Many
states around the country have bans in effect for driving and texting
or making calls while driving without a hands free device. Despite
the fact that laws are in place in many cities to prevent drivers
from texting and driving, few tickets are issued for the offense in
most areas.
In
the Raleigh N.C. area, a ban has been in effect on texting and
driving since December of 2009. Despite the law, so far the number
of tickets
written in the area is miniscule. WRAL
reports
that in Wake county only two citations have been issued for texting
and driving while in Durham County only one citation has been
written. Across the entire state of North Carolina, only 71 citations
for texting while driving have been issued.
Highway
Patrol spokesman Sgt. Jeff Gordon said, "It’s an excellent
law; it's just that a trooper has to articulate that a person is in
fact texting and not looking at their phone number or making a phone
call."
The
North Carolina law states that driver should pull over to send a text
message, but many drivers simply ignore the ban. One 21-year-old
driver Nadia Hedgley said, "It is bad. I know it's unsafe, but
if you've got to text, you've got to text." "There have been times when I’ve texted, and I’ve realized I’m getting up too close to a car,” added 21-year-old driver Alicia Tegan.
The
problem is that it is hard for officers to see when a person is
texting and driving and when they do see a person using their phone
while driving or looking down at the phone; it can be hard to tell if
the person is making a call or sending a text.
A
report issued in December 2009 showed that drivers who are texting
and driving are six
times more likely to have an accident. Despite the facts and
the publicity surrounding the dangers of texting and driving, many
simply ignore the law. One teen
interviewed by Reuters in
December 2009 simply said, "Nobody is going to listen."
