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Texting and Driving Equated to Drunk Driving

by Terrence O'Brien on August 8, 2007 at 04:37 PM


Harris Interactive has just released the results of a new poll, which found that 91 percent of Americans believe typing text messages while driving is just as dangerous as having a few drinks before getting behind the wheel. 89 percent of the 2,049 people polled believe it should be against the law -- leaving 2 percent that thinks drinking and driving shouldn't be illegal?

The most surprising takeaway from the poll, however, is that, though 89 percent of those polled believe texting and driving is a crime, 57 percent fessed up to doing it themselves.

This past May, Washington became the first state to put a ban on texting and driving, while California, Florida and New York don't appear to be too far behind.

Last month, we reported on two horrific car crashes linked to text messaging. The first, in upstate New York, caused the death of five young girls, including the driver who was believed to be texting at the time of the accident. The second was in Great Britain, where a 19-year-old girl was texting while driving when she lost control of her vehicle and killed a 64-year-old grandmother. In the U.K. case, the young driver was sentenced to four years in prison.

From TG Daily



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Tags: ban, breaking+news, driving, sms, texting, top, txting

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