Personal Communication: Texting and Driving

Codey Ouellette
English 101-015
Personal Communication Essay
Duffy

Texting and Driving More than 1 trillion text messages were sent worldwide last year. Texting while driving has become more common in today’s society than it has ever been. As a community, we have been bombarded with new technologies, such as iPhone’s, cell phones, tablets, etc. According to the National Safety Council it is estimated that 11 teen deaths happen per day, at least 1.6 million car accidents, 6,000 deaths and half a million injuries occur each year all in result of texting while driving. Texting and driving should be completely banned and made illegal because it is distracting, harmful and deadly in most situations. As the years progress the constant expansion of technology has facilitated society to move forward. These constant growths have allowed us to communicate faster and more efficiently. Walking can often be tedious and time consuming; driving has allowed us to reach our destination a lot faster. Texting became a more efficient way of communication because in comparison to phone calls it speeds up the communication process. People who use cell phones on a daily basis attempt to combine texting and driving to make their communication with work, friends and family even faster put themselves in harmful situations. Texting and driving is a very contentious issue in today’s society. It is not out of the ordinary to see someone while driving glancing down at his or her cell phone, which in conclusion causes the driver to not have full attention on the road at all. When first taught to drive you learn to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. These simple rules are being disobeyed on a daily basis. According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) distracted driving is a growing public safety hazard. Specifically, the dramatic rise in texting volumes since 2005 appeared to be contributing to an alarming rise in distracted driving fatalities (Fernando 1). In 2011 alone statistics showed that over 6,000 deaths and over a half a million injuries occurred solely due to distracted driving. Studies have shown that approximately 1 in 6 fatal vehicle collisions resulted from a driver being distracted while driving (Fernando 1). These types of tragedies should not just become overlooked; people should be severely punished for texting and driving or doing any type of distracted driving at all. When someone takes on the act of distracted driving they are not only putting their own lives in danger, they are also putting the life of a completely innocent stranger in a large amount of danger as well. When driving it is not hard to lose focus of what is happening on the road in front of you. Someone who is texting while driving takes his or her eyes off the road for at least five seconds. Driving for five seconds is enough time to cover over 100 yards. Just imagine the remarkable destruction that could be done driving across that amount of road with unopened eyes. That is the danger that you put yourself in by just sending one text message. It should be illegal for people to take on the act of any type of distracted driving. For someone to respond to a message their eyes have to be looking down at their phone, completely off the road. When texting and driving you are missing one of the main components that it takes to drive and that is vision. Without vision, it is impossible to have a safe ride. Texting while driving will take that completely away. No matter how good of a driver you claim to be, without vision anything could happen at any given time. No matter how quick you think you are at texting, there is always that slim chance that when you look down you could be the number one cause of a serious car accident and cause not only cause harm to yourself but you could also cause serious harm to others as well. Eyes are key factor when it comes to driving a motor vehicle and when they are not on the road that can cause many dangerous and harmful situations to become created. Even if you think you can send a text message without looking at your phone, do not even try it because it is not safe what so ever. Focus is also a main component in driving as well. When on the road the driver needs to be fully aware of his or her surroundings, they need to be able to see the road and hear what is going on around them. Anything could happen at any point in time and having complete focus is crucial. When a text message is being written the drivers attention is solely focused on what message is being relayed in that text, not on what is happening on the road in front of them. Without complete focus, it is impossible to have a safe ride.
Being a teenager, I come face to face with the urge to text and drive on a daily basis. Focusing on the road alone is already hard enough as it is, I could not even imagine the immense distraction that using my phone while driving would cause. No status update or text message is worth my life or one of the passengers in my cars life so I completely refrain from doing it. Texting while driving has always made me feel uncomfortable when being a passenger in someone’s car. No matter what anyone says, the distraction that has been brought forth by using any type of electronic device while in control of a motor vehicle is tremendous. Texting and driving is not the only type of distracted driving that is prevalent in today’s fast growing society. Another leading cause of accidents and dangerous driving extends far beyond texting. Accessing the internet while on a cell phone while driving increased from 29% in 2009 to 43% in 2011 (Professional Safety). Using the internet while in control of a vehicle can be far more distracting and complex then just sending a text message. Reading social media networks while driving increased from 21% in 2009 to 37% in 2011. Updating social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram increased from 20% in 2009 to 33% in 2011 (Professional Safety). These “simple tasks” becomes a lot more risky when put in the mix of operating a motor vehicle. On January 12th 2012 Taylor Sauer’s made a fatal mistake. While making a four-hour drive from her college Utah State University she was messaging a friend on Facebook very frequently discussing the Denver Broncos Football Team. Moments later, Sauer going more than 80 mph crashed into a tanker truck. She was killed instantly, investigators saw no signs that she applied brakes before the fatal crash occurred. After checking her cell phone records it was clear to authority that she was posting on the web every 90 seconds during her drive. The parents of Taylor are still grieving over their 18-year old daughter’s death and urge state legislators to pass a ban on texting and driving in Idaho (Inbar).
Just several days ago, the city of Beaufort banned texting and driving and distracted driving in general. The city claimed that studies have shown that minors utilizing a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle pose a special danger to other vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians on the roadway and whereas, City Council finds that it is in the best interest of the citizens and residents of Beaufort to prohibit the use of cell phones by minors operating a motor vehicle in the city. The order also prohibits the use of a cell phone by anyone under the age of 18 while driving. If caught the operator of the vehicle will be fined between $50 and $150 dollars (Hawkins). Hopefully this will cause a significant cut in the distracted driving that takes place in our home town and make our road ways a safer place for us to travel. Distracted driving is a very serious crime and should not be disregarded. An 18 year old boy by the name of Aaron Deveau, was just recently found guilty of motor vehicle homicide by texting. Aaron was the first resident of Massachusetts to be convicted of these chargers. ABC News claimed that on February 20th 2011 while Deveau was in the process of sending a text message his truck swerved across the center line of Haverhill, Massachusetts and crashed head on into Daniel Bowley. This crash caused the death of Bowley who was a 55 year old resident of New Hampshire and the father of three children. On June 6, 2012 Deveau was sentenced to a year in prison and also the loss of his license for 15 years for causing a fatal crash by distracted driving (Davis 1). Unless a complete emergency has been brought upon you, there is not excuse for using an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle. This habit is completely un-acceptable and needs to be brought to an end. Distracted driving causes serious accidents, major injuries and deaths. No text is worth your, or somebody else’s life no matter what. Death and injuries are devastating and can cause immense pain to your friends and family. So next time before you go to send that text while driving just think to yourself, is it worth it?

Works Cited
Wilson, Fernando A. EBSCOhost.com. American Journal of Public Health, Nov. 2010. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
Hawkins, Ken. "City of Beaufort Ban on Texting While Driving Goes into Effect November 10." The Digitel Beaufort. N.p., 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
Davis, Linsey. “Massachusetts Teen Aaron Deveau Founded Guilty in Landmark Texting While Driving Case.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 06 June 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.
Lerner, Barron H. “Drunk Driving, Distracted Driving, Moralism, and Public Health.” EBSCOhost.New England Journal of Medicine, 8 Sept. 2011.Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
“Distracted Driving Problem Extends Beyond Texting” EBSCOhost.Professional
Safety,Feb.2012.Web.24 Sept. 2012.
Inbar, Michael. “Parents of Teen Who Died Texting and Driving:’Kids Think They’re Invincible’” TODAY.com. Today News, 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.

Cited: Wilson, Fernando A. EBSCOhost.com. American Journal of Public Health, Nov. 2010. Web. 24 Sept