Driving While Intexticated / It's Still Against the Law

Yesterday, I was on my way home from the BWI Airport and was truly amazed at the number of drivers who were texting while driving.  I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that one in four drivers who passed me or whom I passed were texting while they were driving.

To test my theory, I looked it up today and, much to my surprise, the national average is 34% who say that they text and drive.  My favorite was a guy in a shiny black Chrysler 300 traveling at a very high rate of speed over 90 mph (I was going 75 to 80 miles an hour and he passed me like I was parked) and even he was texting.  They say that driving 55 mph is equivalent to driving the length of a football field without looking.  This guy was driving the equivalent of almost two football fields paying very little attention to the road and more attention to his phone.  

Those texting while driving came in all shapes and sizes, all different age groups, new cars and old cars; either it's a new phenomenon or I just never noticed.  I still can't believe it.  This is one law that is virtually being ignored in Maryland as it is pretty much elsewhere.  Texting is against the law in 39 states, but you would never know it.  During my last trip to South Carolina, I thought that texting while driving was not yet prohibited by law since EVERYONE was doing it.  

Talking on the their handheld phones while driving is permitted; but then again, only ten states like Maryland have banned talking on your cellphone while driving.  In SC, texting while driving is against the law and it is a primary offense.  But then again, it's a primary offense in Maryland as well, but you would never know it.  Be careful out there!