Student Question | Should Distracted Driving Be Punished Like Drinking and Driving?

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

미국 학생들은 운전하면서 문자, 전화 등 타기기 사용하는 문제를 음주운전 처럼
처벌해야 하는가 하는 질문에 관하여 어떻게 생각 하는지에 관한 뉴욕타임즈 기사 입니다 ^^

Have you ever been a passenger in a car in which someone was texting and driving — or driving while scrolling through or posting to social media? Have you ever been that driver? Given that road fatalities are rising in part from distracted driving, should it be punished like drunken driving? Why or why not?

In “Texting and Driving? Watch Out for the Textalyzer,” Matt Richtel writes:

Over the last seven years, most states have banned texting by drivers, and public service campaigns have tried an array of tactics — “It can wait,” among them — to persuade people to put down their phones when they are behind the wheel.

Yet the problem, by just about any measure, appears to be getting worse. Americans confess in surveys that they are still texting while driving, as well as using Facebook and Snapchat and taking selfies. Road fatalities, which had fallen for years, are now rising sharply, up roughly 8 percent in 2015 over the previous year, according to preliminary estimates.

That is partly because people are driving more, but Mark Rosekind, the chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said distracted driving was “only increasing, unfortunately.”

“Radical change requires radical ideas,” he said in a speech last month, referring broadly to the need to improve road safety. N.H.T.S.A. plans to release the final fatality numbers as early as Thursday.

So to try to change a distinctly modern behavior, legislators and public health experts are reaching back to an old strategy: They want to treat distracted driving like drunken driving.

… The most provocative idea, from lawmakers in New York, is to give police officers a new device that is the digital equivalent of the Breathalyzer — a roadside test called the Textalyzer.

It would work like this: An officer arriving at the scene of a crash could ask for the phones of any drivers involved and use the Textalyzer to tap into the operating system to check for recent activity.

The technology could determine whether a driver used the phone to text, email or do anything else that is prohibited by New York’s hands-free driving laws, which only allow talking on a phone while using a headset. Failure to hand over a phone could lead to the suspension of a driver’s license, similar to the consequences for refusing a Breathalyzer.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

위의 Article을 읽으시고 아래의 질문에 대한 의견을 페이지 가장 아래 Comment란에 남겨주세요~

— How aware are you of campaigns that discourage distracted driving?
Have you ever been in a car with a driver who texted or was on social media? Have you ever been that driver?

— Do you think distracted driving is “still socially acceptable,” as one person quoted in this article contends?
Do you think it is as dangerous as drunken driving and should be punished to the same degree?

— What do you think of ideas like the Textalyzer? Will they work?

— Do you think developing distracted-driving campaigns backed by major television networks and
promoted by presidents, sports leagues and corporations will have a bigger effect on people’s behavior than
punitive laws? How do you think these campaigns could reach people your age?

아래에 위치한 Comment란에 영어로 남겨주시면 됩니다~
8 replies
  1. 김세연
    김세연 says:

    – I never knew about the campaign that discourage the distracted driving but I’ve been in a car with a driver who texted or was on social media.

    – I do not think that the distracted driving is no more socially acceptable because people realized how fatal it is and made laws to prevent the distracted driving.
    – Distracted driving should not be punished to the same degree with the drunk driving. Alcohol can affect parts of the brain that controls movement speech, judgment, and memory which causes difficult walking, slurred speech, memory lapses, and impulsive behavior. However, the driver who is using a phone can suppress him or herself. How can a driver who can control him or herself, and a drunk driver could have the equal punishment?

    – I think the idea of the textalyzer will not work. What if the phone which is connected to the car bluetooth is decided as a operated system? Is this still going to be classified as one of the crime? I think the idea of the textalyzer will not work unless the textalyzer system can classify these problems.

    – I don’t think developing distracted driving campaigns backed by major television networks and promoted by presidents, sports leagues and corporations will have a bigger effect on people’s behavior than punitive laws. People might follow the rules when the television networks and celebrities mention about it, but people will think those celebrities more than those campaigns. Therefore, I think the punitive laws affect people than those social networks or celebrities.

  2. Ashley Kim
    Ashley Kim says:

    1. – I am not really aware of campaigns that discourage distracted driving
    – Yes, I have been in a car with a driver who texted or was on social media.
    – No, I am only 14 years old yet.

    2. – No, I don’t think distracted driving is still socially acceptable because distracted driving can cause a serious accidents which can lead into the death of the passengers.
    – Yes, I think it is dangerous as drunken driving and should be punished to the same degree; Drunken driver and the distracted driver is using the social networks have a similarities that they are not concentrating on the driving. Most of the drunken drivers cannot control themselves and even holding the steering wheel well. Same as drunken drivers, drivers who are using the social networks are not even looking at the roads-just looking at their phones. In a conclusion, I think the drunken driving and distracted drivings should be punished to the same degree.

    3. – I think the ideas like the Textalyzer are a good idea to avoid the accidents caused by the distracted drivers. I am very positive that it will work very well. However, I think it might cause a minor problems. It might be a minor situation, but what if the drivers do not have a phone? Thesedays, most of the people consume a smart phone, but what if the driver forgot to bring his or her phone that day? It might cause the misconception for the police officer and that driver will get a suspension of a driver’s license.

    4. – I do think that developing distracted-driving campaigns backed by major television networks and promoted by presidents, sports leagues and corporations will have a bigger effct on people’s behavior than punitive laws because majority of the people are more interested in television networks and opinions by presidents, sports leagues and corporations than the punitive laws.
    – I think these campaigns could reach people your age because majority of the people in my age are very interested in what presidents and the sports leagues says.

  3. Taeksu kim
    Taeksu kim says:

    -No because i don’t have car.

    -Yes, because it was similarly dangerous.

    -No i don’t no that discourage distracted driving campaigns.
    Have you ever been in a car with a driver who texted or was on social media? Have you ever been that driver?-No because i don’t have car.

    — Do you think distracted driving is “still socially acceptable,” as one person quoted in this article contends?-No, because distracted driving is dangerous.
    Do you think it is as dangerous as drunken driving and should be punished to the same degree?-Yes, because it was similarly dangerous.

    -I think Textalyzer is not good because persons can offend.
    I think that will not work because the police and the same will happen friction

    -major, because that was lot of attention.-No because i don’t have car.

    -Yes, because it was similarly dangerous.

    -No because i don’t have car.

    -I think Textalyzer is not good because persons can offend.
    I think that will not work because the police and the same will happen friction

    -major, because that was lot of attention.a
    I think that was hard because my ages are not driving

  4. Woojae Kim
    Woojae Kim says:

    -The purpose of distracted driving campaigns is to protect our lives.
    No and I cannot drive yet.

    -This is not acceptable because Distracted driving causes death anyway. Did everybody kill a person when they drunk? No, but that is really dangerous so drunk driving is not allow. As like this, distracted driving can occur to someone’s death. Therefore, distracted driving should be punished to the same degree.

    -I think that is a good idea. They can check what they did on their phone if they did car accident. Textalyzer might work like a Breathalyzer which is not working sometimes.

    -I think punitive laws will have a bigger effect, because this law apply to driver who is not young. These campaigns could reach a lot to my age that is available to drive, they might interested in.

Comments are closed.