TEXTING AND DRIVING

By: Sharnae Feinstein, Khadra Hassan, Jared Kent, and Noelle Lunt.

Ashley Johnson was on her way to work in Asheville when she took her eyes off the road, crossed the center lane and hit a pick up truck head on. The police found she received a text message at 3 p.m. ;The 911 call came in just two minutes later. - - One text cost 16 year old Ashley her life.

This is Aaron Deveau, 17 year old from Massachutes. While he was texting and driving, he crossed over the center line and hit a 55 year old man and seriously injured the woman with him. The man died later after the crash from injuries leaving behind three children.

This is Heather Lerch, 19 years old. She was attending college. Had just paid off her second car. She was looking forward to finishing at a community college and moving to a four year college for forensic science. On February 3, 2010 she was driving home from work only three minutes away from home. She was texting and driving, and lost control of her car and was killed.

This is John Breen, a United States Marine. He was sure he was invincible,Until the fateful day on March 15, 2009. He was killed not by a bullet but by a phone. He was texting a friend while driving and lost control of his car and veered off the road. He was ejected and killed by a head injury. He left behind his parents, a brother, and a little girl who will never get to grow up with her daddy.

The federal agency reports that sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent -- when traveling at 55 mph -- of driving the length of an entire football field while blindfolded.

Texting and driving has been shown to be 6 times more dangerous than driving under the influence. 723,000 crashes have resulted from texting and driving just this year. 16% resulted in at least one fatality.

• 1.6 million crashes each year involve drivers using cell phones and texting. (NSC)

• 11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.

• For drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes, 21 percent of the distracted drivers were distracted by the use of cell phones (NHTSA)

• Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. (VTTI)

• Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held use. (VTTI)

• A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving. (UMTRI)

• A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving. (UMTRI)

• 10 states plus Washington D.C. prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones. 32 states plus Washington D.C. prohibit novice drivers from cell phone use. And 39 states plus Washington D.C. prohibit all drivers from text messaging.

LAW ON TEXTING

ALL Utah drivers are prohibited from texting while driving. Text messaging is defined in Utah law as "a communication in the form of electronic text or one or more electronic images sent by the actor from a telephone or computer to another person's telephone or computer by addressing the communication to the person's telephone number."

FINES $$$Under Utah’s law, someone caught texting and driving is a misdemeanor resulting in:

Up to three months in jail Up to a $750 fine

However, If texting and driving causes an injury or fatality (death); A person could be facing a felony resulting in:

Up to a $10,000 fine Up to 15 years in prison.

CONSEQUENCES IN OTHER STATES…….

California: The maximum penalty for a first-time offender is just $20 the lowest in the country.

Florida: $30 fine for the first offense. Any violation after that counts as a moving violation, increasing your insurance premium. Texting and driving is a secondary offense, drivers have to be in violation of another law first, like speeding.

Alaska will slap you with a whopping $10,000 fine AND a year in prison.

WORK CITED..

Hansen-Abundy, Benjy; Raja, Tasneem. “How Much Does Your State Fine For Texting and Driving?” Motherjones.com. Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress, 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Isger, Sonja; Kennedy, John. “Texting and Driving Illrgal in Florida Starting Tuesday.” Palmbeachpost.com. Cox Media Group, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Tampa bay, My Fox. “ Florida's New Texting And Driving Law To Go Into Effect ... With Typos?” Foxnews.com. Fox News Network, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Online Schools. “Texting And Distracted Driving Infograaphic.” Textinganddrivingsafety.com. Texting News Network, 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.nhtsa.gov/

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2009/07/2009-571.html

University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute http://www.umtri.umich.edu/