Texting is Not the Only Distraction for Drivers

These days there are many campaigns to ban cell phone texting while driving all across the United States. There are even commercials showing the dangers of texting while driving. Now I am not minimizing the fact that when people text while driving it can be dangerous however, texting is not the only thing that can be a major distraction for people driving.

Over the past 12 years cell phone texting has become a phenomenon! It has become very popular not just with teenagers but with adults as well. Some of our lawmakers have begun to view texting as a serious nuisance especially when it is down while operating an automobile. Although a law banning texting while driving has not been implemented on a national level there are several states that have done so. I believe that all of this talk about the dangers of texting is highly overrated. It is almost impossible to enforce texting laws. Someone who is stopped by a law enforcement official for texting could simply say that they were dialing a phone number.

Texting is not the only thing that can distract drivers. I can think of several things that can distract drivers. For years I have seen people eating while driving. What about people who divert their attention away from the road to scratch off lottery tickets. This is a major distraction! I have seen situations where people have rear ended other drivers as a result of doing this. Something as simple as changing a radio station while driving can be a distraction. These are just a few of the many things that can distract drivers. It would be wise if some states reconsidered these tedious bans on texting while driving. I remember when several years ago there was a big concern about people talking on the phone while driving. This lead to some places making it mandatory that a hands free device be used with a cell phone while driving a vehicle. This did not last long but as time past eventually the concern about the issue declined. I believe that all of the hype about texting while driving will also decline when lawmakers realize that it is not the only distraction.