Laws & programs to stop texting & driving

Texting while driving is dangerous and deadly. It’s something parents, teachers community leaders and lawmakers have been saying for years, but now there are laws and programs in place to try to stop it.

As of Wednesday, August 1, 2012 it is against the law the text, email or instant message while driving in Alabama. Those who violate the law face fines and possible higher insurance rates – but that is a small price to pay when faced with the statistics of the number of accidents caused by distracted driving.

The Alabama Department of Transportation says distracted driving caused more than 1200 accidents in Alabama in 2010. Five people were killed as a direct result of texting while driving.

State Representative Chad Fincher of Mobile voted for the new law. He and Gigi Armbrecht from AT&T spoke with Fox10 News Anchor Eric Reynolds Wednesday morning to talk about the new law, penalties, enforcement and the different programs available to help parents teach their kids about the dangers of texting and driving.

AT&T has been promoting no texting and driving since 2009. The company recently did a study on teens to help identify the type of behaviors that encourage teens to text and drive. The study shows that texting is the number one way young people communicate. Most expect a text to be returned within five minutes.

AT&T has started several programs for adults and teens in the hope of encouraging teens to join together not to text and drive. You can check out the website at www.att.com/itcanwait .

To hear the whole interview with Representative Finch and Armbrecht, Click on the video link.