Anti-texting while driving message hits home WARNING GRAPHIC ~ The NTSB is trying to get legislature in all 50 States where no one can use either a hand-held device or hands-free device while driving, except in case of an emergency! I hope it passes!!

Before you watch this be warned it’s pretty graphic. I’ve seen plenty of people swerving because of texting - one guy I saw was on his old, ratty Nokia rolling from lane to lane as he texted whoever was most important in his life while traveling 75MPH on I75 in Ohio - and this PSA really shows what can, and probably will happen, in a terrible number of texting-while-driving cases.

The PSA was made by the Gwent police department and is part of a 30 minute movie. This 4 minute tidbit is enough to make me rethink checking Google Maps on the iPhone let alone SMSing “WTF LOL” to anyone.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/16/anti-texting-while-driving-message-hits-home-warning-graphic/

75mph while texting is just plain stupid. when i text i slow down lol. nah i dont text anymore :)

Lesson learned the hard way. Wow it is graphic and I can't tell if it was a re-creation or what. But please don't text and drive.

i didnt finish reading it, i just imagined what happened

WOW I just saw alot of it on Showbiz tonight. This little girl keeps saying mommy, daddy wake up. Then this guy comes to help and she says why won't mommy and daddy wake up? I was bawling by then, and of course I got a phone call for my little guy and shes like you ok?

BJ,

so much for posting this. I saw the 4 min. one yesterday & told both my college kids about it but had NO IDEA where to find it.

I agree babyep, that precious little girl made me cry too. Innocent lives changed forever for the irresponsible act of one. Will teenagers/young kids ever get it. This PSA should get the message out to them.

Last year here, 6 high school cheerleaders were driving a suburban to Marshall, a small town 30 miles away, & the driver was texting, the suburban left the interterstate, & killed all 6. They mentioned the driver was texting ONLY once, I couldn't understand that. It was too late for those girls, but, the PUBLIC needs to understand the innocent deaths caused by this behavior. Thanks for sharing.

This isn't about texting, but it is about young people that think they are immune to tragedy. A 21 year old that works with my son in law and 3 friends were at the river drinking. They were giving a 48 year old man they met a ride to where his car was parked and the driver hit a tree and the man was killed.
* * * * *
Katie Erin Warren was taken into custody from Oregon Health Sciences University hospital by Oregon State Police troopers. She was transported to the Clackamas County Jail where she is being lodged on the following charges:

* Manslaughter in the second degree
* Assault in the second degree (three counts)
* Driving under the influence of intoxicants
* Reckless driving
* Recklessly endangering another person (four counts)

Bail is preliminarily listed at nearly $1.3 million.

Last year, my former in-laws daughter was texting and she went in the ditch and flipped her car and died. Her son was in the back seat. Thankfully he was ok but now he doesn't have a mother. I don't know about you all but I couldn't get this commercial out of my head. I know I text alot but when I am in the car or walking across the street with traffic coming from both sides, I don't text. Grrr had this happen this morning was hurrying to get kids to school and this lady was crossing the street didn't even look or anything taking her sweet time texting. I felt like blaring the horn. Its like how rude!

I don't even like to talk on my cell while I am driving. My DIL scares me so badly. She tailgates other cars and talks on her cell. I worry so with the kids in the car. She has never been in a bad accident. Noah tells her to go faster. Oy Vey!!

They are asking for your opinion of the video on HLN. IMO, It is graphic and it is to the point and I think if it saves one person from texting and driving, it is well worth it. I put texting and driving in the same category as drinking and driving.

I hate to use my cell in the car, it is too distracting for me..I only text while standing still.!

I think this 30-minute video should be mandatory viewing in every driver's ed class. I know it's quite graphic, but youngsters today seem unphased by anything less.

I think this film should be a mandatory viewing for all high school kids before they are licensed. They do not comprehend that anything like this can happen to them because their frontal lobes are not even matured yet. They are not always capable of making adult decision such as "put the phone down". Seeing a friend texting while driving tells them it's OK, no matter what the parents say.

