Legal news for New York Personal Injury lawyers—New York “no texting” law effective for all drivers throughout the state.
New York, NY (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) –The State of New York passed a law banning texting while driving throughout the state, which took effect Sunday, November 1, 2009, announced Fox News.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) www.dot.gov reported that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 sustained injuries in motor vehicle accidents in 2008 that were connected to driver distraction, often times with mobile devices or cell phones.
According to the New York Times and CBS News poll, the majority of Americans were reported saying that sending a text message while driving should be an illegal activity. As of now, the New York law has banned all use of mobile devices that are used for, typing, reading, or text messaging while driving.
The poll results stated that 50 percent of Americans believed that texting while driving should receive a parallel punishment for driving while intoxicated. The national poll also revealed that eighty percent of Americans felt strongly that all talking on any cell phone while driving should be illegal as well.
Other opinions stated that treating texting as drunk driving is too harsh. Only 2 percent said those who text while in the driver’s seat should be issued a harsher punishment than those who drink and drive. One of the first solutions to the text and driving problem was to make the hand-held device hands-free.
Two-thirds of those surveyed believed that is was the safer option to chat with the hands-free device. Research has proved otherwise, stating that any and all use of cell phones while driving is a deadly risk to take.
Bridget Hom
www.NewYorkInjuryNews.com