Nearly 37,300 people died in vehicle crashes on American roadways in 2008. Nearly one in six of those crashes involved a driver who was distracted.
Distracted drivers are such a menace behind the wheel that the U.S. Department of Transportation convened a summit this week to talk about the problem and find solutions.
Arizona needs to pass legislation prohibiting, at the absolute least, texting while driving.
Arizona was well-represented at the Washington, D.C., event by state Rep. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat who has made banning driving while texting a mission.
He knows firsthand how hard it is to persuade his colleagues in the Legislature to go against cell-phone lobbyists and take legislative action.
Arizona has been backward on the problem of driving while talking on the cell phone or, even more mind-boggling, driving while reading or sending text messages.
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Attempts to pass legislation that would have increased penalties if a driver was in a wreck and it was found that a cell phone or texting was involved have failed in Arizona.
Arguments that such legislation is a waste of time or propping up a "nanny state" are flimsy.
Many laws put on the books what should be common sense or decent behavior.
No one should need a law to force him to wear a seat belt, not kill his neighbor or not drive while drunk — the list is nearly endless — but such laws exist because as a society we have decided that some actions are so dangerous or heinous they require specific prohibitions and punishments.
The national summit covered distracted driving as a whole, not only how cell-phone use affects a driver's ability to focus and safely operate a vehicle.
Distractions include everything from a driver's emotional state (i.e. road rage), eating, talking on the phone, texting to dealing with passengers.
A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2008 5,870 people were killed and about 515,000 were injured in crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported by police.
These figures are likely too low, the report states, because there is no way to know, if all occupants of a vehicle die, for example, what was happening in the car before the crash.
The numbers are sobering nonetheless. We probably all are guilty of distracted driving — standing at a street corner and watching cars go by can prove that — and we each have a responsibility to drive as safely as possible.
Just as many folks have driven while distracted by a phone or a hamburger, we've all seen people swerve out of their lane or come up too fast behind a slowing car because they weren't paying attention. It's dangerous, but commonplace.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood closed the summit Thursday with this goal: Driving while texting should feel as wrong as driving drunk does.
There was a time when driving while drunk wasn't considered such a big deal, but now we're well aware of the dangers and it is a social taboo — and a serious crime.
Driving while texting or talking on the phone must reach the same status — we all know better and it's time for our laws to reflect that.
