Chicago DUI lawyer comments on Secretary of Transportation's desire to ban texting while driving

This Chicago DUI lawyer is not one to stand in the way of an oncoming train. It is clear that the discourse on texting and driving has placed it into the same realm as drunk driving. I've posted about distracted driving and texting while driving here, here, and here. Today Secretary of Transportation & Land of Lincoln native Ray LaHood announces a summit on texting while driving.

August 4, Washington, D.C.

If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting.

But we’ve learned from our efforts to get people to wear seat belts and to persuade them not to drive drunk that laws aren’t always enough. Often, you need to combine education with enforcement to get results.

That’s why I announced this morning that I have decided to convene a summit of senior transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, members of Congress and academics who study these matters.

We will meet next month to discuss how to put an end to the rash of accidents and fatalities that have cropped up because of distracted driving.

When we are done, I expect to have a list of concrete steps to announce.

The bottom line is, we need to put an end to unsafe cell phone use, typing on blackberries and other activities that require drivers to take their eyes off the road and their focus away from driving.

I grew up in an era of mandatory seat belts and we still can't get folks to wear them. The legal limit has been .008 in Illinois for some time and I routinely see folks well over that limit. I think it will take more than a generation to stop folks from texting while driving. Then again, there is one of my beloved services, jott.com which is a voice transcription to text provider. Yes I do use it when I'm driving.