Can Handing Out Txting Kills Thumb Bands Stop People From Texting While Driving?
We’ve pointed out that some recent studies have suggested that laws that ban texting-while-driving may have actually made the roads more dangerous, because it hasn’t stopped people from texting, but just caused them to further hide the activity by holding the phone down low — forcing them to take their eyes off the road more. This isn’t to say that we think texting while driving is a good idea — it’s not. But just because you pass a law trying to ban a really dumb idea, it doesn’t mean it will have the desired effect, and the early evidence suggests that there are serious unintended consequences with these laws. Instead of laws, I think that a combination of education and technology could be a lot more effective, and it appears that at least some law enforcement folks are trying to increase the educational aspect. Parker Mason points us to the news that police in Iowa have started issuing “Txting Kills” thumb bands (sort of like the Livestrong bracelets… but for your thumb) rather
