Tyler Johnson English IV 7B Ms Verdun 1/24/2014 Texting While Driving

When someone is given a drivers license, they obtain a great amount of responsibility. They are not only driving a vehicle that has the chance to take their own life, but it has the chance to take the life of other people also. Driving needs a lot of focus and requires a lot of types of focus, which should not be messed up. Sending text messages while driving also requires a great amount of attention and is proved to cause 28% of car accidents every year. When a person chooses to send a text while driving, they are taking away their ability to concentrate and their judgment while on the road.

In order to have a change in the way drivers view texting and driving, a driver must open their mind to the effects texting can have on ones driving capabilities. Proof shows that states that have banned the act of texting and driving show a decrease in annual accidents. Because of that, it can be assumed that texting while driving was made illegal in all of the United States, the number of annual accidents would have decreased, and made the road safer.

Many people, most being new drivers, believe that they are capable of giving full attention to the road while sending text messages at the same time. However, it has been proven

that people often overestimate their abilities and have a big sense of confidence. More accidents have been caused by those who were texting and driving than those which did drugs and alcohol combined. Paola Pascual-Ferra, a doctoral student in the School of Communication, partnered with the National Safety Commission and Research and found 1.6 million accidents have been caused by this form of multi-tasking. She is attempting to get a law passed that will ban texting and driving in all 50 states. Pascual-Ferra recognizes that it is hard to pass a law that can be enforced effectively; she thinks that it is essential to hold drivers accountable for their actions. Although texting is difficult to detect when cars are going at high speeds or when traveling at night, she encourages drivers to become informed and inform those around them of the dangers of texting and driving.

There are many organizations that are trying to show young adults the dangers of texting while driving. One of these organizations is known as Text Kills. Text Kills visits high schools nationwide to show how texting impairs judgment while driving. In a simulation, teens are put in a car in which they ride with a cell phone in the passenger seat. The results of this proved that when the cell phone rang, even though it was not theirs, the students grabbed it instinctively, taking their eyes off of the road. Students report that during the exercise they crashed a lot of times, and felt like they were not in control of the vehicle. One student said, Its very distracting. I had to take my eyes off the road in order to look at something else. After the simulation and presentation, students were asked to sign a pledge saying they would stop texting while driving for at least 12 months. From these exercises, many young adults become more aware of the dangers of texting and driving, and are less likely to text and drive knowing the danger and harm it can cause.

Texting while driving is a risk to public safety, and, many drivers are always overly confident with their driving abilities. Of course the most confident are teenagers. As the use of technology increases, and children are given cell phones at younger and younger ages, it will become more likely that young adults will use their cell phone to call and send texts while driving a car. We have high speed Internet now, faster food service, and what people consider to be the answer for anything. With the continued advance in technology, people are more likely to live a fast pace life. With that being said, many drivers always think that they cannot wait to answer a text message until they are pulled over or in a safe place. Instead, they reach for their cell phones and answer quickly to the person they were texting. Members of the younger generation tend to not only be comfortable with technology, but very reliant on it, too. When young drivers take their eyes off the road, even for a few seconds, they can cause an accident.

Marissa Harrison, a researcher for Penn State University, used this age group by asking a series of questions to 91 college students who are frequent drivers to see the commonness of texting and driving in college students. Her research proved that 91% of students said they use their cell phones to text people while they are driving. Also, many admitted to driving over the speed limit, and swerving into different lanes, as a result of texting. Harrisons research found that a lot of these young drivers admitted that if a law was made against texting and driving, it would encourage them to stop using their cell phones while driving. In the same study, they were asked to give a number between 1 and 5 and say how often they texted while driving, with 1 being never and 5 being very frequently. Drivers were also said to give a number saying how dangerous they thought texting while driving was on the

same scale. The test results said that 91% of college students strongly agree that there should be a law on texting and driving in all states.

In a study done by Paul Atchley, a professor of the University of Kansas, a selection of the students were asked to read car crash scenarios and rate the responsibility of the drivers for the crash, and assign punishments for the driver also. The majority of the students rated drivers as more responsible for an accident caused by texting and driving than drunk drivers. However, these students assigned worse punishment for drunk drivers like jail time and fines than they did to the ones who texted while driving. This shows that students believe that drunk driving should be punished worse than texting while driving, even though they can have the same result. Atchley said that this is most likely because the students have a harder time to assign punishment to texting while driving because it is something they take part in and also because it is seen as a normal thing to do.

