Highway Patrol starts campaign against texting while driving
The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced the start of a campaign against texting while driving with the unveiling of new logo for the campaign at a press conference in St. Louis on Monday.
The logo is available as window decal for people to display on their cars, homes or business. It will also be prominently displayed on the hood of the No. 16 Con-way Freight race car piloted by Colin Braun, according to a release on the company's website.
According to the release, cell phone usage while driving contributed to more than 1,780 traffic crashes in Missouri in 2009, more than any other form of distracted driving. In the first half of 2010, there were 791 traffic crashes related to the use of cell phones behind the wheel resulting in eight fatalities and 239 injuries.
Texting while driving is illegal in Missouri for drivers under the age of 22, but MSHP Lt. Terry Moore said the campaign aims to discourage the behavior among all drivers, even those above the age cutoff, because texting while driving increases a person's risk of getting into an accident.
"It's a little weird to hear a police officer say this, but this campaign is less about law enforcement and more about increasing public awareness and encouraging people to do what's best for themselves," he said.
7:01 p.m., July 19, 2010
Erik Wood said:
I completely agree with the officer's point - legislation has value in raising public awareness in forums like this one but it will be difficult to solely legislate our way out of this issue. I just read that 72% of teens text daily - many text more than 3000 times a month. New college students no longer have email addresses! They use texting and Facebook - even with their professors. This text and drive issue is in its infancy and its not going away. I decided to do something about it after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting driver . Instead of a shackle that locks down phones and alienates the user (especially teens) I built a tool that is a simple app for smartphones - low cost, no recurring fees. We can empower the individual and change will come to our highways now and not just our laws. Erik Wood, owner OTTER LLC www.OTTERapp.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVn2vRYaSAU