did not need to happen. The driver was texting at the time. Their attention was on their phone and not on the road. The result of this irresponsible behavior was an accident that caused an injury that will have to be suffered through and dealt with for a lifetime. What could have been so important? I am anxious to taker the deposition to find out. I thought using a cell phone without an ear piece was distracting, but text messaging? I hope that Kentucky enacts a law banning cell phones with out a hand free device and bans texting in the car during the next legislative session.

I recently read an article that has an interesting solution. A deliveryman for UPS had become so frustrated with drivers talking on the phone that he is developing what he hopes to be a solution that will save lives.  He, unlike me, is putting action to his frustration. Fred Wenz and John Fischer have developed a security device that can block the incoming and outgoing radio signal to and from cell phones. This can be effective for up to a 5-foot radius around the drivers’ seat. The criminal courts have used a similar device to prevent those convicted of multiple drunken driving offenses from driving while intoxicated.

 
Wenz and Fischer have applied for a provisional patent on the device.  The device is called an “Owner Compliance Key”. I hope they can get this device on the market as soon as possible.  As a parent, I believe this would be a great tool to make sure my daughters are not tempted to use their cell phones while driving.  Don’t text and drive! Texting and talking on the cell phone are distracting. The results can be devastating. You may cause a car accident and live with the consequences for the rest of your life.