Texting While Driving
Sunday, February 21st, 2010I should state up front that I do not text message while driving nor do I promote it. But, as somebody who knows a lot about cognitive limitations and technology, I have started to take a stand against the ill-informed policy that our politicians have been promoting. In particular, a bill is making it’s way through the Iowa House. My specific anger about the bill centers around one senator, Herman Quirmbach. Somehow I got on his email-list and generally his stances are pretty run-of-the-mill but he has really stepped up his ignorance on the text messaging issue. Following is most of my rebuttal to a recent email:
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On January 26, the Senate Transportation Committee heard testimony about the dangers of distracted driving from Colonel Pat Hoye, chief of the Iowa State Patrol, and researchers from the University of Iowa and the National Safety Council.
I may as well point out that, of those people, at least Colonel Hoye stands to gain from the legislature thinking the roads are unsafe and from laws that expand police power.
Their presentations confirmed what is increasingly clear to all who use our roads: distracted driving has become a dangerous epidemic.
I use our roads (a lot) and I don’t think this is increasingly clear. Fatal accident rates have been decreasing every year and I would much rather drive today than 30 years ago. This is largely due to advances in highway and automobile engineering. It is hard to point to any traffic laws that have made the roads demonstrably safer.
Studies show texting to be the most dangerous distraction because it requires both eyes and hands.
Texting while driving can increase the chance of a crash by as much as 23 times
The “23 times” number came from a Virginia Tech study on long-haul truckers. There are many reasons why these results can’t generalize to personal vehicles. For example, big trucks present a rollover hazard which should increase death rates and truckers are at the wheel for longer periods of time so their cognitive resources may be lessened. I know you are just relaying the propaganda as it was presented, but as a fellow academic-type you can certainly understand that it is dishonest to use the results in this way.
and can impair drivers in the same way alcohol does.
I hope that this year we can pass a bill to ban texting while driving, and some additional restrictions on cell phone use may also be in order.
I realize this may be a politically strong move. Naive voters will naturally agree with all of the things you’ve just said. However, I think that this is poor policy. Look at all of the states that outlawed cellphone use while hands-free kits remained legal. Those legislators gave the people a false sense of safety but they didn’t really improve safety at all. Creating reactionary laws on a technology by technology basis is naive and such laws will always be one step behind the technology du jour. Distracted driving laws already exist in most states and I assume Iowa is no different. Adding additional laws makes the legal system less accessible and legitimate enforcement more difficult.
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Senator Quirmbach sent out another email the other day, illustrating that he is either clueless or is just pandering to people’s fears. I didn’t send him these responses but I have included some rebuttals below:
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Taking your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel are dangerous habits. By restricting texting while driving, we can save lives and make Iowa roads safer for everyone.
Sure it’s not good to take the hands and eyes away from the road, but the cognitive resources are really what causes accidents. Don’t dumb this down for me, senator. Also if studies have shown that cell-phone bans don’t decrease accidents then how do you figure on making the roads “safer for everyone?”
At any given moment, one percent of drivers on the road are texting. Those drivers can be as much as 23 times more likely to crash, putting everyone on the road at risk.
I rebutted this above. This number is probably high because it applies to long haul truckers. Also this sounds more like propaganda than telling me about an issue, senator.
Senate File 2321 would make it illegal to write or send a text-based message unless the vehicle is stopped and off the roadway. The use of GPS devices will still be permitted, and if you get an urgent message, you may still read it.
So it sounds like you’re going to outlaw just enough to make people feel safe but not really tackle the cognitive issues. What text message could possibly be so urgent? What if my GPS device is a phone? If I enter an address into my phone, that sounds like text to me. What if I use one of the phones that allow hands free text messaging? What if the person on the other end has a phone that reads text messages to them? What would make that different than just using the phone for voice? I realize that the bill has more detail that answers some of these questions, but basically your law was obsolete before it was written because it will do nothing to make the roads safer. Remember, using the thumbs has not been shown to cause accidents – diverting cognitive resources has.
For one year after the law goes into effect, officers will issue warnings to violators while the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety step up efforts to educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving.
For what reason? This education really sounds like propaganda to convince people that you aren’t all screwing around down there in Des Moines. If you write a good law, it should be enforceable on day 1.
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I don’t text message while driving, but I would love to be the lucky defendant that gets to fight one of these tickets in court. I agree that this is bad stuff and that people should keep their eyes, hands, and minds on the road. If we have decided that this is a large enough problem to legislate on, let’s be comprehensive. We shouldn’t single out specific technologies. Technology is a moving target and we will never make the roads safer with the current approach. This is likely a larger problem with our society. I don’t know how to fix it, but people need to start thinking of driving as a task that is important on its own, warranting proper attention.
The right way to go now is probably to make sure that distracted driving laws are comprehensive enough. I don’t want to regulate everything like California tried to do (radio, smoking, etc…). I’d like to see a law that makes it performance-based so that if a person swerves because they were adjusting the radio they would get the same penalty as a person who did so because they were sharpening their skates. This is really the only way to improve safety with a fair, technology-independent approach.