Have you been a passenger of a friend or family member who was driving and to your surprise, while they were driving and the vehicle was in motion they pulled out their phone and began to text?
Many people have been there at least once.
If you have an acquaintance who believes that their own lives and the lives of their passengers are invincible from any harm that could come from texting and driving, this article will outline reasons why it is never okay.
Sending a text while driving has become an epidemic – it is an activity that is both alarming and fatal. Simply reading, or even sending a text while you are operating a moving vehicle requires see you to remove your attention completely away from the road for a period of several seconds.
Driving requires people to commit their entire attention to the task at hand.
Alarming recent statistics regarding texting and driving:
Reason #1: Texting while driving leads to over 330,000 accidents every year that result in serious injury.
Reason #2: 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by someone texting and driving.
Reason #3: Teenagers who drive while texting swerve out of their lane 10% of the total time that are driving.
Reason #4: Driving while texting has a 6 times greater likelihood of causing a car accident than intoxicated driving.
Reason #5: 1,600 children are killed every year due to texting while driving accidents.
Reason #6: When traveling average speeds as high as 55 mph, removing your attention for that long is the equivalent of driving a whole football field while you are looking away.
Reason #7: It only takes three seconds for an accident to take place on the road after the attention of a driver is removed from what is happening ahead of them.
Reason #8: 25% of teenage drivers answer at least a single text while they are driving, every time that they get behind the wheel.
Reason #9: Drivers who text while behind the wheel could experience high rate increases for their car insurance. A new technology being tested by Allstate can identify if the driver is holding a phone while operating a vehicle, and if they are texting; or if the phone is lying still unused.
Reason #10: There are legal ramifications for individuals who choose to text and drive, as it is illegal in most areas. In order to pursue an accident legally, cell phone records and supporting evidence must be assembled to confirm that an individual was indeed texting when the accident took place.
The bottom line is that this type of behavior cannot be justified any longer. Excuses are often made for texting while driving and must stop.
As a society, we must place a greater importance on our own lives and every potential life that could be impacted when someone chooses to take their focus away from what matters.
