It’s bad to get in a car wreck.
It’s even worse to drive into a car wreck that has already happened.
That’s what happened to Carrie Staudt, an area college student. Her first mistake: Texting while driving.
Staudt is one of many who has gotten in a car accident caused by driving while sending text messages. Texting while driving may be a widespread distraction. Earlier this year, the National Safety Council estimated that 28 percent of all traffic accidents are related to cell phone use while driving- including 200,000 that, like Staudt’s situation, are related to text messaging.
“I don’t (text and drive) anymore,” Staudt said. “I felt really stupid afterwards.”
However, fighting the urge is hard, and Staudt says it’s difficult to convince people of the danger involved.
“It’s hard because everybody thinks it won’t happen to them, so it’s hard to tell people that,” Staudt said.
“But I wouldn’t have ever stopped if it hadn’t happened to me. It’s so distracting that you really shouldn’t do it, it’s not worth it.”
Staudt knows firsthand that it’s not worth it. Her car accident, she said, knocked her sunglasses off and it felt like “getting punched in the face.”
“It was really, really scary,” she said.
Last year, Missouri legislature was enacted to penalize people under 21 for texting while driving. Most states already have a similar law. The law has been hard to enforce because it is difficult for state troopers to tell how old a driver is from a distance. Missouri is one of eight states that includes an age restriction with the texting law.
But is including an age limitation a good idea, or even fair?
“Sounds fair to me,” said Cady Meyer, of Sedalia. “(Age) 21 is considered the ‘responsible age’; we can drink, smoke, and make all other bad decisions on our own.”
Other than Missouri, nationwide restrictions include one issued by President Barack Obama, who banned all federal workers from texting and driving last October, according to The New York Times. Also, The Washington Post said last February that a federal law bans all truckers and bus drivers from texting behind the wheel.
Some still find it tough to resist the urge.
“It is hard,” Meyer said. “Sometimes if I’m meeting someone and need to find out their E.T.A., I have memorized the keys on my phone well enough that a simple text like ‘wer u @?’ is easy and does not require me to take my eyes off the road. It also depends on where I’m driving at; if I'm in the middle of town during lunch hour it can wait until I’m stopped.”
