Texting While Driving

Athens-Clarke County has no law against texting while driving, an activity which increases the chances of being in an accident eight times, said a recent study from the University of Utah.

There is a law in Athens against talking on a cell phone while driving a car. According to the University of Utah’s reports, talking on a cell phone increases the risk of an accident only four times, only half the risk level of texting while driving.

There is also a law in Athens against driving while intoxicated, where you are four times more likely to be in an accident. Therefore, a person texting on their cell phone is twice as likely to get into a car accident than if they were talking on their cell phone or intoxicated at the legal limit.

Lauren Hoffman, 22, a student from Dallas, Texas majoring in anthropology at The University of Georgia, is amused by the close calls a person can have when looking at their phone instead of the road.

“I text and drive all the time, and almost get into about 20 car accidents every day,” said Lauren Hoffman, age 22, a student from Dallas, Texas majoring in anthropology at The University of Georgia.

For teenagers, texting is the most distracting thing to do while handling a vehicle, according to a Students Against Destructive Decisions report released in 2007. The report took a survey where 37 percent of teens said texting was the most dangerous thing to do while driving; over talking on a cell phone, being in an emotional state, messing with the radio, or having several friends in the car.

“Driving with cell phone in hand has become so natural to me, it’s like texting while walking, which I guess isn’t exactly the best thing to do either,” said Rachel Barnhart, age 20, a student from Atlanta, Ga. majoring in advertising and women’s studies at UGA. “I’ve wandered out into the middle of oncoming traffic multiple times while sending a text, and one of my friends got hit by a car from not paying attention to what was going on in the road because she was texting.”

“Athens police should start worrying about texters, not slightly tipsy drivers!” said Barnhart when presented with the fact that texting is twice as bad as driving at the legal intoxication limit of a blooc alcohol limit of .08.

Legislature has been proposed to cut off a state’s federal highway funds if laws against texting while driving are not implemented in the next two years. The first wave of restricting cell phone use has hit Georgia in the past year, with the implementation of laws against talking on a cell phone while driving. Not every county has that law yet, since outlawing talking on a cell phone while driving has trickled down from the Northern states and bigger cities to the south and smaller towns.

One of the biggest concerns with implementing legislature against texting while driving is the problem of how to enforce it.

“I see people looking at their cell phones all the time, but I don’t know if they are texting or not,” said Athens-Clarke county police officer Mikal Ellis, 28.

The University of Utah report stated that there seems to be a disconnection between a person’s risk assessment and his or her respective behavior. Texting while driving is one of those risks that people are not taking seriously.

“There seems to be a carelessness on the road now, like people just don’t care whether it’s dangerous or not, because all the stress for safe driving has been focused on drunk driving and wearing your seat belt,” said John Ellis Mansour, 21, a student from Newnan, Ga. with an undecided major at Gainesville State College.