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Posted on Mar 20, 2017 in Audio, Editorial, Featured, Your Texas Agriculture Minute

YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

 

Time to deal with distracted driving 

By Gene Hall

Your phone rings. A buzz signals an incoming text message. Social media notifications ding.

Imagine rolling up on a farm tractor going 25 miles per hour while you are driving 75—all while you text the details of soccer practice. That can end or ruin the lives of more than one family.

But we are all at risk here, not just farm families.

The Texas House passed a distracted driving bill last week. And the fact is, texting, or other driving distractions, is a 21st Century plague that affects us all. Most of us feel uncomfortable when our phones are out of reach. Yet that technology is something we did without for most of human existence.

Distracted driving is hitting all of us right in the wallet. Repair expenses have gone way up as our love of the smartphone has exploded. Estimated national damage is pegged at $175 billion annually

It's time to stop. And it's time to pass the distracted driving bill.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

You may read this week’s editorial above or listen to the audio version.

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