Texting to Death? (VIDEO)

25 people were recently added to the list of those killed as a result of phone texting.

Courtesy teach-ict.com & babble.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - What are the electronic manufacturers and marketing guru's trying to do to our fair society? Weren't things bad enough before texting became the unexplainable phenomena that it is?

I was driving down the freeway last week in Portland and when I looked at the BMW in the lane to my immediate right, I saw that the driver was busy texting away without an eye on the road. I'm sure this driver has no ill will toward the world, but if he hit somebody and killed them, would it be any different from a DUII?

I know I'm posing a lot of questions but that is my only reaction, why would people drop to such a primitive and time consuming form of communication?

I see people now trapped and unable to escape. In the case of those who have over-controlling significant others, there is no hiding. Cell phones were bad enough.

Don't get me wrong, I received texts on my phone ten years ago when I worked in the newsroom of the FOX station KVVU in Las Vegas. We had a system for paging at KATU in Portland also. When you're covering a meeting or press conference and your assignment editor needs you to bail out and head to another location, they hit you with a text, there is no audible interruption at the event you are covering, you move along and that's it.

So there will always be specific uses where texting helps, but legitimate needs aren't what I see as real problems. The Oregon Legislature passed a law banning cell phone use and texting while driving. You can still talk on a hands free phone, but that's about it. Thanks texters.

I know some people really abuse cell phones when driving and that is a problem, but now we have one more law on the books to watch out for and get in line with. People will go on talking on their phones for a long time; should be lots of good traffic revenue for our local courts.

Back to that BMW, I'm glad I didn't see something terrible happen. Unfortunately those things have already happened and video clips, like this one showing a bus driver texting on his cell phone before plowing into several cars in front of him, are worth a thousand words:

Video

The lab simulations shown in this next video, indicate that when it comes to driving, thumbs need to stay on the wheel:

This next video, "Killed while sending sms texting", is a dramatic act that illustrates how a distracting device in the hands of a person walking near a busy street, can lead to highly regrettable circumstances:

Researchers say text messaging behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol or marijuana.

In California, legislators are considering an emergency ban on the practice by train operators after a train crash that killed 25 people. VOA's Paul Sisco looks at research into the dangerous practice of texting while driving:

Special thanks to KETV Channel 7