Walker 1 Morgan Walker English 1102 Barbara Presnell March 31, 2014

The Reward is Not Worth the Risk: Texting and Driving

The last thing Aaron Deveau planned to do the morning of February 20, 2011 was take 55 year-old Donald Bowleys life. However, the now 21 year-old Deveau has been convicted of vehicular homicide, a text message being identified as the cause of the accident (Davis). Although texting itself is seen as harmless, when a text message is being sent, or received behind the wheel of a vehicle, its not so innocent anymore. A text message can be identified as the perpetrator of a crime, an indirect cause of death, and the single most dangerous activity to do behind the wheel of a vehicle. However, it is one of the most common forms of distracted driving on the roads today. The situation is deemed so dangerous that it is now illegal, yet, texting and driving has not decreased. I strived to uncover the truths about texting and driving, expose the real-life dangers of the unruly phenomenon, and discover what exactly it is about putting oneself and others in danger that is worth a single text message.

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Facing the Facts

The cold, hard facts are gut-wrenching. According to Because Texting and Driving Kills, a family-owned website partnered with national police departments, a whopping 77% of young adults consider themselves very confident that they can text safely while driving. However, drivers who text while behind the wheel spend approximately 10% of driving time outside of their lane. Texting and driving alone cause over 1,600,000 car accidents per year. Furthermore, approximately 4,015 deaths are caused every year due to sending or receiving a text message behind the wheel. The statistics are astounding. Its just teenagers, one may say. However, it is also proven that adults partake in this vengeful act as well. Surprisingly, approximately 1 in 3 adults openly admit to texting and driving themselves. Even more shocking, 48% of children ranging from age 7-12 admit to riding in the car with a parent who was texting while driving. Is maturity justifiable? In this case, it is not. One may refer to him or herself as the exception. However, it has been researched and discovered how texting while driving affects all perpetrators, regardless of age or gender. How exactly does texting and driving affect the driver? For starters, texting and driving comes in first with the longest eyes-of-the-road time of all distracted driving activities. While driving, ones attention is taken off the road for approximately five seconds. In perspective, while driving 55 mph, this is the length of time it takes to drive an entire football field. If that isnt surprising enough, text messaging makes a crash up to 23x more likely to occur.

Walker 3 According to the official U.S. government website for distracted driving, at any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones. Furthermore, 1 in every 4 Americans send a text message every single time they are operating a vehicle. Compared to other distractions on a phone while driving, text messaging is significantly more likely to result in disaster. Dialing on a cell phone creates 2.8x more of a risk, talking or listening on a cell phone creates 1.3x more of a risk, and reaching for the device creates 1.4x more of a risk. Therefore, texting while driving creates almost five times as much of a risk as all three of those activities combined. The reality is texting while driving is something to take seriously. If the danger and risk of the phenomenon hasnt been uncovered yet, it is my desire that throughout the rest of this information, the danger will be far greater than the risk.

Realistically Thinking

According to the above-mentioned facts, it is indisputable that texting and driving is dangerous. However, the impact that it has made on persons affected and/or involved exposes one to the realistic emotional results of texting behind the wheel. As mentioned earlier, a modern landmark case was just recently sat for those who text behind the wheel of a car. On February 20, 2011, 18 year-old Aaron Deveau crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision which instantly killed the driver of the other vehicle involved. The jury in Deveaus case found him indisputably guilty of vehi cular homicide and sentenced him to over two years behind bars. It is fair to say that carelessness is

Walker 4 the cause of the incident, but is carelessness a credible excuse for taking another human beings life? While traveling to work into the sunrise, Chandler Gerber received I love you from his wife. While looking down to read and respond to the text message, Gerber lost control of his work van and plowed into the back of an Amish buggy controlled by a 17 year-old, a brother to the three and five year olds in the backseat. The buggy buckled immediately, and all three children were killed on impact. On August 7, 2011, 17 year-old Emma Vieria was texting and driving when she struck 54 year-old Deborah Drewniak who was checking her mail on that unfortunate Sunday morning. Drewniak was walking her dog, who she would later describe as her best friend when Vieria sent the woman flying on the hood of her car as she carried her until able to stop. The medical records from Drewniaks injuries show almost every bone in her body was broken from the incident, and the medical costs resulted in over one million dollars. Vieria was sentenced to jail time, and over 500 hours of community service due to responsibilities in the home. However, Drewniak can no longer fend for herself, and is now taken care of by her two siblings as if she was a child.

National Publicity

In 2013, AT&T launched its It Can Wait campaign, which condemns texting and driving. Senior executive vice director Cathy Coughlin says it is her desire that the campaign will make texting and driving as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving. By adding a DriveMode option to all AT&T devices, it makes texting and

Walker 5 driving less appealing while behind the wheel. When AT&T DriveMode is on and the vehicle is moving 25 mph, the app automatically sends a customizable auto-reply message to incoming texts, letting your friends know you're behind the wheel and will reply when it's safe. And parents can receive text alerts on their phones when AT&T DriveMode has been turned off while the vehicle is moving. It is the desire of AT&T to demonstrate how a company primarily marketed for the production of cell phones still feels the pleasure of texting and driving is not worth the risk. AT&T also offers a pledge for drivers who struggle with this issue on a regular basis. By signing the pledge, one promises that the risk may not be worth the wait and will spare opening or sending a text message the next time they are behind the wheel.

What Ive Learned

As a nineteen year-old college student, my life is pretty social outside of the academic context. Im always on the go, and very rarely find time for myself. Indirectly, this means my cell phone is always buzzing with text messages, even when Im behind the wheel. Before I chose to do my inquiry project on texting and driving, I was extremely confident about my ability to text and drive, and based on my research, I wasnt alone. However, the more I looked into my topic, the most upset I became with myself for being so nonchalant about the risk of what I was doing almost every time I got behind the wheel. Its difficult to imagine that something so horrendous could happen to you, considering texting and driving is almost a second nature to me. However, after researching and ultimately creating this project, I have learned that my

Walker 6 habits are not safe, and it is not worth taking a life, or more importantly, losing my own, just to send a text message.

The Final Goodbyes

If statistics, real-life stories, and national campaigns such as It Can Wait do not expose the danger of the activity enough, texting and driving is also illegal. Incidents like those mentioned before have paved the way for legislation. Beginning in Washington in 2007, forty-three states have now banned texting and driving for all drivers, while four have banned in for novice drivers, and three for bus drivers. However, citations for texting while driving are difficult to issue, considering the logical thought that one is texting could be mistaken for dialing a number, or similar activities. Yeah. Ok. I love you. These simple, yet so powerful words are the last read by victims of texting and driving. It doesnt care your age, gender, race, or maturity. Statistics have shown it is indisputably dangerous, and cannot be guaranteed to result in getting safely from one place to another. Dont text and drive; remember It Can Wait.

Walker 7 Works Cited

"Because Texting and Driving Kills!" Texting and Driving Safety, No Texting and Driving. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

Davis, Linsey. "Massachusetts Teen Aaron Deveau Found Guilty in Landmark Texting While Driving Case." ABC News. ABC News Network, 06 June 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"Distracted Driving Laws." State Distracted Driving Driving Laws. GHSA, 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

"No Texting While Driving." AT&T Texting and Driving Campaign. AT&T, 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

United States. "Texting and Driving." Distracted Driving. National Highway Transportation Safety Admininstration, Web. 22 Mar. 2014.