Texting while driving deadly

Aberdeen (S.D.) American News: Texting while driving should be a crime in South Dakota, and we’re disappointed the Legislature didn’t make it one. In fact, we are so passionate about this issue that we would like legislators to find a way to revive the issue and make it a violation yet this session.

Texting while driving is a serious — and deadly — issue. Just ask Miss South Dakota, Loren Vaillancourt, whose brother was killed in a vehicle accident caused by a driver distracted by texting. Or ask one of the other 16,000 families who lost a relative between 2001 and 2007 to accidents caused by texting drivers.

The number of people, including drivers, who send text messages is increasing drastically. According to national estimates, 1 million text messages were sent monthly in 2002. By 2008, Americans were sending 110 million text messages a month. The number continues to increase.

South Dakota needs to join the nearly three dozen states that have made it a crime for drivers to text. No, it won’t stop all texting drivers, but it will stop many of them. And it will send a message to our youth that texting and driving is a serious issue.