Efforts To End Texting & Driving Intensify

A story in today’s Wall Street Journal outlines plans by U.S. regulators of all stripes to stop texting and driving.

The story quotes CTIA stats about a boom in texting in a three-year period - from 110.4 billion in December 2008 up from 9.8 billion in December 2005. Bravo to CTIA for saying in the story that it supports banning texting while driving.

The story outlines the challenges in banning texting and driving, such as the difficulty to enforce such laws, getting consumers to voluntarily get new apps to block texts while driving, and changing consumer behavior.

Many who text the most are reportedly teens and preteens - no surprise there. Changing their behavior will be a struggle. The Wall Street Journal quotes Timothy Smith, chairman of Aegis, a company that is coming up with an anti-text app: “I’ve got three teens, and they are programmed to immediately respond, at dinner, in a car, when that phone buzzes. That’s hard behavior to mitigate.”

Maybe viewing this video on YouTube or watching the CBS Evening News report last night about a violent and graphic public service announcement from the U.K. on the consequences of texting and driving will help.

The video makes an overwhelming statement about the dangers of texting and driving that may changes minds on the issue - both young and old. Click here to see the CBS report.