A Text is Never Worth a Life

Cecelia
Hund

A
Text is Never Worth a Life

3
March 2020

My
uncle Michael was one of my favorite relatives. When my brothers and
sisters and I would go over to Grandma’s house for big family
dinners, he would be there, ready for us to dog-pile on him. He had a
lot of energy, which was perfect, because he tolerated us a lot more
than most adults. To channel all of his energy and stay active, he
raced motorcycles and played rugby. Michael always had a love for
anything that could possibly be considered dangerous by his mother.

One
day, at the end of June, Michael was on his way to fill up his racing
bike with gasoline before a race. My grandma had begged him not to
race bikes anymore, that it was too dangerous, but he just didn’t
see it the same way. My uncle was a good driver, he had to be to keep
up with his lifestyle. Unfortunately, not everyone on the road could
be as skilled and focused as Michael. In one fatal mistake, a man had
just looked up from his phone to wave another car to turn left, not
checking his mirrors. If he had checked his mirrors, he would have
seen my uncle driving in the lane to the right of him, a couple
hundred feet behind him. The car turned left, and Michael collided
with the passenger door head on, with nothing but his helmet to
protect him. His neck snapped back, and the collision had caused him
and his bike to ignite into flames. Bystanders quickly put the flames
out, but it didn’t reverse what had happened. My 24 year old uncle
died on the scene of that crash.

I
was 9 when my uncle died, so it was hard for me to understand someone
being gone permanently. However, it was not difficult for me to
understand that there was not a single text that man could have been
typing that would make my uncle’s death worth it. I saw first-hand
the devastation that bled through my family like spilled ink on blank
paper. Even as a naive 9 year old, I hated that man for not taking
just a second longer before waving that car in front of him to turn
left.

With
technology today, wrecks like these are only becoming more frequent.
When we step a foot into our cars, drive an inch out of our
driveways, we have a 1 in 77 chance of getting into a car crash,
according to Matt Schmitz, the writer for Cars.com. According to the
website TeenSafe, texting can increase the likelihood of a crash 24
times. They also state that each day, 11 teens die in texting-related
car crashes. These statistics alone should deter someone from using
their device while operating a 2,000+ pound machine, going over 40
miles an hour, but it doesn’t, and that’s terrifying.

My
story of Michael is nowhere near a rarity. Nearly everyone knows
somebody who has been in, or died in a car wreck. TeenSafe retells
several true stories of crashes caused by cell-phone use, including
one about a man who was just 20 years old and who was also the reason
13 people are not alive today. He was using his phone while driving a
pick-up truck, eventually colliding with a mini-bus. He was sentenced
to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

These
stories are beyond depressing, but they are very real, and we need to
take them seriously. Schools push the movement of saying no to drugs,
but I firmly believe they should just adamantly push the idea that
texting while driving is almost just as dangerous. If we can implant
the idea in young minds that texting while driving is wrong, I
believe those kids would be less likely to do it, potentially saving
lives on the road, like my uncle Michael’s.

Works
Cited:

Schmitz,
Matt. “Are the Odds Ever in Your Favor? Car Crashes Versus Other
Fatalities”

Cars.com.
Date Accessed: 3 March 2020.

Teendriveadmin.
“Texting and Driving Facts and Statistics.” TeenSafe.
Teensafe.com. Date

Accessed:
3 March 2020.