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Texting While Driving: Preventing Distracted Driving

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Texting While Driving: Preventing Distracted Driving
When trying to figure out ways to prevent distracted driving car accidents we often overlook the obvious: the perspective of the texter. My guess is that most people reading this are not teenagers, the most likely group to text and drive. The following essay was written before the recent efforts in Michigan to ban texting while driving. It has been edited for timeliness and length, but all the salient points remain. The essay was featured on Traverse City Record-Eagle’s website and was written by Traverse City West Senior High School junior Kelly Brown:

……
A beep signals from your phone. You go to grab it and take a look and see your friend would like to know where you want to go tonight.

It only takes a minute for you to open your phone and respond to the text, but it also only takes a minute for your life to be over. …show more content…
They are making the decision that at that moment a text message is more important than their lives.

The risks of texting while driving are rising, and your life is on the line. Texting while driving is a distraction and not only is your life on the line, but so is someone else’s. The risks of taking your eyes from the road for a split second are dangerous. Due to the many dangers that tag along with a driver’s license, insurance companies and car companies are trying to figure out ways to stop this problem. When the privilege of a license is placed into the hands of a teenager, so is the responsibility of life.

The definition of freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. Every teenager experiences freedom when the gift of driver’s license is place into his or her hands. Freedom is the feeling of being able to go where you please, not being held back, and being on your own for
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