Residents of All Ages Support Texting Ban

Needham residents from 17 to 91 expressed support Monday for a bill, awaiting Gov. Deval Patrick's signature, that would ban text messaging while driving in Massachusetts.

More than a dozen residents, selected at random in Needham center, said texting behind the wheel is too distracting and too dangerous. They all agreed it should be outlawed (Police Chief Tom Leary offered his thoughts on the bill last week).

The legislation, already passed by the state House and Senate, calls for fines of $100, $250 and $500 for people caught texting while driving on their first, second and third offenses, respectively.

The safe-driving bill also makes it illegal for drivers less than 18 years of age to use cell phones at all while operating motor vehicles and requires those greater than 75 to take eye exams every five years to renew their licenses.

A look at the resident responses:

Nick Galatis

Texting has become second nature to 18-year-old Nick Galatis.

"It's like my main source of communication," he said. "I do it all the time."

However, even Galatis, a recent Needham High School graduate, doesn't believe he's able to text while operating a motor vehicle safely.

"When you text, normally you use two hands and a pair of eyes," he said, "and when you drive, you also use two hands and a pair of eyes, so it doesn't really work if you don't have four hands and four eyes."

Harold Furash

A longtime Needham resident, Harold Furash, 91, has never sent a text message in his life, but he still understands the dangers of texting on the road.

"Anything that you do that distracts you any percentage while you're operating your motor vehicle aught to be banned," he said. "I mean, it's dangerous."

Molly Cameron

A rising senior at Needham High, Molly Cameron knows the dangers of texting while driving and said she supports any effort to curb the reckless behavior.

Cameron, 17, has friends who have gotten their licenses taken away from accidents caused by texting. She said it's hard enough just driving as a teenager.

"I'm a teenager," she said, "so I'm already all over the road, and if I have my phone with me and I hear it ringing and my friends are texting me, I can barely focus on the road."

Other Provisions

All interviewees agreed that the proposed teenage cell phone ban should apply to all drivers.

Galatis said, in a recent high school lab experiment, his class found that talking on a cell phone considerably delayed people's reaction time.

They also all supported the portion of the bill that would have the elderly get their vision checked every five years, although Furash had one complaint.

"Seventy-five seems like a little young to me (to start testing)," he said.