Muñoz, joined by San Angleo, Texas, Police Chief Tim Vasquez, announced a new Android cellular phone app that aims to break people of the habit by allowing drivers to turn on the app and have it auto respond while they're driving.
"Text Ya Later" allows the user to create a customized message that automatically replies to texts. The app is free and will soon be available to iPhone users.
Currently several hundred people have signed up for the app, which has been available for about a week, Muñoz said, whose office also covers Abilene. He hopes to go into schools and continue to spread the message, which is aimed at teenagers and parents.
The only law the department can enforce is no texting in school zones — a violation that can lead to a $200 fine. Officers see drivers of all ages with their eyes fixated on their phones throughout the town.
"We see driver inattention crashes occur often, across the state, across the United States," Vasquez said. "We hear horrific stories about fatalities that occur where somebody was texting. We see it often when we're driving. You see someone texting or on the phone, or googling or eating a hamburger while putting makeup on. I've seen that on the loop while coming to work."
He said it's difficult to determine whether a crash was caused by the driver texting. If an officer believes someone was texting, he or she cannot acquire a search warrant for a Class C misdemeanor, unless the crash involves injury or intoxication, he said.
Traffic Sgt. Korby Kennedy estimates 99 percent of crashes are because of inattention — someone distracted by a passenger, eating a meal, messing with the radio or fiddling with their phone.
"One of the biggest is failure to control speed," Kennedy said. "If you were paying attention to the car ahead of you, you weren't going to hit it."
Ten or 15 years ago officers didn't bother to ask about cell phone usage when they responded to crashes, but distractions have always been an issue.
"I think it's a good start," Kennedy said, "but it's still up the user."
©2014 the San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas)
