Driving and using your cellphone to text or call others is a violation of the law in Illinois. In 2018, the governor passed legislation to make cellphone and texting offenses moving violations. That decision went into effect the following year in July. Since then, there have been fines for drivers who decide to text or use their phones while driving.
The National Safety Council has shown that around 1.6 million collisions happen annually because of drivers using cellphones behind the wheel. These actions are dangerous, which is why lawmakers have worked to pass new laws and penalties for those who text or talk on the phone while driving.
Don’t text and drive, or you could be at risk
Texting and driving is dangerous for several reasons. The primary reason that it’s more dangerous than other actions is because it involves more of your senses than other kinds of distractions.
Think about it. When you text, you take your hand off the wheel. You might look down or away from the road. You also have to think about what you’re reading or how you want to respond. Those three activities mean you’re not paying attention to driving, and that means that you and others are at a higher risk of getting into a crash.
The statistics show the dark side of texting and driving
According to some statistics, over 6,000 people pass away yearly because of car crashes that are related to texting and driving. Over 3,000 teens die because of texting while driving.
It’s important to note that using a phone while driving, even if you are using it when hands-free, will increase the length of time it takes for you to respond to stimuli. In fact, your reactions may be delayed by as much as someone who has a blood alcohol concentration of .08%, the legal limit.
If you want to avoid collisions with others, make sure you put down your phone when you drive. If you are struck by someone who was texting, then it’s important that you hold them accountable for their actions and the damage that they have caused.