TO THE EDITOR:
Last week, the Global Day of Remembrance for Road Accident Victims fell just one week after the N.C. Supreme Court accepted the case involving the town of Chapel Hill’s mobile phone ordinance.
Ironically, the Supreme Court process will halt the enactment of this ordinance, one that is necessary to protect all people in Chapel Hill who may potentially become road accident victims.
In 2010, Krista Slough, then a UNC student, was walking across the street when she was struck from behind by a car and thrown 18 feet. Due to extensive brain injuries, Krista never fully recovered the life she once had. In honor of Krista, and all those whose safety is threatened by a lack of road regulations in Chapel Hill, it’s time to make a change and have our voice heard for a healthier UNC.
Of undergraduates, 67 percent reported either personally being involved or knowing someone who was involved in a motor vehicle crash where the use of a cellphone was present. We are not invincible. We need policies to protect us.
A study from the University of Utah found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cellphone as they are when they drive with a 0.08 BAC. We have laws to discourage behavior that threatens the common good — why should it be any different for cellphone use and driving? We don’t allow people to drive drunk or smoke in public — why should we allow them to drive while distracted by a phone when we have research proving the harmfulness?
We need to get UNC leaders like Carol Folt publicly on board to advocate for the safety of the UNC community and speak in support of the mobile phone ordinance so that the entire University can rally behind banning mobile phone use in cars for a healthier UNC. As a town, we need to advocate for policies that protect us and talk to legislators and demand the tools for a safer Chapel Hill. We cannot wait on this issue.
Margaret Holt Smith
Graduate student
Gillings School of Global Public Health
