Internet Marketing, Social Media, Business | StuckInTheFunnel

The Futility of Banning Text Messaging While Driving

I’m back from my Thanksgiving hiatus and have been monitoring some local Twitter trends. Today, there was lots of talk about the new law in North Carolina that bans drivers from sending SMS or email messages on their cell phones. In all honesty, I don’t think this a bad idea. I have had a few close calls with drivers who were staring gazenly at their screens. However, I think the law won’t have much effect.

There are more than enough technologies to distract you while driving in North Carolina that are not banned by the government such as:

• Regular phone calls (adult drivers.)
• CD players
• DVD players and screens. (Some DVD Players even have screens that come out of the deck.)
• GPS units
• Luxury cars that have more in-dash controls than an airplane’s cockpit.
• Etc.

Social media and the web have changed how mobile phones are used:

I think this law will pretty difficult to enforce as it only bans “texting and email”. Think about the nomenclature. What does texting entail? I could be browsing the internet with my BlackBerry and get pulled over for texting. I could rebut with “Actually, I was browsing by using my jog dial, not the keyboard. Therefore, I was not texting.”  Or what if he caught me as I was dialing a phone number (adult drivers can still make phone calls in NC) and accused me of texting?In-car surveillance would be necessary for claims to hold water. Bottom line, this is mostly a scare tactic. A scare tactic with a hefty fine of $100.

In fact, NC senators even thought the bill would be difficult to enforce and Ron Wyatt, president of a local chapter of the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police was quoted saying:

“It’s all about safety, and I think we have a lot of law-abiding citizens, If people know it’s illegal, we’d hope they’d abide by those rules.”

Hmmm…does not seem to stern.

As more and more gadgets fall into our hands, driver distractions will not be erased until cars start driving themselves.