Why a Texting Ban Failed in Missouri
Lawmakers love to "get tough" on society's ills. But banning something is often better politics than policy—as states that have outlawed texting behind the wheel are starting to learn. In 2009 a dozen states rushed to restrict the practice; 20 more are expected to follow this year, and Congress is considering making the bans universal. But hold on, say traffic experts: the bans are virtually useless in practice. Missouri's State Highway Patrol has nabbed just eight text offenders in five months, and since law enforcement often can't tell the difference between illegal phone jockeying and someone rooting around for change, few doubt a similar outcome nationwide.
Bans can help change behavior, of course. But they often require a simultaneous public-awareness cam-paign, along the same lines as "Don't Drink and Drive." So far only Utah has gone that route, producing a 15--minute documentary about a texting accident that's shown in schools. For a politician, however, "I made a PSA" just doesn't have much punch.
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Sarah Kliff covers the intersection of heath and politics for NEWSWEEK, reporting on a range of topics from assisted suicide to federal health care reform to reproductive rights and abortion politics. In the summer of 2009, she profiled embattled, late-term abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart and his plan to open a new clinic in the wake of George Tiller's murder. Sarah is a frequent contributor to the Gaggle, Newsweek's political blog, where she has covered health care reform and the ensuing battle over abortion language.
Sarah joined NEWSWEEK in the summer of 2007 as a health intern. She spent 2008 as the assistant to the national affairs editor, contributing reporting to eight cover stories and spending a week on the road with Vice President Joe Biden, and joined the health team in March 2009. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she served as editor in chief of her campus newspaper, Student Life, and majored in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology.
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