Topic : 06/01 Killer Texting

Ohio does not currently have a law against texting or cell phone use while driving that I have heard of....but I feel we need one.... having worked in the auto insurance industry for 39+ years, I feel that if you are the cause or the responsible party for an accident while talking or texting that your auto insurance should cover the damage you caused to others, but not to cover your own chosen negligence.  I can only hope that OH gets a 'no cell phone use while driving' law.

I have seen too much and reviewed way too many auto claims that involved not only cell phone usage but texting at the time of a loss. 

It's bad news.

my state does not have a law and it should..  I never agreeded with the doing ANYTHING while driving except keeping my mind on driving.  Thats hard enough sometimes..  My son was recently in an accident where the lady that hit him was on her phone, he was at the stop light middle section waiting for traffic to clear so he could make a left hand turn, he didnt have time....  The lady ran the stop sign and hit his car.  TOTALED IT..   If his friend had not been looking at him to talk to him he would not of seen the lady coming and told my son to FLOOR IT...   my son did.  If he had not .....   she would of hit his driver side door and probably killed all 3 kids in the car..  instead she hit the back quarter panel, it shoved that into the back seat and the trunk about 3 feet..  if anyone would of been in the backseat, they would be dead.  there was no way anyone would of lived thru that.  That accident broke out every window in his car except the front and the front seat windows. My son is 16 and before this happened he  would make a fuss everytime someone was on their phone while driving.   Ironic he would get into his first accident that way.  And thankfully his friend was looking in his direction.. Because sadly I do believe NONE of them would of LIVED..... PLEASE do as the billboard on todays show said.   HANG UP BEFORE YOU DRIVE..

winona

DR. PHIL,

I THINK TEXTING IS SOOO USELESS.I HAVE IT BLOCKED ON MY CELL PHONE SO I DON'T GET ANY. I FEEL IF ONE CAN'T CALL AN LEAVE A MESSAGE DON'T EVEN  BOTHER ME.IT TAKES TO LONG TO FINGER ALL THE BUTTONS THEY ARE TOO SMALL TO USE PRESCISLEY SO MISTAKES ARE ALWAYS THERE.I HAVE A VOICE AND I USE IT. THANKS

This issue has been my worst nightmare this week. My daughter and her friend were coming home

from a school function on Saturday. My daughter went off the side of the road and over corrected

and lost control. The car rolled 2 times before it came to rest upside down in a ditch. They both

crawled out the window without a scratch on them. They were wearing seatbelts. They were treated and released, both just very sore and thankful to be alive. The second thing I asked my daughter when I arrived at the accident scene was if she had been on her phone. She answered "NO". This was Saturday, by Tuesday her friendwas so troubled by the accident and the lie that my daughter had told me that we were contactedby the girls parents that our daughter had not been truthful. She no longer has text on her cell phone and the phone is in our hands. Riding the school bus to school and many other priviledges taken away. I had NO idea that kids or people text while driving. I am 50 and do not text and really hate cell phones. I also learned about cell phone companies during this accident. I can not be told by U S CElluar about her phone activity prior to the accident. She is on our plan and I will get all this information when my bill arrives, but they would not release this to me over the phone. I am so thankful my daughter and her friend are alive.I have learned much this week about cell phones and none of it has been good.

When you are texting a message while driving, from the time you begin the text to the time that you finish it, there is no way your brain is focused on driving, at all! Even when you glance up to see what is going on it takes a second or two for your brain to actually switch gears and compute what it is seeing! Come on!

It is like trying to watch tv and read a book at the same time, try it then try to tell a family member what you watched and what you read at the same time lol.

your brain can not humanly access disimilar information at the same time, it is not possible!

It like trying to type and talk on the phone at the same time, you will probably end up typing what is being talked about rather than what you were actually supposed to be typing lol.

so for the young lady that is typing while driving with her knees for petes sake, please pull over in a safe place and text to your hearts content, but do not do it when you are behind the wheel and on the road!

It is not right! You are sharing that road with millions of other people, and do not have the right to jepordize thier lives, because you feel it so dang important to respont to a text...

You may feel you are great at texting and driving at the same time, but i would have to say that your brain probably would have a very different opinion on the matter.

As for making it against the law to continue the practice of texting and cell phone use while driving, i agree it should be made against the law to do these activities, it is dangerous.

As for the police enforcing the law, why could it not be that there is some kind of device that would block signals from cell phones while the car is in motion? I know people may say, people need to be responsible for themselves, but i hate to say it but nine times out of ten it is the responsable people that are injured, maimed, or killed by the people that wont be responsable.

in a perfect world irresponsible people would sit up and say oh gosh, i got to be responsable about this and not text and use a cell phone whiole driving.. but in reality, it is usually too little to late, and some one is seriously hurt or killed, before they say oh i was wrong!

I hate having to baby sit irresponsible people just as much as the next gal, or guy, but I can say this, I sure as heck am glad that i am alive to at least be able to do it... =/.

For all those people that have lost loved ones due to irrespopnsable drivers, my heart really goes out to you, it is wrong to lose a life due to some one elses irresponsability and stupidity, it has got to stop!

Tammy

I am a RN and when I saw this topic I had to post a message.  I know of the tragic results from texting, I have seen photos of a young man who was in a fatal accident.  All that was involved was texting and he ran into the back of a semi-truck and was killed immediately.  The resulting injuries were extremely graphic and I won't discuss them in detail.  Suffice to say he was ripped apart.  It is so sad to me that young people are taking their lives in their hands when driving and it can end so tragically.  I never text while driving and fully advocate making it illegal to do so.  For all those who are parents or know young people or anyone who texts, please don't let them text, if it can't wait, pull over.  But I have never seen a message that was more important than your life.