Rachele Cermak | Life Stream & Portfolio

Texting is practically ubiquitous in this day and age. My friend’s grandpa, who has a hearing loss of almost 100 percent, recently started to use texting as his way to communicate to his grandchildren, instead of talking on the phone.

SMS messaging has it’s own language as well and conversations like the following are common:

Wht r u doin l8r?
Btw, u no whn r hmwrks due?
Idk ethr.
Sry I d/n cme 2 ur prty. Wht hpned?
Omg! Lol.
Y r my rents yelln @ me? I g2g.

Most of us have had conversations like this before. We tap quickly away on the face of cellular devices instead of engaging in face-to-face interaction. Since my upgrade to a Blackberry about five months ago, my phone never lets me be detached from my world – I’m also never quite all there. The constant distraction of being completely accessible, constantly interacting, and skillfully multitasking is something to which the “Millennial” generation has grown accustomed.

Since its commercial release in 1995, the use of text messaging has skyrocketed. UK mobile users sent almost 4 million text messages during one day, New Years Eve 2008, according to the Mobile Data Association. In the United States, 79 percent of teens (17 million) own a cell phone and 42 percent say they use texting because it’s fast, according to a recent national survey conducted by CTIA – The Wireless Association and Harris Interactive. But according to that survey, the biggest reason teens use short message service is because it gives them the ability to multitask, which is a statistic at which legislators cringe.

A popular thought forming among Minnesota legislators is that the “multitasking” abilities portable electronic devices offer is actually a rising public safety concern. Representatives Frank Hornstein, Linda Slocum and Jim Davnie were a few of the authors who introduced a bill in March 2007 to ban texting while driving on the state’s roadways. In that same month, Hornstein and Slocum joined Mike Jaros in authoring another bill that would require the use of all mobile devices in vehicles to be hands-free. As of February 2008, the latter bill was being reviewed by the Transportation Finance Division and is currently laid over in committee, so it’s not clear yet if that bill will become law.

What is clear is that legislators are paying attention to the statistics. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that distraction is a factor in about 25 percent of all crashes. Hornstein believes texting is the most extreme distraction for young drivers, according to a report from the Minnesota House of Representatives.

It’s not a surprise that our cellular phones can be a distraction. The text message service alone is an exciting new frontier for political candidates and companies to reach their targeted markets and is also one of the easiest ways for people to communicate with each other.

During the last presidential race, President Barack Obama’s campaign realized this potential and utilized the new communication avenue. The campaign’s Web site featured a mobile page where people could opt-in to receive text updates – like the eagerly awaited announcement of Obama’s vice presidential running-mate. Supporters who signed up to receive the information had given the campaign access to their mobile phone numbers, which the SMS application organized by zip code. Later, the campaign called supporters in key states to rally “get out the vote” support. So not only were people interacting when they received the periodic campaign updates, they were also being called upon to use their phones to take action.

Now, by simply sending a text, we can voice our opinions, choose our American Idol picks and play text2win games, like sending “booty” to 55427 (standard text messaging rates apply). Obviously no purchase is necessary, so why do companies initiate these mobile marketing giveaways? Besides being able to easily compile mobile numbers and increase brand recognition, companies are using text messaging campaigns as a way to directly and effectively reach their customer bases. Instead of the message being lost in the clutter of the infamous inbox, text messages gain personal attention. Potential customers sign up in attempts to win prizes, and the company – provided it’s not a scam – retains their information in hopes of targeting its market better. It’s an extremely successful new tool, so the chances of it disappearing are slim. But by opting-in to these campaigns, we’ve also opted to have one more thing dividing our attention.

Although I’ve never come close to surpassing my 500-text-message limit, in December 2008, a 13-year-old Californian girl made the most of her “unlimited” plan. According to the New York Post, she sent 14,528 messages in one month. That equates to about a message every two minutes if she was awake for 16 hours a day.

Her defense? She said she was bored. She also admitted to texting her friend who was sitting right next to her at a birthday party. Stories of this kind of text messaging use show that younger generations are becoming fully aware of how to integrate this new form of communication into their lives. But all of this convenience demands “attn,” which could lead to dangerous situations due to a lack of full attention being paid to one of our most crucial activities – driving.

This is why, in Minnesota, after Hornstein’s bill gained much support, Statute 169.475 was passed. It made it law as of August 1, 2008, that if you engage in driving while texting (DWT), you could be fined up to $300. Minnesota is one of seven states with this law.

This occurred right around the same time that I purchased my new 3G phone. Now, if I am tempted to answer the chime emanating from my cell while I’m driving or interact with any of its e-mail, Web browsing or messaging features, I could receive a petty misdemeanor.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said North Carolina teenage drivers often ignore bans on using cell phones and texting because of the lack of adequate enforcement of the law. Some law enforcement officials say it’s difficult to know if the driver is just using the speaker phone feature or placing a call. They hope that by making it a crime, drivers will be persuaded to keep their eyes on the road. According to a WCCO report, after two months only a handful of tickets had been issued statewide. Most of them had been given only after the driver had been pulled over for a different violation. One officer recalled an account of when a teenage driver received a ticket because she had continued to text while the officer approached her vehicle:

“WT no DWT. OMG!”
“BTW,” he replied, “you’ve just received another citation.”

It’s obvious the messaging and mobile Web use have reached an all-time high. So, just as with other technologies in the past, it is starting to become regulated by the government. But even though it’s now illegal, I still see drivers distracted on their “smartphones,” so no matter the laws enacted or the future of potentially distracting features, the responsibility will always come down to the decisions of the driver. Instead of the government regulating personal choice, it would be much more effective if drivers acted responsibly and kept their eyes on the road, regardless of whether or not the police were watching.

Published 15 June 2009. All Rights Reserved.