"Automobiles are not ferocious... it is man who is to be feared." ~Robbins B. Stoeckel
Texting while driving is a serious problem, especially among teenagers. Texting while driving makes it 23x more likely to get in a crash and just reaching for a phone makes a crash 1.4x more likely (DWI). With teenagers already at a higher risk to get into an accident, they don't need it increased by sending a meaningless text. Although these facts are apparent and true, nearly 55% of young drivers would argue that texting and driving is easy (DWI). in order to see how accurate this information really is, my partner and I made a survey and passed it out to a number of our peers. The results were alarming. According to the survey, a little more than 27% of our peers that drive admit to texting while driving, versus the 22% that don't use their phones while behind the wheel. Even worse, only 1% of students say that they turn their phone off while driving. What the people who choose to text while driving don't know is how dangerous texting while driving can be. When your text, you are looking away from the road for at least five seconds, and if you are going 55 mph, that is equal to driving the entire length of a football field without looking ("DWI"). Another little known fact is that teens who text while driving spend almost 10% of the time driving outside of their lane ("DWI"). If that doesn't make you think twice before texting behind the wheel, I don't know what will.
With numbers like this, people shouldn't be surprised by all the sudden car accidents occurring around the world. If drivers would put their phones down while they drive, the world would be a much safer place to live in. If you are in the car and the driver starts texting, you should ask them to stop or at least offer to text for them. According to our survey, only 15% of teens would ask a driver to stop texting and a surprisingly low 24% of them would just ignore it. For the safety of the public, those numbers need to change. According to http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com , approximately 33% of teen deaths are due to car accidents, and a lot of those accidents are caused because one, or more, of the drivers involved were texting. Everyone is at risk when they text while driving, but studies have shown that 16 year olds have a higher crash rate than anyone ("11 Facts"); a teens already high chance of crashing is only increased when they think that they can text at the same time.
The reason we are bringing this issue to light is that not every American State has a law prohibiting using s phone while driving an automobile. In fact only 10 states, and D.C., prohibit use of handheld devices while operating an automobile("Distracting Driving Laws"). This means that in 40 states, people are allowed to verbally communicate on the phone without breaking a law. Thankfully, Many more states have laws against texting and driving. According to http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html 39 states, and D.C., have laws prohibiting the mobile messaging while driving.
With numbers like this, people shouldn't be surprised by all the sudden car accidents occurring around the world. If drivers would put their phones down while they drive, the world would be a much safer place to live in. If you are in the car and the driver starts texting, you should ask them to stop or at least offer to text for them. According to our survey, only 15% of teens would ask a driver to stop texting and a surprisingly low 24% of them would just ignore it. For the safety of the public, those numbers need to change. According to http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com , approximately 33% of teen deaths are due to car accidents, and a lot of those accidents are caused because one, or more, of the drivers involved were texting. Everyone is at risk when they text while driving, but studies have shown that 16 year olds have a higher crash rate than anyone ("11 Facts"); a teens already high chance of crashing is only increased when they think that they can text at the same time.
The reason we are bringing this issue to light is that not every American State has a law prohibiting using s phone while driving an automobile. In fact only 10 states, and D.C., prohibit use of handheld devices while operating an automobile("Distracting Driving Laws"). This means that in 40 states, people are allowed to verbally communicate on the phone without breaking a law. Thankfully, Many more states have laws against texting and driving. According to http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html 39 states, and D.C., have laws prohibiting the mobile messaging while driving.