When I was 13, my parents gave me my first cell phone.
These were the dark ages before we had QWERTY keyboards, let alone touch-screen phones, so you had to press a number at least once or twice to get to the right letter. As a result, it wasn’t nearly as speedy as it is now, but it quickly became my favorite way to keep in touch.
Seven years later, texting is still my main form of communication, I use my phone for almost everything — to listen to music, to watch videos, to check the weather and to find my way around. In fact, the only thing I rarely use my phone for is to make phone calls.
Texting allows us to connect with people on the other side of the world within minutes, eating up the miles with our fingertips as easily as we fold up a map. Along with social media, it’s the keystone in maintaining friendships with people across the country and even the world.
Like everything else, though, there’s a time and a place for texting, and that does not include sitting in the driver’s seat.
In fact, there is now a law in South Carolina that has made texting and driving a punishable offense.
South Carolina will become the 49th state to have a ban on texting and driving.
Drivers will be able to text at a stop sign or while waiting for a traffic light to change.
Fortunately for me and others who are, say, directionally challenged, the ban doesn’t include using a GPS on your phone. The other exception to the rule is messaging someone for help in an emergency.
For the first 180 days, police will only be able to issue warnings, but after that, they would be able to issue tickets. Fines come later, with $25 for a first offense and $50 if you do it again.
I know certain habits are hard to break, and we’re all attached to our phones like they’re another limb, albeit a limb with an 8-megapixel camera, built-in speakers and retina display.
This is not the first time such legislation has winged its way through the local government. As early as 2008, attempts were made to put a ban on texting and driving in place.
Although this bill finally completed the laborious process we learned about watching Schoolhouse Rock, the question remains as to whether or not it will actually be effective.
For one thing, it seems that the law’s bark is worse than its bite.
The bill for my books last semester was $400. A necessary part of my education should not cost more than a ticket for endangering your life and the lives of others on the road.
Furthermore, enforcing the ban will be difficult at best, since police are unable to confiscate a phone to see if someone they’ve pulled over has actually been texting while driving.
It’s more or less up to the drivers of South Carolina to put down their phones while they’re on the road, and one has to hope they’re up to the task.