• 21
  • February
    2012

Driving on the highway you can see other drivers engaging in a myriad of behaviors that take their attention away from the road. Besides using their cellphones, the behavior which has generated the most public outcry, drivers may also engage in other distracting activities like eating, playing with their iPods, reaching in the back seat or grooming themselves. All these behaviors constitute distracted driving, and all may be banned under a new Missouri bill.

Although Missouri currently prohibits younger drivers from texting while driving, if passed, this new law would be much broader. The law, proposed by Sen. Bill Stouffer (R), would completely ban all Missouri drivers from driving while distracted. The bill broadly defines distraction as "engaging in any other activity which causes the operator to be distracted from driving."

The proposal would mandate that any driver who is involved in a Missouri motor vehicle accident while driving distracted would be charged with an automatic Class A misdemeanor.

A sergeant with the Missouri Highway Patrol urges drivers to stop engaging in these distracting behaviors whether or not the bill becomes law. He said that he has witnessed drivers eating, texting, and playing with radios or other mobile devices. He stated that, "We've worked tons of crashes related to those things."

He further explained that "When you're not doing the job of driving, you run the chance of being involved in a crash."

Regardless of actions by lawmakers, hopefully increased awareness about the dangers of distracted driving will make more people think twice before taking their eyes off the road.

Source: KMBC, Mo. Considers Distracted Driving Crackdown, 17 February 2012