Driving under the influence of texting is a serious violation of traffic laws

Keep those hands on the wheel

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A man who ran off the road in Obfelden, canton Zurich, has had his lower-court sentence confirmed by Switzerland’s high court 7 October. The man was texting on his cell phone when he ran off the road and crashed  through a wooden fence. The man accepted the CHF1,000 fine but not the suspended fine of 75 days at CHF 150 per day and argued that since no one was hurt, he did not commit a serious traffic violation. The judges disagreed, saying that the moment he took his full attention off the road he was risking the lives of other road users.

“Distracted driving” in the US – texting and using a cellphone at the wheel – is estimated to cause 636,000 crashes, 2,600 deaths, 342,000 injuries, and costs that total $43 billion every year, according to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.

US President Obama recently has banned texting in a US government vehicle, on a US government phone, or on US government time. Both houses of Congress are considering legislation that would cut off federal highway funding from states that do not enact anti-texting legislation.

Links to other sites: 20Minuten (Ger), TdG, Washington Post