Possible Ban on Teen Driving While Texting in Georgia

By Lizzy Nephew

ATHENS_ Stuart Howell knows the dangers of DWT can strike in an instance.

“It can happen quickly. If you just look down for a second and look up, you have to jerk the wheel,” said the Athens teenager about his experience with Driving While Texting, or DWT for short.

DWT consists of sending a short typed message on a cell phone while driving and by many accounts has become a common activity among teenagers.  Howell, an 18-year-old senior at Clarke Central High School , tries to avoid texting while driving but sometimes replies to messages he receives.

Although rules prohibit students from using cell phones at Clarke Central  during class, teenagers can immediately start text messaging while driving home from school.  Lawmakers are concerned about the popular trend of inexperienced drivers being distracted by cell phones.

If Rep. Matt Ramsey is successful, drivers under the age of 18 could be fined for using cell phones while driving. The Georgia House of Representatives last month approved House Bill 23 by a 138-34 vote. The bill will continue to sit in the Senate Public Safety Committee until the Georgia General Assembly convenes in January 2010.

Ramsey used a football analogy to explain the bill’s current position. “We’re on the opponent’s 5-yard line, and the ball will still be sitting on the opponent’s 5-yard line when we start the session next year. We are hoping to punt it into the end zone.”

Ramsey began researching the bill because of a personal experience with a distracted teen driver on the phone. The young driver veered into Ramsey’s lane forcing him off the road. He believes the teenager was unaware because of chatting on her cell phone.

Ramsey’s research led him to what he called a “gaping hole” in the Teen and Adult Driving Responsibility Act, known as the Teen Graduated Licensing Law. This law provides a period for teenagers to learn how to drive without distractions. 

 ”The number one distraction is cell phones, talking and texting, and that’s not covered by the law,” Ramsey said. “ I think it’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Georgia’s current cell phone driving laws prohibit bus drivers from using their cell phones while driving with passengers. Nine states currently ban new drivers from text messaging while eight states and the District of Columbia ban all drivers from text messaging.

Georgia offenders could receive two points on their license and a fine of $50 to $100 if caught texting while driving. Teens could lose their license for 90 days or until turning 18 years old if they cause a car accident while on their phone.

To some people, telling a friend “LOL” when laughing out loud or “OMG” when shouting oh-my-gosh might not seem worth a $50 fine. However, according to Howell, he would be angry if he were fined for texting while driving: “I don’t think it’s their business or their place to tell me not to drive while texting, but I can understand why they do it.”

Kaitlyn Wolf, 17, also a senior at Clarke Central High School, thinks texting while driving is dangerous, but feels comfortable as a passenger with a texting driver.

“I definitely would not want to get in the car with a drunk person, but I wouldn’t mind getting in the car with someone texting,” she said.

According to research conducted by RAC Foundation, an organization in the U.K. that explores road and driver safety, people who text message while driving are worse drivers than people who are under the influence of alcohol. While impaired by alcohol to the legal limit, driver reaction time increased by 12 percent. Writing and sending a text message while driving increased reaction time by 35 percent.

The research also determined texting while driving decreased driving speed, but slower speeds did not equal safer driving. According to the report summary: “The driven vehicle drifted into adjacent lanes far more frequently when texting. This risk is not mitigated by speed reduction and would lead the driven vehicle into potential conflict with other traffic.”

The Transport Research Laboratory, the organization the RAC Foundation commissioned to conduct the research, used a driving simulator to measure the reaction times among 17 – 24-year-old drivers.

Clarke Central High School invites speakers to discuss the dangers of drinking and driving, but no campaigns aim at educating students about the dangers of texting while driving or about the possibility of the bill banning cell phone use for teen drivers.

“At the present time we do not have a campaign at our school against texting while driving,” said Robbie Hooker, principal at Clarke Central. ” I believe we should campaign against texting just as much as we campaign against drinking and driving.”

“Hopefully, at some point in the high schools they will make the students more aware of it,” he said. “I know they do a lot with drinking and driving, and they have speakers in the school and posters about drinking and driving — hopefully they spread the word about this bill. ”

Ramsey said  campaigns against texting while driving are in the works.

 “The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has committed to doing a major educational campaign, and they are big supporters of the bill,” he said.

Howell and Wolf both questioned the ability to enforce the law. Athens-Clarke Assistant Police Chief Tim Smith has not generated a plan for enforcing the law, but thinks police will need to pull the offender over for a primary reason in order to check the driver’s age.

Howell wondered why the bill only applied to teenagers.

 ”Having your license for more years doesn’t really give you the ability to drive while looking at the phone, so it seems even the most experienced driver can cause a wreck if they’re texting while driving,” he said.

Smith, the assistant police chief, also thinks the bill should apply to all ages, but that teenagers are at a higher risk of being distracted by the radio and cell phones.

Ramsey said the bill targets teenagers because they are new drivers.

 ”My sole focus is on getting a safer atmosphere and environment for new and inexperienced drivers, the most vulnerable,” he said.

Although Wolf believes the driving while texting law is a good idea, she does not think it will have the power to stop teenagers.

 ”I think teens are probably going to do it anyways,” she said. “Even if it’s a law, I don’t think it will stop anyone.”

Technology, however, has the potential to put a stop to DWT.

Some companies are developing devices or phone applications to disable a phone’s text message capability by detecting the speed the phone is traveling. One application is called Textecution for the Android phone.

Textecution allows parents to install the application on their children’s phone to disable their ability to text. In order to override the system, the person who installed the program is contacted and asked to verify the override.

Similar technology, DriveAssisT software by Aegis, will also use Global Positioning System to determine the speed the phone is moving to disable all inward and outward calls, except for 911 calls.