Wyoming texting ban will not help problem

Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, in an effort to prevent careless driving, signed a bill that will ban texting while driving on March 11. The bill, which was passed by the Wyoming House of Representatives with a 32-26 vote, allows police to pull drivers over if they are suspected of texting while driving. Under the new bill, drivers who are caught reading and writing texts messages, checking email and using various other programs on cell phones or other electronic communication devices will face a fine of $75.
Legislators hope the ban will decrease the overall number of people who text while driving on Wyoming roads.
“This is a law, which will be good for the state,” said State Director D. Leeds Pickering.
Several studies have recently found that using cell phones and other electronic communication devices while driving leads to an increase in risky driving. A study done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that dialing a cell phone while driving a light vehicle or car leads the driver to become 2.8 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near crash event, and dialing a cell phone while driving a heavy vehicle or truck makes drivers 5.9 times more likely. The study also found that text messaging while driving a heavy vehicle or truck made drivers 23.2 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near crash event. Drivers of trucks or heavy vehicles were also found to increase their risks of crashes or near crash events by 5.9 times when dialing a cell phone.
Concerned citizens and legislators who support anti-texting laws have cited credible studies that support their claims. Using cell phones to make calls, text or send email while driving is an obvious distraction that affects the awareness and reaction time of drivers. While texting and using cell phones when driving should be avoided, creating anti texting and cell phone use bills will not actually help solve this problem.
The $75 fine that will be administered to violators of the texting ban will not serve as an effective deterrent of texting while driving. Wyoming drivers will continue to text, surf the web and make calls with their cell phones while they drive, regardless of any laws that are passed in an attempt to quell this habit.
"No matter what we do, no matter what laws we enact, no matter what grade of punishments we invent, there will always be people who make bad decisions.," said state Rep. Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette.
A study done by the Auto Club of Southern California recently found that the texting while driving ban in California led to an initial drop in texting among drivers, but then had little to no effect on the number of drivers texting as the number of drivers texting increased over the following months.
The Wyoming anti-texting bill still allows drivers to make calls while driving. By allowing drivers to make phone calls while driving, the legislators have made this law impossible to properly enforce. How will police officers differentiate drivers who are texting from those who are simply dialing a phone number?
If creating laws truly prevented people from committing crime or making mistakes, I would support this bill. Instead of creating laws that will not prevent distracted driving and cannot be properly enforced, the Wyoming legislature should focus prevention efforts on educating the public on the dangers of using cell phones while driving. Similar educational campaigns in Wyoming have helped decrease the amount of methamphetamine abuse across the state. Education is best way change public opinions and behavior.