When 22-year-old Justin Pittman sent a text message while driving one evening last June in his hometown of Pottsboro, Texas, he never dreamed it would be his last.
“He was just going to go home and take a shower and come right back,” Jessica Carter, psychology senior, said of her close friend from high school. “It was only about a mile to his house and he left and he was on these back-country roads.”
Carter said Pittman’s truck swerved off the road, flipped over into a ditch and threw him out as he was trying to type a text message, killing him instantly. Pittman was not wearing a seat belt.
“The reason they knew he was texting was because he had text messages sent and received right around the time that it happened,” Carter said. “A lot of people thought at first he had been drinking, but that wasn’t it. It was the texting.”
Pittman, who would have graduated this December from Southeastern University in Durant, isn’t the first — or the last — to be involved in a collision due to texting. Cell phones cause an estimated 2,600 U.S. traffic deaths every year, according to a Harvard study.
But it’s impossible to present completely accurate data on the topic because cell phone usage during an accident is self-reporting, and police are not required to ask drivers whether they were using the phone, said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Maj. Rusty Rhoades.
However, the texting and driving phenomenon could become less common in Oklahoma if the state passes a law next year banning texting behind the wheel. The practice is already outlawed in 14 other states.
Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, introduced House Bill 1782 into the Oklahoma Legislature last spring, which would have banned texting while driving and limited cell phone usage to hands-free devices only. Drivers pulled over for doing so would receive a citation. Modeled after legislation from other states, the bill includes exceptions for emergency situations.
“I think young people don’t understand how vulnerable they are,” Tibbs said. “I’ve had some people say you’re violating people’s civil rights, but really, when you’re saving lives, you’re helping them. Young people have a tendency to do what they’re going to do unless you put restrictions on them.”
Majority Floor Leader Rep. Tad Jones, R-Claremore, said he did not hear the bill because of concerns about restricting cell phone usage.
“We had a lot of members that had concern about the cell phone portion of it, that everybody uses their cell phones when they drive,” Jones said. “They just wanted to look at that before we pass a law on it.”
Tibbs said she plans to reintroduce the bill into the Legislature next spring, although she will make a few minor changes. She said she will add a provision that bans reading texts while driving as well.
“I think it will get heard, although I believe there’s going to be some controversy,” Tibbs said. “I believe it will pass.”
Jones said the bill could present difficulties.
“It’s just as difficult as speeding,” Jones said. “If there’s nobody there to see you speed, then you don’t get pulled over. It would be pretty difficult to enforce.”
Rhoades said he does not see difficulty in enforcing a texting ban.
“I don’t think difficulty is an issue,” he said. “It’s not unlike speed limits. If there were no speed limits, people would be speeding everywhere. Because the law’s in place, there is a ‘being caught,’ in reality. The potential to decrease that type of activity is certainly there.”
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol would support and enforce the law if put into place, he said.
“We see it out there. We know that it is dangerous,” Rhoades said. “We would certainly be supportive, opinion-wise. It is a common sense issue.”
Jones agreed a texting ban could help alleviate the problem and said the Legislature would be more likely to approve Tibbs’ updated version of the bill.
“I think it would cut on the number of people that are doing it, just like speeding,” Jones said. “I think there would definitely be a drop in the usage. I think it is unsafe on the texting side of things, so we’ll probably support that legislation.”
Carter said her friend’s death has made her think twice before texting behind the wheel, and that she would support an Oklahoma law banning the practice.
“[The accident] doesn’t even have to be your fault,” Carter said. “Somebody can make a mistake because you’re not watching. Even if you’ve been drinking, you have your eyes on the road. Your eyes are completely off the road if you’re texting.”
Carter admitted she, too, was guilty of texting while driving before her friend’s tragedy.
“Ever since that happened, I try not to do it because I see what effect it can have,” she said. “It’s just not worth it.”
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Gene 2 years, 8 months ago
They should ban talking on cell phones while driving too. Maybe "everybody" does it, but it's still dangerous and irresponsible.
Screwdriver 2 years, 8 months ago
While I agree with a proposed bill outlawing texting while driving (and even a ban on talking on cell phones while operating a vehicle, as mentioned in the comment above), the information in this article is about as credible and grounded in logic as smalltown gossip from my grandma.
Hopefully Rep. Tibbs will be able to gather more support for the bill than hearsay and officers' opinions about "common sense."