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Should there be a law against sending text messages while driving? On the surface this may seem like an unnecessary question. Of course there should be.

However, on closer inspection, the question needs further analysis and could be broken down into two parts. Is it wrong to send text messages while driving? and should there be laws against all potential distractions while driving?

Clearly when a person is driving, their attention should be focused on the road and on other traffic. However, modern cars equip drivers with devices which might easily cause a distraction. Car radios, for example, have a number of controls which could take a driver's attention from the road. The use of a cigarette lighter requires that a driver looks where he is putting his cigarette, thus it is also a distraction.

The development of personal mobile telephones has added a whole new dimension to the problem. Answering a call on a mobile phone while driving is bound to cause a distraction, but making a call is even worse, as a person needs to look in order to press the right keys.

Writing and sending a text message is probably at the extreme end of the distraction scale, requiring as it does a relatively complicated set of button pressing in order to make it possible.

People in the UK were horrified a few years ago when a truck driver drove into and killed a pedestrian while having a text conversation with his girlfriend. What was most remarkable about this case was that even at the very moment at which the driver realised he could not avoid the collision, he still felt able to send the message: 'S. . t!' to his girlfriend.

So should laws be passed to outlaw these activities? Not necessarily. It would depend on the common sense of motorists.

If drivers can make the decision for themselves to be careful and not be distracted, then there is no need for legislation. I cannot recall anyone being found guilty of dangerous driving by virtue of using a car radio or cigarette lighter, which implies that drivers are sensible in both respects.

However, mobile phones provide a higher level of temptation. There have certainly been cases brought against drivers for causing death by dangerous driving while using a cell phone. Most of us will have seen drivers using a phone at the wheel, and will have witnessed the erratic motion of a vehicle which results from the driver's distraction.

Since it seems that drivers are unable to make the sensible decision for themselves not to use a phone, then legislation is needed to persuade them, and persuade them forcibly if necessary.

The same applies to text messaging, and in fact a general ban on all use of a telephone by a driver while a vehicle is in motion would be appropriate. Such laws have been in place in the UK and other European countries for years. I cannot conceive of any possible reason a person might give for this type of legislation to be either unfair or unreasonable.

Laws are in place requiring all car users to have seat belts fastened while a vehicle is in motion. If we can have laws to protect the safety of drivers and their passengers, we should certainly have laws to protect the safety of other road users.

There have also been cases of drivers being prosecuted for taking a drink from a bottle of water on a hot day while sitting at the wheel, but stationery in heavy traffic. The argument given by the police was that the driver was not in full control of the vehicle. Exactly the same reason would apply for a law against the use of a cell phone while driving.

If drivers cannot make these sensible decisions for themselves, the law must persuade them and help protect other road users who may be seriously at risk from a driver's lack of attention.

Learn more about this author, Keith Redfern.
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