Most people are aware of the
dangers of driving while intoxicated, but what about driving while intexticated?
Intextication, says California Highway Patrol officer Brian Pennings, occurs when
someone becomes disengaged with his or her surroundings because s/he is too
mentally occupied with a cell phone. While intextication
can cause people to make mistakes at home or at work, its most serious
cases generally occur while driving. According to Pennings, drivers who are
texting are twice as likely to crash than those driving under the influence of
alcohol.
Pennings says teens and
adults alike often blame others on the road for distracted driving, believing
themselves to be the only ones able to multitask behind the wheel, yet no one
can safely drive and text simultaneously. Texting is twice as dangerous as
talking on the phone or to passengers while driving, and distracted driving is
a factor in 90% of collisions.
One way of eliminating
driving distractions is to install a no-texting app onto cell phones. Several
available apps automatically send calls to voice mail and silence texts when
inside a moving vehicle. Some apps also send automated messages to callers
saying, “Sorry, I can’t take your call right now, I’m driving.” Others allow
parents to remotely cut teens’ cell phone service while they are driving. Many
of these apps can be found in the App Store and the Google Play market, and
some service providers including AT&T and Sprint offer anti-texting apps to
customers when purchasing a new phone. While Pennings recommends these apps, he
thinks they will be slow to catch on and adds that state and local governments
likely cannot mandate use of such apps due to complaints that such legislation
violates personal freedom.
“The reason why it’s so
important to be mentally engaged when you’re driving is because [driving] is
multitasking, you have to do more than one thing at once,” Pennings says. “It
comes down to adult decision, and you have to make a conscientious decision.”
