Ban on texting while driving takes effect
Posted 12/01/2010
By Brittany Berrens, Editor in Chief
Wisconsin’s ban on texting while driving took effect on Wed., Dec. 1, and University of Wisconsin-Superior students are on board with the new law.
The law makes it illegal to drive any motor vehicle while writing or sending a text message or email on a cellular phone or other mobile devices. It does not prevent someone from dialing a phone number or reading a message.
If caught breaking the new law, drivers face fines of up to $400 along with four demerit points added on their license. Police can stop drivers suspected of this offense alone because it is a primary law. No other traffic violations need to be taking place to get pulled over.
The move comes in response to the rising number of traffic deaths attributed to being distracted from texting while driving. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, distracted driving in 2008 caused around 6,000 traffic deaths and one-half million injuries.
“Any lapse in attention to traffic or road conditions is a grave danger to you, your passengers and everyone else on the road,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins. “No attempt to multi-task in your vehicle, no phone call, and no text message is more important than a human life.”
The high risk of injury or death because of texting while driving is exactly why UW-Superior student Marit Huston is happy about the new law.
“You never think about it when you’re actually reading a text,” Huston said. “But you could totally hit someone or run a red light.”
Huston says she has long given up texting while driving, primarily because she has a touch-screen phone, which makes texting too much of a hassle while driving. She was also affected by a particularly graphic anti-texting while driving commercial that aired in the United Kingdom.
UW-Superior student Matt Holewinski is also in favor of the law, but isn’t so convinced that it will get people to stop texting.
“I don’t think it will stop people,” Holewinski said. “[Texting is] too engrained in our culture, especially our generation.”
Despite the ever-increasing popularity of texting, officers hope that people will realize the danger and severity of the situation.
“All law enforcement officers hope that drivers realize the extreme danger of texting while driving and voluntarily comply with this new law,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins. “But if they don’t, we’re ready to take appropriate enforcement actions to prevent them from killing and injuring themselves and others.”
Wisconsin is one of 30 states and the District of Columbia that ban texting on a cellphone or similar electronic device while driving. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle in May of 2010.
The law makes it illegal to drive any motor vehicle while writing or sending a text message or email on a cellular phone or other mobile devices. It does not prevent someone from dialing a phone number or reading a message.
If caught breaking the new law, drivers face fines of up to $400 along with four demerit points added on their license. Police can stop drivers suspected of this offense alone because it is a primary law. No other traffic violations need to be taking place to get pulled over.
The move comes in response to the rising number of traffic deaths attributed to being distracted from texting while driving. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, distracted driving in 2008 caused around 6,000 traffic deaths and one-half million injuries.
“Any lapse in attention to traffic or road conditions is a grave danger to you, your passengers and everyone else on the road,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins. “No attempt to multi-task in your vehicle, no phone call, and no text message is more important than a human life.”
The high risk of injury or death because of texting while driving is exactly why UW-Superior student Marit Huston is happy about the new law.
“You never think about it when you’re actually reading a text,” Huston said. “But you could totally hit someone or run a red light.”
Huston says she has long given up texting while driving, primarily because she has a touch-screen phone, which makes texting too much of a hassle while driving. She was also affected by a particularly graphic anti-texting while driving commercial that aired in the United Kingdom.
UW-Superior student Matt Holewinski is also in favor of the law, but isn’t so convinced that it will get people to stop texting.
“I don’t think it will stop people,” Holewinski said. “[Texting is] too engrained in our culture, especially our generation.”
Despite the ever-increasing popularity of texting, officers hope that people will realize the danger and severity of the situation.
“All law enforcement officers hope that drivers realize the extreme danger of texting while driving and voluntarily comply with this new law,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins. “But if they don’t, we’re ready to take appropriate enforcement actions to prevent them from killing and injuring themselves and others.”
Wisconsin is one of 30 states and the District of Columbia that ban texting on a cellphone or similar electronic device while driving. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle in May of 2010.
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