New texting and driving law: will it work?

By Tom Savageau

Distracted driving is quickly becoming one of the major causes of fatalities in the United States today.

Getting more and more attention today is texting while driving. This new distraction has joined eating, putting on makeup, drinking, and talking on the phone while driving, and has proven to be the most dangerous.

According to a 2009 study at Virginia Tech, texting while driving is 17 times more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving.

According to a report by the Obama administration, around 6,000 people were killed on U.S. roadways as a result of cell phone distracted drivers in 2009.

Massachusetts state legislators are trying to address this issue.

The Bay State has recently become the 30th state to ban texting while driving at the end of September.

Under the new Massachusetts General Law, a violation carries a $100 fine for anyone under 18 caught driving while texting, and $500 for anyone driving a public vessel such as a train or bus.

Fines range anywhere from $35 to $150.

The law is even stricter on teens, banning those under the age of 18 from using their cell phone while behind the wheel.

Greg O’Brien, 18, of Mansfield, Mass. says that these fines will not be as effective as Massachusetts legislators think they will be.

“It won’t stop me from texting while driving probably because I don’t do it all the time, only a little bit, the fines are not enough to stop everyone from texting on the road,” O’Brien said.

Victoria Wetmore, 18, who lives in Trumbull, Conn, one of the 30 states that has banned texting and driving, described how she still texts while operating a car even though it is illegal in her home state.

“Even though I know that it is dangerous, I still do it sometimes, the legal consequences never even enter my mind when I do it, just the physical ones,” said Wetmore.

But Tyler Brondyk, of Mansfield, Mass said the new law actually has changed his texting habits.

“I really never texted while actually driving, more at red lights, but yeah, the new law has made me text less behind the wheel,” said Brondyk.

Andrew Staiti of Canton, Mass will also heed the new law.

“I’m definitely not going to text and drive anymore, I don’t want to pay a fine for something that can wait until I am out of the car,” said Staiti.

Massachusetts State legislators will just have to wait and see if the law will in fact reduce the number of accidents related to texting and driving.