Holly you are exactly right!!!! No one thinks it will ever happen to them.

ok, i'm hiding under my desk cause i'm guilty of texting and driving.. ladies for posting this video! yes we think it won't happened to us, but thanks to you guys I AM PUTTING MY CELL PHONE DOWN WHEN I DRIVE!! this video scared me!! i don't want my daugthers to be saying "why won't mommy wake up?" or worse...

adelacruz wrote:ok, i'm hiding under my desk cause i'm guilty of texting and driving.. ladies for posting this video! yes we think it won't happened to us, but thanks to you guys I AM PUTTING MY CELL PHONE DOWN WHEN I DRIVE!! this video scared me!! i don't want my daugthers to be saying "why won't mommy wake up?" or worse...

Thank you, Adela. What text message is so important it costs lives? We can always pull over if it is that important. You are young and beautiful with a gorgeous children!!! We want you to stay that way!!

I just sent the link to the video to my daughter and told her to send it to all her friends that use their cell phones for texting. I would like to suggest that all of you that are reading this thread do the same. Everyone needs to see this video....especially our young people.

Received an email today with graphics that would stop your heart. Subject was "Don't Text and Drive". One man killed when he ran under teh front of a semi, the car shoving the wheels back to mid cab of the truck. I need not tell you the impact cut him ih half, and yes, there where photo's of the halves of his body.

i posted this video on my facebook.. didn't work! my sister said it was too fake and it was dumb! go figoure!

Excellent enactment of such an accident. I don't agree with sis. The whole point of this was to get attention and show what can happen.
Maybe sis would like to see the email photo's I received. Nothing fake about these.

Marica wrote:Excellent enactment of such an accident. I don't agree with sis. The whole point of this was to get attention and show what can happen.
Maybe sis would like to see the email photo's I received. Nothing fake about these.

oh no! she would have a heart attack if she were to see anythinglike that.. it's ok though she doesn't text and drive..

y Wrapitup on Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:07 pm

adelacruz wrote:
ok, i'm hiding under my desk cause i'm guilty of texting and driving.. ladies for posting this video! yes we think it won't happened to us, but thanks to you guys I AM PUTTING MY CELL PHONE DOWN WHEN I DRIVE!! this video scared me!! i don't want my daugthers to be saying "why won't mommy wake up?" or worse...

Thank you, Adela. What text message is so important it costs lives? We can always pull over if it is that important. You are young and beautiful with a gorgeous children!!! We want you to stay that way!!

Cheers to that!!! :cheers: This video was very scary and to think of how many teens are doing this scare the crap out of me YES this should be mandatory for any teen getting their permit or license.

adelacruz wrote:she doesn't text and drive..

Could be Sis says the vid looks fake, because she cannot deal with the reality of it.
Sometimes I feel people make negaitve comments about things that just do not want to face up to.

Oh my goodness. I was speechless after watching this. I HAVE been guilty of texting while driving. And I'm in my mid-forties! NEVER again as God is my witness.

My daughter just got her permit. She will watch this video pronto. Thanks for sharing this BJ!

I am so happy that by BJ showing this video, it has already stopped two people from texting while driving!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/27585787

Wrap!

I agree with this ban, although I think it is going to be hard to enforce. WPAFB (Wright-Patterson AFB) put a Ban on using a cell phone period a few years back while on base. I have read that several cities around Columbus, Ohio have already put a ban into action also. Again, not sure how they can get it enforced, because I see people on the cell phones all the time when I am over there. I agree, that the hands-free devices are distracting also. In bigger cities where they drive like crazy people, how can they not be distracted while ripping and whipping in and out of lanes.

I am one of the few that refuse to talk on a cell phone. I do and have many times just pulled over to return a call or make a call. If on a highway and I am driving, I wait for the next exit to get off and then return the call. My cell phone is put on vibrate while in restaurants and at church. Nothing more embarrassing that getting a phone call in Church. Then I will forget to turn it back on. I get a lot of flack for this though.

Just last night, my husband was driving and I was looking off to the side of the road, I heard him say "What is going on?". I looked and the car in front of us was swerving all over the road, into the oncoming lane. I first figured that the driver was drunk and then I thought as we followed further that he was probably placing a call or texting on his phone. He did continue to swerve in his own lane. I am glad that there was not an oncoming car and that there was enough distance between us.

