Texting While Driving Now Illegal In Wisconsin
Posted by rozeklawoffice on December 1, 2010 under General | 
Be the First to Comment
Texting While Driving In Wisconsin Now Banned
Congratulations to Wisconsin for becoming the 30th state to ban texting while driving an automobile. The ban became effective today, December 1, 2010. The ban also applies to emailing while driving. The law is a “primary” enforcement law, which means police officers can stop drivers if they are suspected of texting while driving. Drivers convicted of composing an email or a texting a message while operating an automobile can face fines from $20 to $400 and could lose up to four points.
The new law was enacted in response to many recent studies that have shown the dangers of texting while driving. Experts have confirmed the existence of three main elements to distracted driving:
- Visual
- Manual
- Cognitive
The first, Visual Distraction, is physically taking your eyes off the road. The second, Manual Distraction, is physically taking your hands off the wheel. And the third, Cognitive Distraction, is taking your mind off of what you are attempting to do at the time. Unfortunately, texting or emailing while driving involves all three elements of distracted driving, which can be deadly. Conservative estimates have shown that each year approximately 6,000 people die and another 500,000 are injured each year automobile crashes due to some type of distracted driving.Other studies have likened texting while driving to the equivalent of being intoxicated while driving.The problem of distracted driving is such a major public health concern that the federal government has created a website to educating the public about the dangers of driving while distracted. See distraction.gov.
Many feel the new Wisconsin ban on texting or email while driving does not go far enough because it does not ban reading texts or emails while driving. The other obvious problem is enforcement of the law, which may prove difficult if not impossible to enforce, since talking on a cell phone is still legal.
______________________________________________________________
If you have been injured due to a distracted driver, you can find more information here: Wisconsin Car Accidents.