Freshman Pam Thompson said she doesn’t feel safe as a pedestrian at the University of Central Arkansas.

“I see [people using their phone while driving] all the time. It’s very distracting. Usually [they’re] texting or changing music. I’ve gotten to the point where I just walk across the street and if I get hit I get hit,” Thompson said.

Junior Isaiah Kearney said he has observed peers frequently texting and driving.

“I’ve been in situations where I’ve been the passenger of somebody texting and driving. It does raise some concern at the end of the day. You want to make sure that you are aware of your surroundings while driving.”

“I think specifically texting is the biggest thing that draws the most attention away from the wheel. When you’re looking at a text message, you’re having to think about it, not passively, but attentively.” 

Texting and driving is prohibited in Arkansas under statute 27-51-1504 called “Paul’s Law.”

The law prohibits engagement in texting or accessing, reading or posting to a social networking site while driving and applies to drivers of all ages.

Arkansas also has the Fewer Distractions Mean Safer Driving Act which bans all forms of phone use while driving for drivers 18 and under and bans non-hands-free phone use while driving for those ages 18-21.

Despite these laws, drivers passing through UCA are still tempted to use their phones while driving. 

According to UCAPD Public Information Officer Michael Hopper, only 11 violations of Paul’s Law were filed from 2022-2024. Hopper added that misuse of phones while driving could also be cited as careless or unsafe driving. 

From 2022-2024 there were 47 cited careless driving violations. In the past three years, UCAPD issued 889 tickets. According to this data, violations of Paul’s Law make up 1.2% of these violations and careless driving violations make up 5.3% of these violations.

However, a 50-minute survey of afternoon traffic heading south on Donaghey when passing through the Bruce intersection suggests the actual frequency of these offenses are much higher.

Of 395 surveyed cars, 13.2% were observed using their phone in some manner and 8.4% were observed overtly staring at their phone in their hand or lap while actively driving or turning into the intersection and across the pedestrian crossing. 

At the time of day this study was conducted, traffic moved through the intersection at an average of 9.5 cars each minute. That means for every 10.5 minutes at this afternoon traffic time, 8 drivers would pass through the intersection while glancing at their phones.

Hopper said, “[Texting and driving is] something that our officers do watch out for and we’re all aware that it does happen a lot more on our campus than we would like, and certainly a lot more than we can enforce sometimes because of the other duties that our job entails.” 

Hopper said UCAPD monitors for phone misuse while driving through calls made to dispatch and through observation.

Hopper said, “Without a sustained observation of someone, it can be a hard thing to try to enforce because somebody may just be glancing down at their phone, and they may not actually be engaged in utilizing that device, but that’s where the court system comes into play.”

Hopper added that the traffic flow can also be a constraint on being able to safely and effectively get someone stopped.

Sophomore Emma Bullard said, “I think texting [while driving] is not okay. I think you should be off your phone as much as you can when you’re driving. I think if you’re in the car with somebody else and need something done, you hand your phone to them and say ‘Hey, can you do this for me?’” 

Junior Matthew Liggett said, “I try to be as safe as possible, but I also talk on the phone, like over phone calls. I think, honestly, I shouldn’t be doing that.”

Sophomore Kiara Martin said, “I think it is very unsafe to be texting and driving. Yeah, I just don’t think you should use your phone while you’re driving, period. I mean, unless you’re like, at a red light or something. But other than that, no.”

“I know for me, if I want to change the music, I’ll pick up my phone or if I hear my messages go off I’m like ‘Oh what is that?’ but I think I’m pretty good at not texting and driving unless I’m at a complete stop and stuff,” Martin said. 

Junior Isaiah Kearney said, “I definitely think there needs to be limits on how often, especially younger generations… [are] picking up [their] phones [while driving].”  

“It’s important to be considerate of the safety of others,” he added.

Kearney said, “I think we as a younger demographic tend to fear not being plugged in, and we want to have community. A lot of times, most of our community is coming directly from social media and the people we interact with, so that it becomes more important for us to reach and pick up our devices in order to get that community, and that’s where problems can occur.”

Kearney said he just uses his phone to change his playlist on Spotify while driving.