British Police Create Graphic Anti-Texting Video

[BrklynLiberal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

This video needs to be shown in every school in this country..and to some adults as well.

[dipsydoodle]

1. It is indeed very effective

Meanwhile in the USA : Texting and calling while driving kills 16,000

Drivers distracted by talking or texting on mobile phones killed an estimated 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007, US researchers have reported.

The estimate, one of the first scientific attempts to quantify how many people have died in accidents caused specifically by mobile telephone distractions, also suggests a growing number of these drivers are under 30.

"Our results suggested that recent and rapid increases in texting volumes have resulted in thousands of additional road fatalities in the United States," Fernando Wilson and Jim Stimpson of the University of North Texas Health Science Center wrote in the American Journal of Public Health.

Wilson and Stimpson used details on road deaths from each state, on mobile phone ownership and data on text message volume from the Federal Communications Commission.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/texting-and-calling-while-driving-kills-16000-2088507.html

Despite that :

In an effort to make roads safer, 30 US states and the District of Columbia banned texting while driving. But a new study from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an Insurance Institute for Highway safety (IIHS) affiliate, reveals a disturbing fact: anti-texting laws have not reduced the number of crashes.

“In fact, such bans are associated with a slight increase in the frequency of insurance claims filed under collision coverage for damage to vehicles in crashes,” the IIHS states in a news release. “This finding is based on comparisons of claims in 4 states before and after texting ban, compared with patterns of claims in nearby states.”

Adrian Lund, president of the IIHS and HLDI explains: "In a perverse twist, crashes increased in 3 of the 4 states we studied after bans were enacted. It's an indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws."

In The Boston Globe, Lund elaborates further, stating that bans against texting and handheld cell phones are not working, and states must revisit safety laws.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/100928-Texting-Bans-Don-t-Make-Roads-Safer/

And also : meanwhile in the UK the police forces in some of our counties are running "grass on a bad motorist" programs where those grassing will remain anyonymous but such reports used as evidence follwoing a first occasion smack on the wrist. This will include reporting motorists driving whilst using a mobile 'phone at all let alone texting. Overall such drivers are a complete fucking nuicance and a danger to society. Max penalty here is only 2 years imprisonment. :(

[littlewolf]

2. excellent

I have spoken to some of our teachers here and recommended this in health class and drivers ed .....

[rocktivity]

3. When I first heard of texting while driving, it thought it was a joke

Holding a phone isn't a great idea, either, of course. But at least you don't NEED to look at it!

:wow:
rocktivity