A most dangerous distraction

The Iowa Legislature will have a lot on its plate when it reconvenes in January. But we hope lawmakers find the time to make texting while driving a crime.

This is about the no-brainer of all no-brainers. Tapping out a text message on your cell phone while also driving a motor vehicle is foolish and dangerous. Numerous studies say texting divides a driver's attention and cuts reaction time in ways akin to drunken driving.

Even if texting while driving could be covered by existing reckless driving statutes, we think the Legislature should emphasize condemnation of the practice. We'd like to see a statute that would enhance criminal penalties for anyone who causes a serious accident while texting.

It's a message that needs to be heard by all drivers, but especially young people, who are society's most prolific text messagers. According to a survey released last week as part of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, more than one-quarter of drivers ages 16-17 admitted to texting while driving at some point. And more than half of respondents aged 12 to 17 reported having been in a vehicle while the driver was texting.

For 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 injured in accidents involving distracted drivers. And among age groups, drivers younger than 20 have the highest distracted driver fatality rate.

In Iowa, according to the Department of Transportation, 5,128 crashes between 2001 and 2008 involved cell phone use, with 15 fatalities and 2,614 injuries. The data does not tell us how many were connected with texting.

Certainly, texting is only one among many ways drivers are distracted. But its obvious dangers, growing public outcry and its prevalence among young Iowans just learning to drive makes it a prime candidate for legislative action.

Focusing on texting doesn't mean that other behaviors, such as talking on a hand-held cell phone, aren't problems. But we hope that lawmakers can swiftly pass a texting bill without getting bogged down in a broader debate over cell phone use.

A complete ban on cell phone use while driving may be a tougher sell. And if lawmakers want to pursue that route, they should do it in separate legislation.

Still, for all of us, law or no law, the spotlight on texting's extreme danger should make all of us think about what we're doing in a vehicle when we should be focusing on driving. In the blink of an eye, our lives and the lives of others can be changed forever because we didn't pay attention.

We need to put down our phones, stop fiddling with the radio and eat that sandwich with our car in park. Just remember: When you're hurtling down the highway, guiding thousands of pounds of steel, split seconds count.