Texting And Driving Rhetorical Analysis

Hannah Kidder
Disha Acharya
English 101
October 9, 2013
Save it for L8R Over 100,000 accidents a year involve drivers who are texting. (www.itcanwait.com) Our natural instinct when we feel the vibration from our cell phones or hear our cell phones going off is to check it, right? We do this often, especially when behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Most of us do not see the danger we put not only ourselves, but others, in every time we check a text or email or phone call while driving. The advertisement, “Texting and Driving: SD Department of Highway Safety”, is a very touching and emotional advertisement aimed at educating the public of what could possibly happen when distracted driving occurs due to our cell phone. The advertisement
opens with a young woman driving. She is already seen holding a cell phone in her hand and driving with the other hand. Her first words are, “This new phone is awesome.” (www.youtube.com/watch) She is constantly seen taking her eyes off the road to look at the camera. This woman goes on to describe how “awesome” (www.youtube.com/watch) her new phone is. She goes on to state that this new phone “has made my life so much easier”, (www.youtube.com/watch) when in a few seconds, her world is about to be turned upside down all because of the new phone. This young woman goes on to claim that she becomes bored when driving and sees this new phone as her way to keep herself occupied while behind the wheel. She continues to take her eyes off the road as if she is talking too us, clearly showing how distracted she is. A glimpse is shown of a young child running into the street chasing after a big red ball, obviously something this woman does not see. The advertisement ends with the young woman slamming on her breaks and screaming after seeing the young child in the road. A messages appears on the screen shortly after, “Texting and driving. Save a Life. Save it for L8R.” (www.youtube.com/watch) The advertisement I chose contains Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.
Ethos refers to the speaker (generally the writer) or the speaker’s character. Logos refers to the content and the reasoning behind the argument. And lastly, Pathos refers to the emotions behind the argument or statement. For starters, this advertisement contains an enormous amount of Pathos. From the first few seconds we are struck with the reality of what we as a society do every day. The woman is doing exactly what many people do on a daily basis, and it quickly occurs to us that we are in the wrong and often don’t realize the danger behind it. Our emotions escalade as she continues to drive distracted and we feel almost as if we want to tell her to stop. In the end of the advertisement, the emotion behind it almost makes your heart stop as she hits the little child in the road. His sneaker is shown at the end of the advertisement lying in the road. We are left feeling sad and embarrassed. It makes us realize how lucky we are to have not encountered such a torturous situation, but also realizing how easily it can
happen. Here are a few facts about the dangers of texting and driving.
“In 2007, driver distractions, such as using a cell phone or text messaging, contributed to nearly 1,000 crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers. Over 60 percent of American teens admit to risky driving, and nearly half of those that admit to risky driving also admit to text messaging behind the wheel. Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year. Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.” ("Texting and Cell Phone Use While Driving Statistics.") There is such need for advertisements such as this one, due to the fact that so many people still continue to text and drive.
The public needs to be aware of the dangers texting and driving lead too. Awareness is slowly being heightened due to the increasing numbers of wrecks involving texting and driving. This advertisement, along with many others are aimed at the public and give a very true depiction of the reality and the dangers. This advertisement is incredibly persuasive due to the extended use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. The goal of the advertisement is to show you exactly what could happen when distracted driving. From the very beginning of the advertisement to the little boys’ sneaker lying in the road, we are shown the reality of the situation and our emotions are heightened. The advertisement captures our attention and keeps us holding on to the very end. It forces us to think about our actions as well as others actions around us. We are left very wretched and distraught after watching the entire
advertisement. We as humans often do not consider the warnings and pay attention to the advertisements we constantly see on TV or the internet on texting and driving. We think in the terms of, “None of that has happened to me, so I just won’t worry about it.” When the truth of the matter is that an accident whether minor or extreme, causing death, can happen in a split second. Not only do we endanger our own lives every time we pick up the cell phone while driving, but we also endanger the lives around us. As stated before, the cell phone is the leading distraction in people of all ages. The amount of deaths and injuries due to something as simple as texting is astounding, and the numbers continue to increase over the years. You could be the next number in these statistics. No text is worth it. Save it for L8R.

WORKS CITED:

AT&T, . "Take The Pledge Against Texting And Driving." It Can Wait. AT&T. Web. 6 Oct 2013. .
Law Offices of Edgar Snyder & Associates®, . "Texting and Cell Phone Use While Driving
Statistics." edgarsnyder.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct 2013. .
"Texting and Driving: SD Department of Highway Safety." www.Youtube.com. SD Department of Highway Safety, 15 06 2010. Web. 8 Oct 2013. .