Dangers of Texting While Driving

You are driving down the highway. You hear a sudden vibration from your purse or pocket. You then feel a sudden urge to reach for that object and that same moment, you begin to swerve into another car lane. Just like that, your life can flash right before your eyes and it is all because of one small object, a phone. During this time, technology has become a major factor in our lives. It influences pretty much everything we do, especially driving.

Distracted driving is defined as “the practice of driving a motor vehicle while focused on another activity”, typically a smartphone. This is a growing issue, mainly among teenagers and young adults. Distracted driving not only affects the driver, but the passengers and innocent bystanders. Approximately 9 people are killed everyday in America because of it, which may not seem like much but it could really add up overtime. The real problem is that these accidents could have been preventable. The main culprits are drivers under the age of twenty-five sending text messages and answering phone calls, while driving.

From my own experience, I know the anxious feeling when my friend glances down at her phone even just for a few seconds as we speed down the road. If I’m being transparent, I am worried about seeming “lame” or putting myself in an embarrassing situation. Though, I should not have to be put in a position where I feel like that in the first place. So I would just have to tell my friend to stop using her phone while driving, until we get to our desired destination. Even if I may feel uncomfortable about telling my friend what to do, I know I would be ensuring her safety, my safety, and the safety of the people around us. Most people do not realize that distracted driving is not just putting pedestrians and other cars at risk, but it also puts the passengers in the car at risk too. Overall, it is the driver that has sole responsibility to make sure they are doing everything in their power to keep themselves, and everyone around them safe.

This issue affects my generation primarily because our generation is the “technologically advanced” generation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Drivers under the age of twenty have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.” Even though texting while driving can be as dangerous as drinking while driving, I think people still continue to do it because they are tempted to read or send “quick” text messages. Our society’s pull to technology is strong and can become incredibly dangerous. Mostly everyone seems to have some form of a smartphone anxiously waiting to receive their next text message, or post a picture on social media. What we need to figure out now is, “How can we prevent people from using their phones while driving and save lives?”. I believe the answer might be in the question itself.

Teens go online multiple times a day to use social media and the Internet. Exposing them to an anti-distracted driving campaign would automatically reach millions of teens across the country. Teenagers should also be educated about the effects of texting while driving in school as well. Being exposed to it in school would enforce the seriousness of distracted driving. This last prevention idea may be a little drastic, but it is needed for change to really happen. There should be a way for parents to be able to monitor their children while they are driving, just to make sure they are not texting or posting. As a teen myself, we are pretty stubborn when it comes to doing the right thing. We believe just because nobody is around to stop us from texting while driving, we should do it. Though, that is the completely wrong mindset, and we need to change it.

The best way to prevent distracted driving accidents is to focus on the age group that is affected the most, which is the young adults. If we all continue to participate in these preventions, these could really change and many lives would be saved. For instance, banning cell-phone use when driving would ensure the safety of pedestrians and passengers, as well. Many lives are taken or altered because of one simple decision to just send or reply to a text message.Overall, the potential of being the cause of a lost life is not worth answering a text message. So the next time you get into the car and you hear that vibration, just think to yourself, “Is it worth it?”.