Oh, it’s no big deal. While driving along an empty stretch of I70 in the early hours of the morning, you might pick up your phone and check to see if there’s a new email, tweet, or text waiting for you.
As a mile or two passes, the itch to open the app and just read the exclamation, laugh at the pic, or snarl at a political cartoon takes over your better judgment. It won’t harm anybody. You haven’t seen another car for miles and even if there is a police officer patrolling the highway, they’d never stop you. If they did, it’s only at $50 fine with no impact on your points.
This all might be changing.
Currently, the Colorado legislature is discussing changes to the “texting” law that could increase the fine, deduct points from your driving record and encourage law enforcement to move ticketing for this common problem farther up their priority list.
Why Are the Texting Laws Changing?
Despite aggressive publicity campaigns issued by cell phone companies, car manufacturers and even public safety groups, more and more drivers are tooling around town with their smartphone held up before them. While simply talking on a cell phone can distract a driver from focusing on the road, the act of texting takes your eyes completely away from traffic.
Whether pulling into a parking space or speeding down a dirt road, the operator’s entire attention is removed from the act of driving and turned to typing or swiping their way through gossip and laughs. Accidents resulting from distracted driving continue to be on the rise and lawmakers have determined that no enforcement is in place to discourage the practice from growing.
Age Is Not the Determining Factor
While many adults perceive that the texting phase is something that belongs to the Millennial generation, improved intuitive technology is bringing more Baby Boomers into the mobile device world. Distracted driving is no longer limited to a specific demographic.
Lock Your Phone Down
If you are one of many residents of Colorado that live through social media 24/7, it’s time to avoid auto accidents, potential $300 tickets, and loss of good driver points by locking your smartphone in the glove box when you get behind the wheel. Your notification ringtone is far too seductive to ignore and the life of an innocent pedestrian far too valuable to simply tell yourself, “I won’t look this time.”
