Professors threaten to lower your final grade in a class if they catch on your cell phone during class.
With threats like these most students can’t afford to use their phones until they’re out of class, walking to their cars and eventually on the road. Not all drivers are texting on the road, but Metro police officers are determined to find the drivers who are.
The Tennessean reported that the Metro Police Department has “text patrols” on the road observing drivers who seem to be texting while driving. The police officers will be in unmarked SUVs patrolling the streets looking for violators.
Kristi Mason, a theater major from Kansas, thinks that knowing what to expect will simply result in more disguised techniques.
“If the people know the police’s plan, they will try to be more discreet about texting,” Mason said. “They will lower phones down to a level [where they] completely take [their] eyes off the road.”
These antics make the issue seem far more dangerous. Can the issue can be resolved safely at all? Mason doesn’t think so.
“If people want to risk their lives and others for a simple text, they will,” Mason said.
Metro police officers are now instructed to issue tickets instead of warning violations for people caught texting and driving. Texting while driving is against the law in Tennessee, as in many other states. It’s not an obvious violation police officers can catch with a radar gun or check points, so they have resorted to the more proactive method of casing drivers on the road.
Anna Thomas, a senior pre-med student from Franklin, Tenn., doesn’t approve of cell phone usage in vehicles at all.
“Unless its a case of emergency, cell phones should not be used at all in vehicles,” Thomas said. “I hope metro makes a valiant effort to stop this, because other natural penalties can be fatal!”
A sophomore at Lipscomb, Whitley Foster agrees with Thomas but understands why people text and drive.
“I try my best not to text and drive, but the temptation is always there and I think it is that way for everyone,” Foster said. “No matter how many times you have heard stories of accidents you think that it won’t happen to you, but just looking at your phone for five seconds could change your life in an instant.”
The Metro Police are working to protect everyone on the road and hoping that everyone will contribute individually by staying off their phones while driving. But in the end, the driver has to make a decision for himself.