49 Percent of all drivers admit to texting and driving, well in fact there are way more people who probably text and drive. This is alarming that 49 percent of drivers still text while driving while 98 percent of drivers know it is dangerous. In 2011 it was reported that 23 percent of all automobile accidents involved a cell phone that’s two million crashes. The minimal amount of time it takes to send a text message is 5 seconds that means if you are driving at 55 miles per hour you would have driven the length of a football field without looking at the road. Texting while driving makes it twenty three times more likely to get into a car accident. One of the most effected groups of people that are effected by texting and driving are teenagers.
At least 80 percent of all teenagers have cell phones, this is more than any other group of people. A lot of experts think that teens text and driving because they are less responsible than adults but who taught them these bad habits. Parents should try to set a good example to their children by not texting and driving. As a son I have often seen my parent’s text and drive and yet when I remind them to keep their eyes on the road they often get mad at me. While when I was first learning to drive my parents would not let me keep a cell phone in the car at all. I think parents should try to set a good example for their kids. More importantly than why teens/people text and drive is ways that we can stop it.
Texting and driving deaths have recently just bypassed the horrific number of deaths by drunk driving. With shocking number of deaths we should be more focused on ways to stop the number one epidemic that is killing American teens. Away parents could help is by taking a few minutes out of there day to download an app that could potentially save their child’s life. One app is down loaded to a phone and won’t let the driver text if the phone is moving more than ten miles per hour. One app completely turns off the phones communication when inside a car and activated, it stops all in going and outgoing call and web browsing. They also have many apps that simply read all incoming texts to the driver and allows the driver reply back by just talking to he phone not forcing them to take their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel.
Many states like the great state of California has made texting and driving illegal and you can a ticket up to several hundred dollars and points on your licenses. As we speak politicians in Florida are trying to pass similar laws in our own state to stop texting and driving. Voice your option by giving your local congressman a call, but not while driving!
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