MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT: Don’t Text & Drive Rally, sponsored by Rep. Rex Damschroder.
WHEN: September 22, 2011. Formal presentations start at noon.
WHERE: Ohio Statehouse, south lawn.
SPEAKERS:
- Rep. Rex Damschroder, House District 81
- Rep. Nancy Garland, House District 20
- Columbus City Councilmember Michelle M. Mills
- Bexley Police Chief Larry Rinehart
- Captain Guy Turner, City of Westlake Police Department
- Kimberly Schwind, AAA spokesperson
- Tina Yanssens, father killed as a pedestrian by texting driver
INTERVIEWS: Speakers will be available before and after the formal presentations.
PURPOSE: To demonstrate public support for a statewide ban on texting while driving.
Also attending the rally will be representatives from several central Ohio municipalities that have laws banning texting while driving, representatives from other municipalities that support a statewide ban on texting while driving, victims of texting while driving and/or their families, and a long list of other supporters of a statewide ban on texting while driving.
Industry experts report the popularity of texting is growing. Many of these texts are sent from behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Those who text and drive aren’t only putting themselves in danger, they’re also putting other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians at risk as well.
While many forms of distracted driving exist, studies have found texting to be the most dangerous. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute discovered that taking one’s eyes off the road for two seconds doubles the risk of crashing, but, on average, those who text and drive spend nearly five seconds looking at the texting device and not at the road. This is long enough for a vehicle traveling at 55 miles per hour to drive the length of a football field.
Currently 34 states and the District of Columbia have laws banning texting while driving. In Ohio, at least 20 municipalities have laws banning texting while driving, and strides are being made for a statewide ban. House Bill 99, sponsored by state Reps. Rex Damschroder and Nancy Garland, would ban texting while driving in Ohio and make it a primary offense. This bill has passed through the House and is now awaiting Senate committee hearings.
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