Being involved in a car accident is the ultimate consequence of texting while driving. It has not only started to take over our country over the past couple of years, but also has become the most common leading factor for car accidents around the world. In fact, over three thousand people are killed every single day due to texting while driving, leaving many injured. It seems as if this problem is only getting worse as the years pass by.
The majority of the people think that texting while driving is a really simple task to complete, but what they don’t know is that they are putting not only themselves, but other people’s lives at risk by just replying to a simple few letter word message. The only thing that they are thinking at the time of typing the text is what to tell their friends or what they are planning on doing later that night. This drags all the attention from the road to their phone, Many people don’t understand this and that is why they keep doing it every time they drive.
The only time they realize the danger they are making is once it has either happened to them or when it happens to a close family member. When a person is texting and driving their mind is similar to a computer. It is like if the mind is programmed to have the first reaction to a text message to immediately grab the phone to see what it is. The Impact “When are you coming back? ” were the five deathful words that were related to the death of a twenty five year old marine named John Kyle, on September 11, 2014.
This marine was apparently driving to town on his first day back from Afghanistan when a teenage boy crashed into him while replying to a text message. John was driving to his moms’ house hoping to surprise her, as she wasn’t aware that he was back in town. Sadly, he ended up surprising her in a different way. The teenage boy was heading towards a high school football game with his friends when he suddenly got distracted by a text and hit the small Chevrolet Impala that John Kyle was in. First responders said that John launched out of the vehicle and landed in a large rock, the autopsy confirmed the cause of death was trauma to the head.
They also said that the saddest part was that he died while wearing his marine uniform. His mother said that he had a great heart and never had a problem with taking a bullet for anyone in his country. His mother recalled what he had once said to her, “If I die young, I hope it is while serving for my country”. Tears rushed out of her eyes as she repeated his words. Her sadness rapidly showed as she explained how upsetting it was to her, that a text message took her son`s life in a blink of an eye.
Kelly Anderson, a former student attending the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was eligibly killed Monday morning on highway eighty-three this morning. She was reportingly speeding seventy-five miles per hour on a busy road when she suddenly went off the road. The impact of the pigmented wall flew her across the window leaving her with little shreds of glass on her face eyes and ears as she plunged down to the highway beneath. It was said that the impact gave her internal bleeding in the brain and that she died on the way to the hospital in the ambulance.
It was later investigated that she was driving while texting one of her friends to save her a seat before class started. (These are two of over a million stories relating to the ignorance of texting while driving. ) Although adults are some to text while drive in our society, teens with our advance technology never stopping it is captivating the majority of the young adult population to waste their time; which leads them to be brainwashed by inanimate objects. (Schumaker, 2015) With the next the generation of children being summited to be bribed by electronics it seems that history will repeat itself.
This leads them to rely on their cell phones in their everyday lives which, is extremely dangerous when it comes to driving. Texting while driving has started to take over all types of people. This not only puts them at risk of being in an accident but it also affects us because we the innocent people can also be in the unlucky vehicle that these unsafe drivers hit. One might follow all the rules like avoiding speeding, using seat belts and avoiding their phones but at the end of the day they could be hit by a texting and driver and might have their life taken away.
So now a innocent person had their life taken away or seriously injured. All because some person was replying to a “Hey where are you at” text message instead of following the law and keeping their focus on the road. Research has shown that young people are the ones that tend to be more involved in these horrible accidents. One of the main reasons for this cause is because young people are starting to get addicted to social media like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Etc.
In 2011, it was stated that twenty three percent of all accidents are associated with some type of cellular device which is equal to 1. million crashes. (TextingThumbBands, 2012) Seventeen percent of drivers that are between the age of sixteen through twenty-two involved in car accidents admitted to have been texting while driving at the time of the accident. Also, eighty two percent of Americans from ages sixteen through eighteen own a cellular device. Thirty four percent of those have confessed to texting while driving. Seventy seven percent of these young people are almost positive that they can safely text while driving. Why do these teenagers say this? Maybe because they saw their parents text while drive as well.
In fact, forty eight percent of these young adults have admitted to seeing their parents or relatives use their phones while they are behind the wheel of a vehicle. So, we should not completely blame teenagers for texting while driving because at one point the majority of us have probably seen an older adult texting while driving. Solutions The first solution would be for the government to enforce punishments. The government should provide education programs to people of all ages to educate them on how dangerous and risky texting while driving is. This would also be a great first punishment given by the court.
The second offense would have to be some kind of fine or maybe some community service would do the trick. I believe that the third should be the last warning and those who do the crime should be forced to do some jail time so that they can get the idea of how serious It is. However, these punishments might still not be able to completely stop texting while driving. We must find other ways to prevent this outbreak from getting larger. To do this, the state should enforce strict laws and punishments to show the offenders that it is not worth the consequences of texting and driving.
Using this technique, we believe it can impact people and highly encourage them to think before they answer that text message on the phone. The government should develop some type of law to stop this disease from gaining more power over us. Some states already have a law that prevents them from texting and driving. For examples, (Hara, 2012)10 states have already acted and made a law that prohibits all drivers of all ages from using handheld cell phones. In addition, thirty-nine states prohibit all drivers from texting while driving.
An action that was taken to stop texting and driving but might have just given some more power to use it would be the fact that thirty-two states don’t allow new drivers to use their cell phones. The second solution should be finding ways to stop the usage of cell phones in a car. I think that allowing those who aren’t new drivers use their phone is wrong. However, these laws are not enough to stop people from texting while driving. One way that parents can prevent their kids from texting and driving is by installing a drive cam in the car.
This is a camera that allows the parent to monitor if they are using cell phones in the car while driving. Also, local schools should have a texting and driving information night every once in a while, to inform people on how dangerous and stupid texting while driving can be. Hopefully some people find new things that can help prevent further fatal accidents. Small things like these can help prevent texting and driving from spreading further. Apps That May Help The apple company saw that these numbers were increasing and they wanted to do something to help stop this.
What they did was create some apps to help. Now, What people can do to prevent themselves from texting and driving is downloading an app on their free time that will prevent them from replying to a text message and a phone call. This way drivers won’t know when they get a text message or a call and they won’t feel the pressure to get the phone and lose concentration on the road. There are many free apps available in the play store as well as in the apple store such as “Safely Go”, “Safe Driving Text Machine”, “No Texting While Driving” and plenty more.
These apps were created to help stop texting and driving so people should help spread the word about these life saving apps. What you can also do if you are not willing to get the app would be for people to turn off their cell phones and place them in a non-reachable space located in their car before starting the vehicle. This way people would be forced to pull over if they are curious about reading a text message they received and it would be safer for everyone as well.
So, the next time you decide to take a glimpse at your phone while driving, please consider the ultimate consequences that are to come with that action. If that message or phone call really is that important make the smart choice of pulling over to the side of the road or to stop at a nearby parking lot or maybe even at a local supermarket. A text message or a phone call is not worth the risk of putting yourself or others in danger. It will defiantly impact your life in a bad way if you do decide to text while drive.