You know the sound ? the one announcing a new text message in your inbox. For some people, it is a siren call they can?t refuse, even while driving. A new study shows that more than one-third of Marylanders text while they drive. That percentage ranks the state fourth in the country for the number of drivers typing instead of driving, according to the survey by voice recognition software company Vlingo.
Surveys purport to prove all sorts of things, especially ones sponsored by companies that would benefit from the information like Vlingo, whose motto is “Why tap when you can talk?” But even if the number is 10 percent, it is too high.
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Reader Russell Hurd knows this. His 26-year-old daughter, Heather, died in a car accident on her way to meet him and her mom at a wedding planner at Disney in January. The accident was caused by a tractor-trailer driver who was allegedly texting his driver?s log when it happened. Hurd testified in front of the General Assembly earlier this year in support of a law to ban texting while driving. “Heather?s Law” did not pass.
But we do not need a law to exercise good judgment this holiday, which many of us spend driving to and from the beach, and every time we hop into the car.
The many brave American men and women we honor this day who died to defend our freedom surely did not sacrifice their lives so that we could carelessly endanger others in the name of convenience or pleasure.
“One less senseless death, one less family going through tremendous pain and sorrow, one more day to hug your children and loved ones,” as Mr. Hurd wrote to us earlier this year, should be enough incentive to resist the urge to respond to messages on the road.
