Letters: Enforce punishment for texting
Photo illustration of texting while driving. Credit: Newsday, 2011 / Thomas A. Ferrara
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has made tremendous progress in its efforts to stop drunken driving. Sadly, these efforts are now being challenged by another nightmare, texting while driving ["The solution to smartphone stupidity," Opinion, July 25].
Defensive driving has been replaced by indifferent driving. When terror is a constant companion because individuals text and drive, it is time to enforce "you do the crime, you do the time."
Unless the consequences trump the indiscretion, a lesson will not be learned: 30 days in jail and a six-month license suspension. The best learned lessons are the lived ones, and this is one lesson that will allow all of us to live longer.
Mary Ann Coyne, Farmingdale
Harsher penalties for texting while driving are great for raising revenue, but not as a safety measure. Inexpensive methods already exist that block texting while driving: phone apps, or an under-dashboard plug-in device.
In fact, my Nissan Leaf automatically prevents fiddling with the touch screen while the car is moving. Requiring automatic blocking is a far better idea.
Daryl Altman, Lynbrook
