Could Anti-Texting Laws Make Roads More Dangerous?

An anonymous reader writes "A new study has found that various state laws that ban texting while driving might actually make the roads more dangerous. If that seems counterintuitive, it's the laws of unintended consequences at work. The theory is that the laws don't do much to stop people from texting while driving — but instead, leads them to try to hide the activity more. That is, they end up trying to text with the phone held lower down to avoid it being detected. But, of course, that also takes their eyes even further off the road. The study itself looked at texting-related accidents both before and after 4 different states implemented such laws, and also compared them to neighboring states with no such laws. The results suggest the laws certainly don't help and in some cases appeared to make the situation worse. So if the laws don't work, what is a better solution to preventing texting while driving accidents?"

I wasn't texting I was watching porn

[religious freak]

And why does "texting" need to be explicitly mentioned in the laws. How hard would it be to prove someone was "texting"? No, I wasn't texting, I was shopping, playing a game, whatever.

Call it what it is... bad driving / reckless endangerment.

Re:Accelerometers in phones?

[Anonymous Coward]

How about speech-to-text instead

for TXTing?

are, you, eff, ohh, ohh, wye, emm?

ell, ohh, ell.

semi-colon. right parenthesis.

Re:Simple solution

[blixel]

A Speech-to-text system in your car -- or built into your phone, that's the better solution...

Person says "lol, omfg. u r so right"

Speech-to-text system says "I'm sorry. I didn't understand that. Please say again."

Person says "L - O - L. O - M - F - G. You - are - so - right."

Speech-to-text system says "I think you said "Laura oh my friendly good."

Person interrupts saying "NO YOU STUPID FUCKING TEXT TO SPEECH FUCKER. I SAID LOL AS IN LAUGH OUT LOUD GOD DAMN YOU. OMFG STANDS FOR OH MY FUCKING GOD YOU FUCKING RETARDED PIECE OF MOTHER FUCKING SHIT!"

Speech-to-text says "You want to call your mother. Is that correct?"

Re:Accelerometers in phones?

[Bill_the_Engineer]

There is no reason passengers should be prohibited from talking on phones nor texting, though.

Sure there is.... Why should I be ignored and listen to my teenager talk to her friends on the phone. ;)

Seperate the streets into texting and no-texting

[Cro Magnon]

Then after the texters have killed each other off, re-open their roads to the non-texters.

Re:Sufficient punishment to disuade?

[fred fleenblat]

there really isn't any punishment that will dissuade context-dependent behavior like this. people just aren't smart enough to grasp that it's okay to send texts, and it's okay to drive, but not both at the same time. that just doesn't fit into their heads. hold on a minute i have to make this left.

Re:The solution?

[ikarous]

You presume that:

1. Driving while using a cellphone is genetic or otherwise hereditary and thus selectable against. 2. People doing so will be eliminated at a higher rate than people who drive sensibly (There's nothing stopping one idiot in a truckzilla from taking out a family of 7 in a minivan when they blow through a red light doing 90).

I presume nothing, other than that I clearly should include joke tags in the future.

Re:FYI

[boneclinkz]

I don't usually text and drive, unless I've been drinking.

Re:because it's a distraction and dangerous?

[rainmouse]

And thinking about things you plan to do that day.

Yes the bigger problem is distracted drivers. I've seen people reading paperback books, newspapers and stapled together papers at the wheel. I've seen people eating serious sandwiches, combing their hair, applying make-up and changing clothes. And of course there are people that daydream at the wheel. I saw one woman having a midlife crisis in a mid-sized Chrysler.

Clearly driving is just too easy and minds wander too much. If we made roads more challenging like crazy golf courses we might fix the problem (and create new fun problems to solve).

Re:Accelerometers in phones?

[netsavior]

They should invent some like speech to text then text to speech interface, one fast enough to work in real time then people would be able "talk text" one another in real time as if they were having a conversation with spoken words instead of text characters. Man, if someone invented that, it would revolutionize communication. SOMEONE TEXT ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL STAT!

Re:Accelerometers in phones?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Pacifist weakling.

The correct solution is pressure sensors on the wheel and IR eye tracking. If the driver shows inadequate attention given the speed, level of swerving, and measured conditions, if available, a small explosive charge propels their body into the steering wheel/windshield at a velocity directly proportional to the one that a bystander would experience if hit by them...

Poetic justice through superior technology!

Re:because it's a distraction and dangerous?

[VanGarrett]

I challenge you to define a constitutionally valid law which will force all drivers to concern themselves primarily with the lives of others, which is then possible to enforce.

Re:because it's a distraction and dangerous?

[Homr Zodyssey]

Next thing you know, they'll illegalize getting road-head from a hitch-hiker. That's not the America I want to live in!

Re:Dont hate, educate

[publiclurker]

I see you know my wife. she used to do this all the time until she managed to total my car. fortunately, no one was hurt (it doesn't take much for the insurance company to total a 15 year old car), but she finally learned to keep the correct distance between her car and others on the road.