Texting While Driving

Texting While Driving Even More Dangerous The popularity of texting has caused an unforeseen danger- texting while driving. It has been proven scientifically that texting while driving reduces your awareness by almost half, and that texting while driving is over four times more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. These are very disturbing results for anyone on the road, especially since it has been proven that an estimated 65% of drivers are texting and driving every single day. There are some opponents of the new laws that punish drivers that text. Their primary argument is that texting while driving is the least of the dangers we have on the road compared to driving with under the influence of alcohol. We should continue to support the decisions that were made to ban the use of texting while driving. Such behavior has huge unintended consequences- serious injury or death of drivers and passengers but it also can lead to distractions while driving. Texting and driving takes away one of the important thing that everyone counts on doing while driving is the vision. One’s eyes is suppose to be on the road at all times, no matter where you put your phone, in your lap, in your purse, or even in dash board, it only takes one beep of a message; takes one’s vision away from driving. It doesn’t matter how fast a person think they are, there are always a possibilities. It only takes a second to read and reply a message a car accident can happen. A great example of a young man named Reggie Shaw was ordered by court to share his story to teens of a deadly texting while driving accident that happened to him. Shaw never intended to harm anyone but his texting while driving led to a death of two men in top of the hood of Shaw’s car in Cache County, Utah. He served thirty days in jail and now talk to students why one should not text and drive. Shaw said, "He has to live every single day knowing that he took two families’ husbands away from them."(ksl.com) Vision is very important when driving and needed always to be in the road and if it not, a lot of harm can be cause.
Another type of distractions that texting while driving take one’s away is manual, meaning taking one or more hands off the wheel. Driving requires a lot of attention and concentration but when texting and sending text messages will compromise the driver’s attention. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, 16% of all fatal crashes in 2008 were caused by driver distraction. (texting-while-driving.org) Today, many of us find many studies that test the effects of texting while driving. The one conclusion everyone seems to find about texting is that it impairs the driver’s abilities. The most common thing happens when the driver is texting is that the driver would turn away from the road for at least three to five seconds, which is enough time for a person to run in front of the car or another car would make a sudden stop or missing seeing the traffic light change.
Likewise, texting has become so popular in society that too many people ignore the laws banning practice. During 2008 study by CTIA, the mobile industry’s trade association found out that among teens ages thirteen to nineteen, 57% view their cell phones as key to their social life, and most teen see texting as a vital feature. And yet to mix texting with driving is extremely dangerous. According to the US department of transportation reported that distracted driving played a role in nearly 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries in 2009. Texting involves visions, manual which a July 2009 study from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows increases the risk of a crash 23.2 times higher than driving while intoxicated. (Texting-while-driving)
Many teens today still texting while driving because law enforcement doesn’t have enough time in the day to enforce all the rules of the vehicles codes and there is not enough police officer to cover all daily calls. Texting while driving may not be priority enforcement when the police car computer screen as many back up calls waiting to be handled. This is why teens get a verbal warning. Violations for texting are 20 dollars to fifty, while drinking and driving gets jail time. Increasing the amount for a texting citation will not save lives and would not decrease the amount of teens texting. Most teens wouldn’t care because they have their parents to pay for the price tag. The key to reversing the movement is education about the danger of texting and driving. The most important teaching of what not to do while driving is the teen’s parents. Parents must live by example and if their teens see the parent talking or texting on the cell, how can the parent expect their teen to follow the rules and regulations of this great state. The teen learns first by watching their parents while they are growing up and so, it is up to the parents/guardians to influence the teen to follow the rules of the road and not text behind the wheel.
In closing, if society’s goal is to lower teens and people’s deaths caused by texting, we must continue to lecture, inform, and teach our young teens the serious consequences of texting while driving. Increasing patrol and enforcement for texting violations will help. Mandated classes about cell use prior to a teen getting his or her license is a must. Parents and guardians must show and live by example. Today’s laws make it illegal to text while driving on a highway. Many people do not see making a change in banning texting while driving would help save more teen lives on our highway.

Work Cited
Boal, By Jed. "Ksl.com - Man Shares Story of Deadly Texting-while-driving Accident."
Ksl.com - Utah News, Sports, Weather and Classifieds. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. .
Fumento, Michael. "Newspaper Text And Driving." Dying For A Text Message [Los
Angeles] 03 Oct. 2010: A.27+. ProQuest 5000. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. .
Texting While Driving. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. .
Wood, Daniel B. “Texting-shile-driving crackdown coming July 4 weekend.” Christian
Science Monitor July 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

Cited: Boal, By Jed. "Ksl.com - Man Shares Story of Deadly Texting-while-driving Accident." Ksl.com - Utah News, Sports, Weather and Classifieds. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . Fumento, Michael. "Newspaper Text And Driving." Dying For A Text Message [Los Angeles] 03 Oct. 2010: A.27+. ProQuest 5000. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. . Texting While Driving. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. . Wood, Daniel B. “Texting-shile-driving crackdown coming July 4 weekend.” Christian Science Monitor July 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.