Letter of the Day (May 13): Texting while driving

May 13, 2013 at 4:32PM
A teen getting a lesson in texting and driving during a safe driving course.
A teen getting a lesson in texting and driving during a safe driving course. (MCT/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Yet another report comes out stating the dangers ("Study: Texting is now leading cause of death for teen drivers," May 10), but no one is willing to "lift the needle" off the record, or in this case take the easy steps needed to fix this growing, deadly epidemic. No — despite study after study, mounting body counts, and the common sense that should tell you that diverting your eyes while controlling a 2-ton hunk of metal at a high rate of speed isn't a good idea — texting is only getting worse and claiming more lives.

Since people cannot control the urge to hold off on that ever-so-important text until they are stopped, the time has come to do it for them. We must enact laws that force cellphone manufacturers to make phones that disable texting when they are detected to be moving at a certain rate of speed, say, 10 miles per hour. Phone calls could remain in play — for now, anyway.

While this would affect passengers in cars, buses and taxis, sometimes all must pay the price for the actions of a few, much like low limits on blood alcohol content punish the social drinker for the crimes of chronic drunks who choose to drive. If any other thing in society needlessly claimed so many lives, it would be eliminated without delay, yet despite knowing that a texting driver is as dangerous as a drunk, we choose to look the other way. No more.

John G. Morgan, Burnsville

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