Hour: 2
Texting and Driving
Cell phones are becoming a part of our life more and more every day. It makes communication so much easier. Safety definitely comes first and it has become a hazard to text while driving. There has been a lot of conflict and many states have banned texting while driving. The accidents have increased so much to the point where it is called danger of texting while driving. While driving consists of full concentration, sending a text will compromise the driver’s concentration.
The U.S is admitting that they do text while driving. 81 percent of the U.S population admits to texting while driving. According to the National Safety Council, 28 percent of traffic accidents occur when people talk on the phone, or text. 1.4 Million are cause by a cell phone conversation and 200,000 are text messaging.In2008, 6,000 people were killed related to a driver distraction. “It’s hard because everyone is addicted to their cell phones,” said Jennifer Smith, a Texan whose mother was killed in a car accident when a man had ran a red light while talking on his cell phone. Nineteen states have banned text messaging while driving and 28 states have banned no cell phone use at all.
A 2009 experiment shows that texting while driving has a greater safety impact than driving while drunk. There has been proof that texting produces a much longer reaction time than driving drunk. An impaired driver took about .54 seconds to brake. Four feet were added to the breaking distance of a legally drunk driver, while 70 feet were added to the breaking distance of a texter.
Teens argue that sending a quick text is no big deal, that they have full control of the road. Obviously we all know that is false. Taking your eyes off the road for even a few seconds can cause an accident or almost cause one. Teens also think texting and driving isn’t as bad as being intoxicated while driving. In a poll, 14-17 year olds were asked whether they thought they would die one day if they regularly text and drive. Only 35 percent of the teens strongly agreed with that statement.
This topic is getting more controversial and teens still seem to not understand the concept and still continue to text and drive. They have friends or families that tell them they know someone who died while they were on their phone but they just continue to put their lives in jeopardy. States need to continue banning phones and texting while driving because receiving a ticket will make teens think twice.
