Texas Needs To Get More Serious About Texting While Driving

Not having your eyes on the road is insanely bad.

Have you ever heard someone say they only took their eyes off the road for "one second"?  Here's a fact for you, if you're going sixty miles an hour (slow for the highways) then you will go 88 feet. Let's keep in mind that you also probably looked away for something more like 2-5 seconds if you were reading something, or even trying to glance at a phone number.

So let's talk about 88 feet. The average car is about 14 feet long. So 88 feet is a little over six car lengths. This means if you're with six car lengths, which does seem about average, and that car breaks to avoid something in the road while you're looking at your phone, you just rear-ended another driver.

The scenario above is actually one of the best-case scenarios. As mentioned, your "one second" is no doubt much longer (try timing a second sometimes). It's too easy for other things to fly into the road, other drivers to make an effort, or for you to drift over and then overcorrect. The facts are that one in six accidents in Texas in 2022 were due to "distracted driving", and that includes 487 deaths.

In Texas, texting and driving could result in a fine between $25 and $95 dollars, whereas a first-time drunk driver could get a fine of up to $2000 and 180 days in jail or both (and there are so many additional costs, including a loss of employment due to the stigma of the arrest). With such a disparity in punishment between the two, it makes texting while driving seem like it's "no big deal". I think Texas should be a lot more serious about it.