Talk Back Feedback: Readers Say Texting & Driving is a Big No-No

In late April New York State Police launched a special effort to crack down on texting and driving. Between the week of April 23 and April 29 officers issued 172 tickets for cell phone violations and 32 citations for texting while driving.

As part of the coverage of that program Patch asked readers what they felt about drivers who text given statistics that drivers talking on phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash, and that the behavior of such drivers is equivalent to the behavior of drunk drivers at the threshold of the legal limit of .08 BAC. Texting increases the risk of driving on the road more than 23 times.

The Patch poll revealed that 69 percent of readers claim not to text and drive, 17 percent break the law and text and 13 percent only text in an emergency situation.

Some readers shared experiences from the impact of drivers texting or doing something illegal while on the road. One reader wrote about a serious accident caused when her van was hit from behind by a driver apparently working on a laptop.

Another reader, Tom Thomas, wrote that while he favors the law against texting and driving, he’s very leery of the police approach to use CITE officers (Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement).

“How do I know I am safe, and my lawyer stated this can be challenged in court. I rather be safe, and deal later with the issues of why I did not pull over,” he wrote.

Reader Tony Chliek says its time that law enforcement starts enforcing the law on their own ranks.

“What are they going to do about the cops that use cell phones while driving. A cop friend of mine said that they had to do it because of active investigations. I asked him why he didn't use hands on then. His reply, because it's not available to them. Bullshit excuse. Fix the cops before you ticket others,” he wrote.

He concluded that while texting and using a hands-on cell phone while driving is stupid, “giving someone a ticket when the cops do it is equally as stupid.”