Texting While Driving On The Rise

Fri, December 09, 2011

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KMUW / AP / Carla Eckels

Even with new legal bans, federal safety officials say texting while driving increased 50 percent last year.  KMUW’s Carla Eckels reports.

Two out of 10 drivers say they’ve sent messages from behind the wheel and that spikes much higher among young adults.

A national survey, the first government study of its kind on distracted driving, was released yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The survey underscores the difficulty authorities face in discouraging texting and cellphone talking while driving.  Lieutenant Doug Nolte from the Wichita Police Department says Kansas law, which went into effect July 1, specifically outlaws texting while driving.

“And the big question when that law came into effect is would the city of Wichita pass a similar law,” says Nolte. “Because of our laws being such that we can pull someone over for inattentive driving or careless driving, that is what we will cite someone for if they’re texting while driving.”

Lieutenant Nolte says drivers should make getting to their destination safely their number one priority. Nationwide, the Safety Administration says there was an estimated 3,092 deaths in crashes affected by distractions last year.