Texting And Driving Essay

Texting while driving is a widespread epidemic in the United States that has unfavorable effects on our society.“Driving while texting is the standard wording used for traffic violations” (Bernstein). It causes many people to be distracted which can lead to accidents. “Eighty-nine percent of people own a cell phone” (Gardner). That is a plethora of people that are at risk of texting while driving. Also, texting has increased by ten times in three years(Bernstein). “The risk of a crash for those who are texting is twenty-three point two times greater than those who are not” (Gardner).Driving drunk only makes a person seven times more likely to be in a crash (Bernstein). This means texting while driving is three times more dangerous than driving

Many different states are placing fines on texting now; this has changed in the past ten years. The laws may need to become stricter for teenagers to take the penalties more seriously. “Many states still only charge a fine for causing a death while texting and driving” (9). This shows laws are still not nearly as strict as they should be.“If a person crashes their car while texting, it can increase the severity of damage because head on crashes are more likely and the person driving will have to pay for damage to both cars as well as the medical expenses from the injuries” (Gardner). Charges are being brought to drivers that are texting while driving. It can be a loss of their driver’s license and repeated offences can bring about more severe punishment. Also, if there is a death involved during the crash, homicide charges can be brought up on the person and it may consist of jail time and court costs.Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws banning texting while driving. Nine states prohibit teenagers from texting while driving (5). Senator Charles Schumer of New York introduced legislation that withhold twenty-five percent of federal highway funding if a state does not put into effect some type of texting ban (5). “The Chief of Oxford Police Partridge described how a man reacted after hitting a pedestrian, ‘He realized he was texting while driving, dropped his phone, and

One source stated, “40% of teens have ridden with someone using a phone” (Genachowski). However, the negative effects brought on by texting and driving outweigh the benefits of being able to communicate while a person is driving. “In the last year, there have been 100,000 crashes which involved texting while driving”(Genachowski). All of those wrecks were preventable, because they were caused by someone not following the rules. One in six fatal crashes are caused by distracted driving(9).The physical, mental, and economic effects that texting and driving can cause can be detrimental to all that are involved. One source said,” Texting while driving is the most death provoking action to do while driving” (Bernstein). This statement shows that texting while driving is not a problem people should laugh about; this is a serious and even life-threatening problem. Teenagers need to realize, through parent and peer education, that the responsibility of driving a vehicle is extremely important. It should be taken seriously at all times and the main focus while driving should be keeping the car on the road. Texting can cause a teenager their own life as well as the lives of others. Teenagers need to lead by example and refuse to text and drive. The motto parents should teach each teenager should have is “On the road, off the phone” (Genachowski). Teenagers need to realize