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Texting and Driving

Texting and driving is a practice that has been on the rise in recent years as more people have gotten wireless phones that support this technology and have begun using this feature as often as they do the cell phone itself. Texting technology has opened up a whole different type of communication between people in business and social contexts. Drivers who text while behind the wheel update their social media, answer emails, and text friends and coworkers from their wireless phones and smartphones.

But texting while driving is extremely dangerous just like driving while tired, even more dangerous than using a cell phone to talk to someone. When talking on the phone, once a call is placed or answered, the driver at least can keep their eyes on the road. This is not true of texting. Entering and receiving texts requires the driver to constantly look away from the road and at the wireless device in use. It is a huge distraction and something that has been causing or contributing to more accidents all the time.

Legislation Banning Texting while Driving

In states all around the country, legislators have taken up the task of dealing with this problem. They have introduced various forms and versions of legislation that bans texting while driving. Some of the laws are secondary in nature, meaning that law enforcement officers can only issue a citation for this offense if they were already pulling a driver over for something else. But in other areas it features primary enforcement, which means that police can pull offenders over for texting even if they were not doing anything else wrong.

The fact that so many laws across the country are taking shape to try to root out texting while driving tells us that it is a very serious issue that many people are concerned with. Yet a large number of Americans admit to this behavior themselves. It is a terrible habit to get into and a bad practice to take part in for motorists for a number of different reasons.

Dangers of Texting while Driving

It is dangerous to text while driving because it takes so much of your attention away from what you are supposed to be doing, which is watching the road. It puts other people sharing the road with you in danger as well as you and anybody else you might be in the car with. And along with all of this physical danger comes the threat of this habit costing you more money than just the fine that accompanies a ticket a police officer might issue you.

Auto Insurance and Texting

Texting while driving undoubtedly increases the risk of getting into a car accident and running into other similar situations while you are behind the wheel. There can be no arguing that this behavior statistically increases the likelihood of being involved in a collision, especially an at fault accident. And with collisions come increases in auto insurance premiums. This is another prominent outgrowth of this explosion in an unsafe practice that still somehow has become so popular out on the nation's roadways. Compare the accident rates of folks who text while driving and those who do not and the difference is obvious.

An increased premium is the inevitable result of accidents that happen because the covered driver was too busy sending text messages to pay attention. Save money on your policy and avoid this dangerous practice of texting and driving. Stay safe on the roads and claim your financial reward. Get low price quotes for car insurance using the form at the top of this page and save on your policy.