POSTED: Saturday, December 17, 2011 - 9:43pm
UPDATED: Monday, December 19, 2011 - 1:41am
EL PASO- It's something many of us are guilty of, even if we don't always admit to texting and driving. Everyone knows it's against the law, but isn't stopping a lot of people.
The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for a national ban on mobile phone use while driving.
Throughout The United States, texting while driving laws vary. Due to its obvious safety risk, the NTSB wants one unified policy.
Distracted driving is to blame for over 3,000 traffic deaths in the US last year. The government says texting is to blame for over 400 of those fatalities.
The El Paso Police Department says they have issued almost 15,000 cell phone violations in the last year and a half.
Texting while behind the wheel is something many El Pasoans admit they are guilty of.
"If I'm going to text while driving, I usually wait until I get to a light or whatever. Sit at the red light, send a really quick text. It's usually for informational purpose, you know I try to not have excessive texting going on,” said driver Allison Eudy.
"Yah, I do it at red lights, so not normally when I'm driving. Although, I have sometimes and you like run up on the curb, but I'm not going to lie,” said driver Katie Fearington.
Eudy says law enforcement themselves set a bad example.
"You’re not supposed to do it, but you see everybody else do it. I mean I've watched cops do it in the car. You know they are sitting at the light. I've seen them while they are driving down the street. So, it's really hard to see where the line is."
Ali Boyd says one of her classmate’s family members was killed when his vehicle was hit by a driver who was texting instead of paying attention to the road.
“I think that event kind of catalyzed a more internationality of driving and texting and the use of a cell phone in the car,” said Boyd.
Boyd also says her generation has been raised in a society where dependence on technology is common.
"Especially our generation with the iPhones and the smart phones. They think that, there is like this mentality like we are not going to get hurt and we are not going to hurt other people. It's pretty arrogant, but I think we are all susceptible to it for sure,” said Boyd.
Other drivers say that cell phone laws are confusing because they travel throughout the state, and different cities have different laws.