With clear effects of texting and driving such as the impaired judgment or losing of control, there are a lot of effects it can have, too. This includes: a insurance cost from the accident, car fixing, towing, and hospital bills. These are not easy fixes and can be costly to the younger people who are mostly to blame for texting and driving accidents. People say that the law on texting and driving wont affect the way drivers using their cell phones while driving, other people think it will cause the number of car accidents to decrease. Thomas B Falkner III disagreed to that, and after being reviewed, he published his work in the National Distracted Driving Summit in 2010. Falkner said texting was the

epidemic that will sweep the nation, and young drivers believe they can use their cell phones while driving without an effect on their driving ability. He hoped to get all states to make laws prohibiting the act of texting while driving by showing the state of Michigan and their decrease in car accidents since enforcing the law. The law keeps drivers from reading, typing, and sending texts while their cars are moving. The law that was made allows a police officer to pull a car over if they think a violation of any of the three actions is made while driving. Falkner said, common sense should prohibit one from texting and driving, he also encouraged laws to be passed to enforce these ideas. The number of accidents in Michigan has decreased a lot after being enforced. Falkners work was published 2 years after the law was created and it continues to save lives today. When a person is texting and driving, they treat sending a text message to be more important than someone losing their life. One of the ways the decision to text while driving was prevented was from the enforcement of laws banning sending and reading texts while driving a car.

Another study done by students at a university showed that many young drivers are careless to the issue of texting and driving. They are aware of the danger and still do it because they dont care and think it isnt such a big deal. Most kids like this are unaware of the millions of deaths caused by this act, and sadly, some find out the hard way. It cant be that hard to wait until youre home or arrived at your destination to send a text message that might only be two words long. But, some of young adults are encouraging their peers to quit texting and driving. Which is good because when kids hear it from their peers and friends, they are more likely to think its cool to do something. It can be a sort of good kind of peer pressure if your friend is like, Hey man, why are you texting and driving? You could kill somebody! And if some

young adults could just realize that, then they could save a lot more valuable lives in this country. They might even save a friends life, from making a comment like that.

If laws prohibiting texting while driving were enforced in all 50 states it is highly likely that the number of annual accidents will decrease and protect the lives of more people. Many states put their laws at the younger generation by creating laws that relate to beginning drivers ages 18-24. The issue of texting while driving is becoming more and more common in America, if it doesnt decrease more, the act texting and driving will continue to take more and more individuals lives. Many people really do honestly think that it is okay to text while driving, and they feel as though they are invincible to accidents because they might be good at it. But, there were also many people who lost their lives to texting and driving. But what s the most bothering is that the younger generation is losing their lives. No matter how many laws are passed it is all up to the individuals behind the wheels to make the choice to stop texting while driving.

Works Cited

Atchley, P., Hadlock, C., & Lane, S. (2013). Stuck in the 70s: The role of social norms in distracted driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention

"Driving? Refrain From Texting." MurphyUSA. N.p., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.murphyusa.com/safety/driving-refrain-fromtexting/>.riving? Refrain From Texting." MurphyUSA. N.p., 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.murphyusa.com/safety/driving-refrain-fromtexting/>.

Falkner III, T. B. (2012). MICHIGAN'S TEXTING BAN: ONE STEP FORWARD, TOO MANY STEPS BACK. Thomas M. Cooley Law Review, 28(1), 121.

Farris, A. (2011). LOL? Texting While Driving Is No Laughing Matter: Proposing a Coordinated Response to Curb this Dangerous Activity. Washington University Journal Of Law & Policy, 36233-259. Goodwin, A. H., OBrien, N. P., & Foss, R. D. (2013). Effect of North Carolina's restriction on teenage driver cell phone use two years after implementation. Accident Analysis & Prevention Marissa A., H. (n.d). College students prevalence and perceptions of text messaging while driving. Accident Analysis And Prevention, 431516-1520. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2011.03.003

Pascual-Ferr, P., Liu, Y., & Beatty, M. J. (2012). A Meta-Analytic Comparison of the Effects of Text Messaging to Substance-Induced Impairment on Driving Performance. Communication Research Reports, 29(3), 227-238. doi:10.1080/08824096.2012.696079