Persuassive Manuscript Texting & Driving

Persuasive Speech Manuscript
English Honors III
16 January 2013
Text behind the wheel, and someone may be killed.
No one wants to receive a call that says someone close to them died. No one means any harm by texting and driving; but texting behind the wheel is very harmful. “26% of teens say they read or send a text at least one time every time they drive.” (www.FCC.gov) 26%. That’s a pretty good percentage of just teens alone, that’s not even counting adults. No one considers themselves to be a killer, until it’s too late. I’ve been on the opposite side of that phone call, receiving the call my Aunt passed away. The man nailed the passenger side, where she was sitting, going roughly 40 miles an hour, she died at the scene. He said he was sorry, but that wouldn’t bring her back to me. I’ve found it in my heart to forgive the man, but if I could see him, I’d tell him I hope that text was worth it, worth the life that he took. People need to see that texting behind the wheel isn’t some joke, it’s serious. The man that hit my Aunt wasn’t some teenager; it was a middle age man. The problem doesn’t lie with just teenagers; it’s everyone, the young and the old. The problem with texting and driving that many people don’t take into consideration is for one it delays one’s reaction time, it’s a distraction, and it’s beginning to get out of control.
When someone is texting behind the wheel their attention from the road is divided. Part is to that text, and the other to the road. One statistic states,” texting while driving makes you four

736524 2 times more likely to cause a crash. “(www.dosomething.org) Due to the fact that you’re reading the text means you aren’t really looking at the road or being aware of everything around you as a result. Many people say that they can multitask while they drive. But it’s been proven that on certain things they can’t. For instance, many people are able to eat and drive. But most people who say they can text and drive struggle because of the attention that must be given to the phone .Especially nowadays with people texting and driving. “Inattention to the forward roadway was found to be the primary contributing factor in most crashes and collisions.” (http://www.research.vt.edu) This research study was done in Virginia Tech College. This shows statically wise that people’s attention is split between the road and whatever else they’re doing. This can delay someone’s reaction time if they’re looking at their phone reading or sending some text, “Focusing on a cell phone instead of the road leads to delayed reaction times” (www.csmonitor.com). This can cause crashes, and in some cases death. In my case, the distraction of the phone resulted in death. When one drives many things can be distracting: other cars, animals, or different things. Different things such as texting while one is behind the wheel. Phones have become so distracting that now,” American Automobile Association says 50% of teens admit to texting and driving. “(www.FCC.gov). That number is especially high, and it will only increase unless stricter laws and regulations are going to be made. Another statement is how states have been starting to ban texting and driving, “Already 19 states and the District of Columbia ban texting by all drivers, while 9 others prohibit it by young drivers.” (Greenhaven Press 77) There is
736524 3 progress, but there could be more. People must realize that the things they do while driving can affect other people. That text that was just read could cause an innocent person to die, due to that phone distracting the driver. It’s not just themselves that are being put in danger by the phone; it’s also everyone else that’s around them. And that’s what people, young and old can’t comprehend, that a phone can be all that distracting. The usage of people on their cellular devices is beginning to get out of control. For instance,” 58% of high school seniors said they had texted while driving” (www.dosomething.org). The numbers just keep increasing. One man calls it a “national epidemic” (www.csmonitor.com). and who’s to say that it’s going to be getting any better anytime soon. Many people don’t find texting and driving to be a problem, because they fail to see the big picture. One must see that 28% of people are texting and driving and that may not be a big deal now, but what happens when that number keeps rising? Will that be the wakeup call people will need in order for action to be taken? A survey that was done found out that,” teens who texted while driving sent an average of twenty-three text messages while driving monthly” (www.dosomething.org). That’s roughly an average of just teens alone, and who’s to say how many texts adults send out too? A problem that many people face with the usage of phones behind the wheel when in the car is how someone can enforce it? And it is very hard to try and catch people in the act of texting behind the wheel. So how would we do it? Police officers, mayors, governors, are all trying to figure out a way to crack down on texting and driving, but how can one do that if it’s so hard to enforce. This is a point that a council woman from Odessa, Texas brought up. She voiced opposition to a ban on texting while
736524 4 driving stating,” The measure was not enforceable.” (www.newyorktimes.com) She said how it’s too hard to make a ban, if it’s not even going to be enforceable. A policewoman states that,” With texting and driving it’s a little bit more challenging to catch them in the act because we have to see it. And if they are holding it down in their lap it’s going to be harder for us to see it. Verse if someone is talking on the phone.” (Greenhaven Press 76) She has a valid argument, it has to be hard to try and catch someone texting while driving, because they can have their phones on their lap, or other places. Seventeen year old Anna Hauer says how,” by the time they pull you over, chances are that you are going to be done with your text anyway so they can’t exactly prove that you were texting.” (Greenhaven Press 79) Another point that people who are against fixing texting and driving is that it’s an issue of freedom. We live in a free country, with the freedom of speech, and freedom of press, and they feel that by taking away people’s ability to text while behind the wheel is like stripping the people from their freedoms. Both are great points as to why there shouldn’t be a ban on texting while driving. But it is enforceable, it’s just inconvenient. It makes it harder for the police to tell yes, but it’s easy to tell if someone is looking at the road, or their lap. Anna Hauer said how it wouldn’t matter anyways because by the time they pull someone over they’ll be done with the text. But due to the advances in technology most of cellphones nowadays show when the texts where sent out. That’d give them away. We are very fortunate to have the freedoms that Americans have. But when people are being injured, and killed action must be taken. People would have to find the boundaries. Have it where people are still able to have their phones in the car, just not text while driving; text when you’re parked. There is no text that is so important it has to be read or responded to while driving. That way the people still have their freedoms, and
736524 5 the issue can be handled. People need to know the bans if they’re put in place on texting and driving and know that it wouldn’t be tolerated. Texting and driving wouldn’t happen and if it does there’s going to be punishment. People have to know that the police are going to be on top of it. Texting and driving will never be stopped, that’s unrealistic to ever think it could be; but we can try to lower the percentage down as low as we possibly can. People need to pay attention to the road when they drive, not their phones. If that guy would have paid more attention to the road he wouldn’t have plowed my Aunt. There are enough distractions when driving that we can’t allow phones to become one of them. We have to do what’s best for everyone and banning texting while driving is it.

Works Cited
Teens Still Texting and Driving. 12-15-12. www.dosomething.org
Nick Swartsel. Cities Disagree on Texting-Driving Ban. Oct 27, 2012. 12-12-12. www.newyorktimes.com
N.A. 12-15-12. www.FCC.gov
N.A. 12-14-12. www.csmonitor.com
Heidi Watkins. Risky Teen Behavior. 12-15-12. Greenhaven Press

Cited: Teens Still Texting and Driving. 12-15-12. www.dosomething.org Nick Swartsel. Cities Disagree on Texting-Driving Ban. Oct 27, 2012. 12-12-12. www.newyorktimes.com N.A. 12-15-12. www.FCC.gov N.A. 12-14-12. www.csmonitor.com Heidi Watkins. Risky Teen Behavior. 12-15-12. Greenhaven Press