Distracted driving isn’t limited to texting while you drive. Distracted driving can also include eating, talking, changing the radio station, talking on your cell phone, or even fixing your hair. We’ve all seen it and many of us have personally been guilty of distracted driving to one degree or another.
Distracted driving can be terribly dangerous and puts everyone on the road at risk. It’s estimated that nearly 6,000 people die every year in auto accidents involving distracted drivers. That averages out to 16 people dying every day among the nearly 1,500 daily accidents that involve distracted drivers, nationwide.
New York's law against texting while driving went into effect November 1, 2009.
The new law forbids the use of mobile devices for reading, typing and sending text messages while driving.
The ban on texting while driving comes with fines up to $150. It was already illegal in the state to talk on a cell phone while driving.
The U.S. Transportation Department reported that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 were injured last year in crashes connected to driver distraction, often involving mobile devices or cell phones.