Out-of-Class Story #3 -- The Written Version

Here's one story on texting while driving that has not yet been published by anybody. But I couldn't wait to show you. It really shows strong command of organization, research and the broad use of perspectives. Plus, a wonderful anecdotal lede. What do you come away with after reading this, regarding what you can do to write the best stories you can?

Despite the texting and driving ban that was implemented in Michigan last July, Cody Aiken still finds a way to get around the law.

Aiken, an agribusiness management sophomore from Michigan State University, said he used to text all the time while driving, and he would hold his hands up on the steering wheel.

“Now I try to do it under the wheel, which is a lot harder,” he said.

Aiken said he doesn’t think the laws are working because a lot of people are still going to text, and everyone can have an excuse for why they were looking down.

“I was wiping something off my pants, or something like that,” he said.

The laws banning texting and driving have caused no reduction in accidents so far, according to a report released from the Highway Data Loss Institute last September. In fact, the crash rates have risen slightly.

The National Safety Council website said a minimum of 200,000 crashes each year are caused by drivers who are texting.

Dr. David Strayer, professor of psychology at the University of Utah who researches texting and driving, said the number of text messages sent in general keeps increasing, and some are sent while people are driving.

“It’s a big problem,” he said. “We see that it’s exploding.”

Strayer said the laws aren’t as effective as they would have liked because they are not enforced the best and people try to scam the system by doing things such as holding the phone lower.

He said this poses more risk of an accident because a person’s eyes are off the road and their hands are off the steering wheel for a longer period of time.

Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police, said officers are trained to observe driving that is unusual, according to an email.

“Just as there are cues that would indicate a driver is impaired behind the wheel, officers can also spot a potential texting driver,” she said.

However, she said between August 2010 and March 2011, the Michigan State Police have only issued 27 citations for texting and driving. Twenty-five verbal warnings have been given.

Jim Miller, safety and health engineer at DTE Energy, said it is difficult to legislate safe driving habits. For example, the law says the vehicle has to be in motion, so people could be texting while sitting at red lights.

“I think it has been effective in curbing the number of drivers who are texting while they are driving,” he said.

Addison Brown, a finance sophomore at Michigan State University, said he thinks the ban is a great idea, but he doesn’t think the law can be enforced well.

He said people pulled over won’t admit to texting, and they may say they were calling or doing something else. He said there should be more awareness out there rather than a ban.

“Use common sense,” he said. “People don’t need to be texting and driving.”

Despite the laws not seeming to work as well as hoped, Dr. David Meyer, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and part of the cognition and cognitive neuroscience program, said it is still terrible to be texting while driving.

He said people need to be using the same processes for dealing with information when they are driving as when they are texting.

“The brain has limited capacity for processing this information,” he said.

Miller said texting is particularly dangerous because it involves all three types of distractions - visual, manual, and cognitive.

“It is simply distracted driving,” he said.

According to Meyer, texting and driving is similar to drunk driving. Even though someone’s abilities are highly impaired, they can still keep the car going.

“What matters is the potential for accidents happening under complicated driving situations,” he said.

He said complicated situations include having to make a sudden turn, being in busy traffic, or being in an environment where people are crossing the street. Those are when problems usually occur.

Strayer said a .08 blood alcohol level causes a crash risk increase that is four times higher than normal, while texting and driving causes an eightfold crash risk increase.

He said driving is probably the riskiest activity people engage in on a regular basis, and people tend to get a false sense of security while driving.

“Multitasking to relieve boredom isn’t worth someone else’s life,” he said.

As far as the future of the law, Miller said “I would expect it to be expanded to encompass all electronic devices that would require your use of hands to operate them.”

Meyer said the law ought to say people are not allowed to use other devices while driving.

He said when vehicles are made that operate themselves, then people can text and have cell phone conversations.

Aiken said he has adopted the strategy of handing his phone to a passenger and asking them to read the message aloud. He tells them what to text back.

In Michigan, texting while driving is a primary offense, according to Tiffany Brown. This means officers can pull someone over solely because they suspect they were texting while driving.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association website, 30 states, D.C. and Guam ban all drivers from texting and driving. An additional eight states ban novice drivers from texting and driving