Yup, either it was drunk or cell/text phone driving - they're about equally as bad. I NEVER talk on mine or answer it while driving. I never did prior to the ban in CA on cell phones, unless they are hands free. I do as you do PFF, pull over or wait until I get to where I'm going and then I return the call if it's necessary.
I always forget to turn my phone off in the appropriate places and if I do remember, I forget to turn it back on too just like you PFF.

I confess..when driving to the kids it's a long stretch w/out any traffic so I do talk on the phone but put it on speaker and w/text something simple like.."on my way".

Well, at least there is no traffic.

Yea, I'd have a better chance of hitting a cow than a car.

Really not funny Wrap. Actually in the BC days when I still worked I knew of a man that was on a trip in Texas and did hit a cow with a "girlfriend" in the care with him. He was killed. I don't remember about the woman though.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/01/gov-kasich-signs-texting-while-driving-ban-into-law.html

Kasich signs texting-while-driving ban into law

By Jim Siegel
The Columbus Dispatch Friday June 1, 2012 1:36 PM

Surrounded by family members of those killed by drivers distracted by cell phones, many of whom pressed lawmakers into action, Gov. John Kasich signed a bill today making Ohio the 39th state to ban texting while driving.

The new law, which takes effect in 90 days, also bans drivers under the age of 18 from using any electronic device, whether to text, make a call or do anything else.

“This is why we are doing this,” Kasich said, sitting behind the desk in his ceremonial office, holding a photo of 23-year-old Keith Homstad Jr. in his right hand and a photo of 16-year-old Dalton Ludwig in his left.

“These families are finding some relief by doing something constructive to help others,” he added. “It’s a hard road back, folks, when you don’t have a dad, when you lose your only son, when your soldier son is killed on leave. This helps them to heal.”

Homstad, of Johnstown, was killed while on leave from the Air Force in August 2010 while he was a passenger in a car driven by a 19-year-old woman who prosecutors argued was texting at the time of the crash. A judge said it was not proven that the woman was texting at that moment, but Homstad’s father, who was on hand for the bill signing yesterday, has little doubt.

Homstad Sr. called the law a good first step but would have rather seen texting made a primary driving offense for adults, instead of secondary offense, where an officer must first pull over a driver for something else, such as speeding.

“If anything, maybe it will create a mindset. If 50 percent of the folks adhere to it, there is a 50 percent greater chance of a life being saved,” Homstad said.

Ludwig, of Pickerington, was a student driver sitting in a parked car along the shoulder of I-270 in July 2010 when he was struck and killed by a man who was texting.

His father, Phillip, said the new law will be tough to enforce but “I think it’s a good educational tool to use” for young adults who think they can multitask behind the wheel.

“When we call, we text, and we drive, we endanger the lives of others,” said Kasich, who has more than 20 bills on his desk awaiting his signature, a result of the flurry of legislative action in the last two weeks.

The law is a primary offense for minors punishable by a $150 fine and 60-day license suspension for a first offense, and $300 fine and one-year suspension for repeat violations.

For the first 60 days after the bill takes effect, drivers will be issued warnings instead of tickets.

Bill sponsors Reps. Rex Damschroder, R-Fremont, and Nancy Garland, D-New Albany, wanted a violation to be a primary offense for all drivers, as is done in 35 other states, but Senate Republicans refused.

The bill moved through the Ohio House without much trouble, but stalled in the Senate. Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville, chairman of the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee and a strong backer of the law, said that at one point, 21 of 23 GOP senators declined to support it.

But Patton worked to bring around his colleagues, who were concerned about infringing on personal freedoms, trying to legislate common sense, and passing a law that is very difficult to enforce. Part of the deal was to make it a secondary offense for adult drivers.

The bill would allow local texting bans to supersede state law if they make it a primary offense.

“For those people who might think this is somehow an invasion of your rights or nanny-state or whatever, come meet these families,” Kasich said, talking to the press after an emotional private meeting with the victims’ relatives. “Talk to them about the fact that somebody was not responsible.

