Should texting while driving have the same penalties as drunk driving?

  • 1
    92.44% (942 votes)
    Yes, texting while driving is very dangerous!
  • 2
    7.56% (77 votes)
    No, texting while driving is safe.

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Comments

  1. A.KHAN said on Aug 30 2009, 06:08 AM:

    I think it should be very illegal. So often I see someone nearly run someone off the road, or cut someone off because they are using a cell phone while driving and not paying any attention to the road. There is absolutely no reason this dangerous habit shouldn't be curbed.

  2. LuckyPierre said on Aug 29 2009, 15:08 PM:

    Use of a cell phone while driving whether texting or carrying on a conversation should both be illegal - everywhere. Both are major distractions to safe driving. Just as driving above the speed limit is illegal, and is a willful act, so is the use of the cell phone. Emergency situation? Absolutely, you take your chances even as you speed to the ER or wish to report a violent crime that you witness as you drive. Justify your action to the judge. On a related point - just as jaywalking is illegal, the use of a cellphone while crossing a street should also be considered at the very least a misdemeanor.

  3. Tito said on Aug 29 2009, 14:08 PM:

    @nurbles Just try to explain that to the thousands of families broken by drunk driving. While texting while driving is clearly wrong and inexcusable, the offender still has potential to react. A drunk driver is a goner, as well as the innocent people that will get killed by him.

  4. nurbles said on Aug 29 2009, 13:08 PM:

    Texting penalties should be *worse*. Texting while driving is a very clear, conscious choice made by the offender (a) to commit a crime and (b) to abandon their responsibility as a driver. However, drunk driving, by its very definition is not a clear choice. After all, one of the results on drinking is a loss of ability to make rational decisions, so the decision to drive drunk was probably not a rational one and certainly wasn't made by someone with a clear mind. And a drunk driver is often /attempting/ to may attention to the road, traffic and to fulfill the responsibility of a driver.

  5. John S said on Aug 29 2009, 12:08 PM:

    As we have already seen if accident investigations. Texting has contributed in those situations. If your concentrating on texting you are not looking where you are going. What is very sad is that if you were to read what those text contained. They would probably be pointless conversations that could have waited. We as humans over the years have become a want it now race. We cannot wait for anything. Its probably doing us more harm then we care to admit. I would not be surprised if down the road all vehicles will include a cell phone inhibitor that would only allow a cell phone to make emergency calls.

  6. kalahari said on Aug 29 2009, 11:08 AM:

    Texting while driving is MORE dangerous to other drivers than drunken drivers! It would be great if we could get those people to hang up their phones too -- that's probably almost as dangerous as texting...