Texting While Driving

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Texting While Driving

While there are many causes of deaths in the United States, a huge epidemic that concerns officials more and more is the amount of deaths occurring because of texting while driving. Texting and driving can kill in split seconds—just the amount of time it takes to send a “quick” text message. The U.S. Government should ban texting while driving in all fifty states. For the reasons being that cell phones cause many distractions, there are numerous amounts of risks while texting behind the wheel and it slows down your reaction time.

Driving is a serious matter that requires our full attention at all times. Anyone who believes they are mature enough to take on the privilege of operating a vehicle must be responsible enough to know how dangerous a car could become. Vehicles are potential weapons; the way I look at it, sitting behind the wheel is almost like being behind a loaded gun because of the fact that you can take your life or someone else’s in the matter of seconds. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Distracted driving is a deadly behavior. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA) states that “In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving” (FARS and GES). Along with cell phone use there are limitless amounts of distractions while being behind the wheel which include, but do not limit to: eating, having other passengers in the car, changing the radio station, and doing your make up. The American Automobile Association (AAA) suggests that “distraction contributes to 16% of all fatal crashes, leading to around 5,000 deaths every year” (Hochs).

There are...

... middle of paper ...

...f a text is that important and cannot wait, designate a texter, borrow thumbs from a friend and have them text for you. No text is important enough to risk your life. Like AT&T says, “It can wait”.

Works Cited

Copeland, Larry. "USATODAY.com." USATODAY.com. USA Today, 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

GES, FARS. "Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. Facts." Texting and Driving Prevention. AdCouncil, 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.

Hoch, John E. "Distracted Driving." AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. American Automobile Association, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

Kuriakose, Dhiya. "Mashable." Mashable. Mashable, 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

"National Distracted Driving." National Distracted Driving. National Safety Council, 1995. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

"Texting While Driving Doubles Reaction Time." CBS Miami. CBS NEWS, 6 Oct. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

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