New Laws, Better Future

Five young women, graduated from high school five days before they had an accident on June 2007. They died instantly due to their irresponsibility for texting and driving (Sundeen). Teen drivers are more likely to get distracted than experienced drivers, and stories like this one prove it. Although texting is a major problem in today’s society, it is not the only distraction for young drivers. Other distractions can include putting on make-up, eating, combing their hair, having their dog on their lap, or simply changing the radio station. Teenagers do not worry about the consequences that distracted driving could bring. Because teenagers who drive are very distracted, they tend to cause more accidents than adults, they also tend to be more dangerous drivers, the law on texting and driving should be more strict for teenagers in order to create more safe and pre-cautious teen drivers.

The consequences that distracted driving could bring include monetary fines from as low as $20 up to $500, criminal charges, jail or prison time, driving record points, suspension or revocation of driving privileges, mandatory road safety classes, and vehicle impoundment, especially if great bodily injures occurred at the time of the accident (LaMance). The California law on texting and driving is that drivers cannot have a hand held cell phone, and drivers under the age of eighteen are not to use a wireless cell phone or any other electronic devices while driving (Cellphone and Texting laws). Many young drivers, however, do not follow these laws.

Texting while driving is considered just as dangerous as drunk driving. Drunk driving affects your vision, concentration, and reaction time, just as texting and driving does. “According to AAA studies, about 30,917 people died in accidents where the driver was a teenager between the ages of fifteen and seventeen” (Boulard). Adolescents are more dangerous than adult drivers because studies have found that drivers between the ages of...