“It’s one thing if we endanger our own lives. It’s another thing when we bring tragedy to families that, in all likelihood, could have been avoided.”

Kasich’s parents were killed by a drunken driver, and though he called the texting law an “ incredible achievement,” he said he would have been fine if it was tougher.

“If that driver could have turned back the hands of time and avoided this death that he caused, I’m sure he would have done it,” Kasich said. “These texters, these people using their cell phones, if they could turn back the hands of time, they would.”

Kasich said law enforcement will know how to enforce the law and will do so aggressively. He also said there may be more education done on the issue at the Ohio State Fair, and he has talked to his transportation director about erecting billboards to encourage drivers to stop texting.

He said state leaders will watch to determine the impact of the law, but predicted this is not the end of the road for the issue.

“If we continue to see a problem, we’ll come back,” he said.

Garland has noted that drivers who text, according to studies, are 20 times more likely to get in a crash or near-crash; the reaction time of texting drivers is 12 percent slower than drunken drivers; and a person going 55 mph can drive the length of a football field without looking up at the road when texting.

AT&T was among those applauding the new law. In May, the company released a survey of 1,200 drivers ages 15-19 showing that while 97 percent viewed texting while driving as dangerous, 43 percent admitted to doing it, and 61 percent said their friends text and drive.

"Many people find it difficult to admit how big a risk they are taking every time they take their eyes off the road," said Tom Pelto, president of AT&T Ohio. “But the reality is, they are risking not only their own lives, but the lives of others every time they send or read a text while driving.”

AT&T is among several cell-phone providers that offer an app to shut off a phone’s texting function while a person is driving.

Kimberly Schwind, spokeswoman for AAA Ohio Auto Club, a strong supporter of the texting ban, has said that members consistently list texting while driving as a top safety concern, and 95 percent of Ohio members support a ban.

jsiegel@dispatch.com


I don't even feel comfortable talking on the cell phone let alone trying to send a text message. I do have one of those earpieces for the cell, but I do not use it. I just pull over when I am expecting a call and I am on the road. Just cannot do it. I am not a big texter anyways. I am glad that a ban is being put into place, but it won't stop some people. Everyone you see in a car anymore has a phone stuck to their ear. MOO, it is not safe and is way too distracting. They cause so many accidents. I know of a man that had his car totaled tears ago, just sitting at a light and was hit by a distracted driver on a cell phone and it has gotten worse overtime. People walk into stores, banks, go to teacher conferences with a cell phone stuck to their ear. I am glad to see that more places are putting up signs that they will not be waited on if on a cell phone.

UPDATED 6:54 AM EDT May 28, 2013

MIAMI, Fla. —Florida is set to become the 40th state to ban texting while driving.

Gov. Rick Scott is set to sign the ban into law Tuesday afternoon at a Miami school. Wish they would do this in TX! My DIL texts w/all 3 kids in the car. SCARES the life out of me!

In a statement, Scott said that texting while driving concerns him as a father and a grandfather.

He said state officials must do everything they can to keep the roads safe, particularly during the summer. Scott says the 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are the deadliest days on the road for teenagers.

The law still allows drivers to text or email when they are stopped at a red light.

Drivers can still make phone calls, but cannot type on a device while the car is moving.

The bill says texting and driving will be considered a secondary offense, meaning drivers have to be pulled over for something else first to get a texting ticket.

The new law doesn't go into effect until October.

Earlier Tuesday, Scott will hold a news conference in West Palm Beach to sign a bill providing state funding for his $880 million long-term Everglades restoration plan.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/politics/texting-while-driving-ban-set-to-signed-by-gov-rick-scott/-/11788048/20323898/-/u08vjjz/-/index.html#ixzz2UbqruAQX

I LIKE Gov. Scott..always have. Republican or NOT.

The bill says texting and driving will be considered a secondary offense, meaning drivers have to be pulled over for something else first to get a texting ticket.

I think this is ! They can damned sure pull you over for a taillight that is out but NOT for texting? Knowing the cops around here, they w/pull you over Anyway if they see you texting and make up another reason for stopping you which is FINE by me!