Oct 222014
 
Are The Penalities equal

Texting while driving – they don’t mix.  I recently came across an article on texting while driving that made so much sense. You need to go check out the infographics in that post!  They are astonishing.  Have you ever thought about if the penalty for texting while driving is what it should be?  Think about it.  Texting kills.  It kills solo drivers.  It kills multiple people in some accidents.  It takes the lives of very young individuals that had so much life ahead of them to live.  But the penalty for doing so – is nothing like you’d get if you were drinking and driving.

As a parent of a disabled child who cannot speak for himself, I freak out when I see one of his day service providers on their phones.  I have seen some of these individuals come to our house to pick him up with phone to ear.  They’d be bringing home with phone to ear.  I then was told how this one individual was texting while driving with my son in the vehicle.  That didn’t surprise me a bit – as before I had heard this and had requested for this individual to no longer be my son’s support person – he was checking his messages and answering calls while driving – all done right in front of me in the vehicle.  I was never so disturbed.

If that support person wants to do those things with his children in their personal car – so be it.  BUT – someone is not driving either of my kids around while being on the phone or with me in the vehicle.  It’s just wrong.  It’s bad enough that there are other environmental distractions to distract drivers – there needs to be no phone distraction.  If something is that important – pull the vehicle over and stop to do your business – it’s that simple.  I’m actually extremely thrilled that, in our state come January 2015, cell phone use is prohibited while driving.

Oddly enough – have you noticed that the penalty for texting while driving is nothing like driving while under the influence? Nothing.  How can this be?  They are both a distraction.  They both kill.  They both take away the attention of the driver.  Yet – the penalties aren’t anywhere equal.  And it’s actually quite disturbing that they aren’t.  Maybe if they were – then drivers would think twice about having that cell phone in hand – maybe there would be less deaths from cell phone use.

What are your thoughts on the penalties of texting while driving vs. driving under the influence?

  4 Responses to “Penalty for Texting While Driving vs DWI”

Comments (4)
  1. I have a friend who almost killed herself and another person being a jerk and texting while she was driving. I can’t see how people attempt it, and drive…no way, not me!

  2. I did not know that there were differences in penalties, that is wrong. Both behaviors kill and those that are guilty should be punished the same way.

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