Punish Cellphone Texters Like Drunken Drivers

From the Hartford Courant:

Last month, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released preliminary results of a study that proved what should be obvious: Truck drivers who were texting while driving were 23 times more likely to "experience a safety-critical event" — such as a crash — than drivers who were paying attention to the road.

The trend has been clear for some time. A New England Journal of Medicine study in 1997 found the risk of a collision was four times greater when the driver was using a cellphone. Harvard researchers estimated in 2002 that more than one in 20 traffic accidents involved a driver talking on a cellphone.

Texting increases the risk because it involves taking one's eyes off the road and hands off the wheel. It is a spectacularly stupid practice, yet appears to be on the increase. Texting has been connected to some horrific accidents this year, two of which — in California and Massachusetts — involved people who were driving trains.

Now that science has affirmed common sense, it's time to do something about it. The National Safety Council has called for a ban on using cellphones and messaging devices while driving. Connecticut is now one of only 17 states that ban texting while driving, part of a law that banned hand-held cellphones in 2005. This was wise legislation at the time. Subsequent research indicates that speaker phones are as distracting as hand-held phones. We are ready for a new look at the subject.

About 80 percent of accidents involve distracted drivers. Researchers often compare driving while phoning or texting to drunken driving, and find them comparably dangerous. Would it make sense to treat phoning or texting while driving with the same penalties reserved for drunken driving?

All the drivers we see yakking on cellphones suggest Connecticut's cellphone ban has been ineffective. The penalty, a $100 fine, is not a major deterrent. Loss of license for 90 days for a first offense might get attention.

There should also be an increase in public education campaign to make people aware of the dangers of distracted driving. This has been effective with drunk driving. If it is vitally important to be on an electrical communication device while driving, name a "designated texter."