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A number of highway safety campaigns and major corporations, including AT&T, have called for tougher restrictions on using cell phone SMS while in control of vehicles, following a number of car accidents believed to have been caused by drivers getting distracted by texting.
Cell phone use while driving has always been a cause for concern. However, the specific dangers of texting at the wheel have not previously received the same attention as taking calls, despite this activity requiring more concentration on the driver’s part that distracts their attention away from the road and their surroundings as well as occupying their hands.
Public service campaigns have historically done little to curb dangerous driving trends such as cell phone use, which is why some campaigns are calling for texting to be banned in the remaining states where such legislation is not in place. Even some phone companies that previously opposed such rulings are starting to come around to the idea that drivers should be discouraged from using their products and services in ways that were not intended, as smartphone use becomes ever more widespread.
Thirty-nine states currently ban the use of texting while in control of a car, with research demonstrating that this activity greatly increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents. However, awareness among drivers of the danger posed by texting is significantly less than for other banned activities, such as drinking and driving - even though the risk of being involved in a crash while texting is higher than that of drivers with the legal limit of 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC).
New awareness campaigns are being considered that will highlight the dangers of texting and driving based on real-life accounts, demonstrating that drivers will have more than auto glass prices to worry about if their attention is distracted while they are operating vehicles. AT&T has also modified its free DriveMode app for Android and BlackBerry devices, which disables texting when the phone detects speeds above 25 miles per hour. The company is also working on an app to block incoming calls to phones.
The biggest obstacle safety advocates face is encouraging drivers to avoid the urge to read text alerts and emails, especially as more people now have access to web-based services on their phones. This has been the focus of the It Can Wait campaign since 2010, which has achieved limited success in educating drivers about this danger.
Bruce Giles writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
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