Loudoun Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney Remind Residents to Never Text and Drive

Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman and Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman developed a public service announcement to remind motorists that it is not only against the law to text and drive in Virginia, it is also dangerous.
 
According to a recent study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting and driving is the MOST dangerous of all cellphone related tasks. This study is further confirmed with the growing number of texting and driving related crashes. According to the National Safety Council, there are approximately 1.6 million vehicle crashes each year where texting a driving was the contributing factor. 
 
Remember... it is unlawful for any person to operate a moving vehicle on the highways in Loudoun County and the Commonwealth while using a handheld personal communications device to text, or read email per Virginia State Code 46.2-1078.



For more information, visit http://sheriff.loudoun.gov/drivesmart or www.loudoun.gov/oca. More information on the state code and federal texting and driving programs is online at www.distraction.gov. 
 
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Loudoun County Public Schools are also working on a texting and driving initiative to be unveiled in July.

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Texting While Driving Even More Dangerous

Did you hear about the texting while driving study in the news yesterday?

According to an Associated Press story on the WTOP Radio Web site, "Texting while driving increases the risk of a crash much more than previous studies have concluded with motorists taking their eyes off the road longer than they do when talking or listening on their cell phones."

"The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute used cameras to continuously observe light vehicle drivers and truckers for more than 6 million miles. It found that when drivers of heavy trucks texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting. Dialing a cell phone and using or reaching for an electronic device increased risk of collision about 6 times in cars and trucks.

"The study also concluded that headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held because the primary risks associated with both are answering, dialing and other tasks that take drivers' eyes off the road."

The Institute recommended that texting should be banned for all drivers and all cell phone use should be prohibited for newly licensed teen drivers. Currently, 14 states do ban texting while driving.

What's your thoughts? Do you agree with the study that texting and driving is bad and should be banned and the new no texting while driving law in Virginia? Leave your comments below.

For the latest Loudoun County traffic news and information, subscribe to Loudoun County Traffic via your favorite RSS reader, or get Loudoun County Traffic by e-mail.