Why Texting and Driving is so Dangerous

In this day in age many millennials don't consider the risks of texting and driving, in fact not a ton of people consider the risks of texting and driving in this day in age. Statistics have been compiled in recent years display that every day in the U.S., 9 people die because they use their phone while driving and over 1,153 are injured in distracted driver crashes that is daily meaning texting and driving is one of the most dangerous things in this era. An innumerable amount of people use their phones while driving, and don't think it's a big deal, and who knows what the future looks like in the near future when many children are getting iphones and smartphones at younger ages who knows how often they'll be using their phones while driving if they are starting to get phones at a younger age and develop addictions for them. According to an article on psychology today, 40% of the United States population are addicted to their smartphones.

In the future phones are only going to continuously get more and more advanced causing more people to get them and use them while driving. One cannot emphasize enough how important it is for other humans to not use any cellular device while driving. Texting and driving can have similar impairments to drinking and driving, according to the National Highway and Transportation Administration both can have results that can result in following too closely, weaving into oncoming traffic, or not being able to brake on time. Many young teenagers who first get their license tend to make a big mistake and that's picking up the phone to text while driving. Picking up the phone to text can be ones first major mistake that can also be fatal. How important is a text to a lot of people if they are willing to risk their lives and the lives of others around them by texting and driving. Is one text really worth putting multiple people at risk just because one can't wait to see what a text they received said, simply due to the fact someone feels like they must respond to a text immediately is why many of the accidents occur and a quantity amount of the time this leads to a vehicular accidents that can result in deaths.

The biggest age group affected by this problem would have to be teens aging from 16 up to adults aging around 30. In the end, no one benefits from this problem other than the law enforcement team who has worked so hard to stress the importance of no texting while driving and funeral homes that are being paid for burial expenses. Many teens who die from texting and driving are in High School, Imagine if while in High School hearing on the announcements one of your classmates died. Many High School students nowadays have to hear that on the announcements because their fellow classmates weren't able to resist the temptation of being on their phone while driving they ended up dying. According to Goldsborough "the human brain is not capable of being able to use a mobile device while driving, it is too much for it to process." (Goldsborough). Similarly Cox confirms "driving is a one mind chore" (Cox). The human mind is not capable of being able to text and drive at the same time since it's such a fast paced thing to do while driving. The reason it will be so hard to make texting and driving illegal in every state is because officers will have to check the logs on the persons phone they pulled over to see if they were actually texting and driving, or maybe they were just getting off a phone call with a close relative. As soon as an officer has the right to check the log of someones phone they pulled over the law will start to see some issues with privacy. This issue is very important because this issue is constantly on the rise.

The age group that is most responsible for being in distracted driving accidents are teens-adults. The reason for this is that our generation is the technologically advanced generation. Everyone seems to have an iPhone or a laptop or an iPod these days, even young children. These advances have become so deeply rooted in our society one cannot seem to go a single day without their phone or laptop or other electronic devices. People are constantly using the Internet and checking their phones whether it is to text someone or to update their status on social media. This issue affects the current generation as a whole because younger people continuously keep getting more and more advanced phones. The color red in the image above represents death or danger. The reason that is believed is because in the picture one can see a text on the phone that says Lol then the text in red reads texting and driving is not funny. No matter how important a text might seem it isn't worth risking the lives of those around us. Remember that a text can always wait, but can those who have a phone always take that into consideration? Distracted driving has gotten way out of hand.

As stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,474 people were killed in accidents that happened because of distracted driving and 448,000 were injured (Texting While Driving). Even just glancing down to a mobile device while driving or sending a simple love you text can be very dangerous. Justin McNaul, the director of state relations for the American Automobile Association stated, Even taking your eyes off the road for two seconds doubles your chances of being in a crash ( In Cell Phones). Why would you risk your life, the people you love, and stranger's lives? Waiting to text your friend about the super cool dress you got can wait until you are safely out of your car. Remember, a crash that happens because of texting can driving can happen to anyone no one is immune from it. Distracted driving is something that should not be taken lightly when many young teens are losing their lives due to the fact that many of them don't have the self control to avoid looking at their phone while driving, but it isn't just teens who do this many adults in this day of age use their phones while driving as well. The dangers of texting and driving can't be emphasized enough when many people continuously lose their lives due to one poor decision.

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