By Karla Davis
We see it every day. A person sitting in a car, trying to maneuver both the wheel and their phone. This is a constant scenario that I saw almost every day during my summer break while at my job. My summer job required me to aid with children and help distribute food in a daycare. The daycare had trips two times a week. The trips were usually located at long distances from the area, thus I was always invited to go and aid with the kids. During the 5+ trips that I went on, I probably witnessed around 7+ drivers who were driving with their phones at hand. I was stunned by the fact that so many people in the 21st century still did this, despite the numerous statistics that we have seen throughout the years. I was possibly more anxious because I knew that kids were riding in the bus that I was in; I didn’t want for an accident to occur.That is where the spark to write this article came from. I wanted people to be aware of the dangers that they create both for themselves and other people.
48% of young drivers have seen their parents drive while talking on a cell phone. 15% of young drivers have seen their parents text while they drive. So what’s the big deal! Monkey see monkey do. “Besides, I only text at a stop light or a stop sign.” Plus, “it’s way safer to text than to compose and send a text message while driving.” And I always hold the phone near the windshield for “better visibility.”
Those are just some of the justifications that people who text and drive make up. Although they may sound very appealing — and convincing to a selective audience — there are a few glitches here and there that these drivers don’t like to take into consideration. For instance, texting and driving makes you 23x more prone to having a car accident… How did it begin?
Text messaging, which is also known as Short Message Service (SMS), was first used in December 1992, when a brief message was sent from a computer to a phone. Neil Papworth, a software architect, developer and designer,who was working as a director at Vodafone, a British telecommunications company, used his computer to send a message to Richard Jarvis. Text messaging was considered a tool to help those with hearing problems. As the text messaging system was developed, more people began to use SMS as a mode of conversation.
*According to the National Safety Council, there is an estimate that there are at least 1.6 million crashes each year involving drivers who use their cellphones and texting.*
Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. In addition, 6% of US drivers, at any given time, are using a cell phone while behind the wheel. Though this figure has remained steady since 2005, usage has changed from talking while driving to the more dangerous texting while driving. Although these statistics speak for themselves, texting while driving has been expected to grow as much as 4%. By now you ought to be asking yourself: haven’t laws been made to stop these things?
Well, they have. But as with countless laws in the past , they have not yet been followed by an abundant amount of drivers. There was a law settled throughout 10 states, counting Washington D.C, which prohibited all drivers from using hand-held cell phones. Another law was passed in 32 states, counting D.C, which prohibited all drivers from text messaging…Laws and pledges don’t seem to be doing the trick in halting these life threatening drivers. So what will?
Well, texting and driving may never stop for the simple fact that many people can’t resist looking down and picking up their phones AS soon as they hear a ring. Thus, some tips to avoid texting while driving are as follow:
1.Put your phones on SILENT!
2.Turn your phone off ( Trust me, your boss will not get mad at you)
3.Put your cellphone out of reach. For example, in your trunk, a box, etc.
Yes sure, these aren’t miraculous tips, but they can aid in saving lives by taking these simple steps, you can diminish your chances of having a car accident. Because nobody wants to become another statistic…