Don’t Text and Drive, Essay Example

Purpose: After listening to my speech the audience will understand the dangers and consequences of texting and driving.

Main Points:

1. Choosing to text while driving creates endless dangers
2. Taking your eyes of the road to text increases your chances of crashing.
3. Are you suffering from device addiction?

How many of you have ever been behind a car when the driver was texting or have you been the person texting and driving? I have been behind a texting driver. The car swerved in and out of the right side of a traffic lane. It skidded to a stop in the middle of an intersection, barely missing oncoming traffic. The car backed slowly into its place out of traffic.  Once the light turns green, the car takes off on its same reckless path driven by a teenager who is texting. The average person would have expected to see a drunken driver behind the wheel, not a teenage girl. What could she have been texting that could not have waited until she parked the vehicle? According to Consumer Reports, “Motorists engage in secondary behavior during more than half of their time spent driving – an action that is a factor in more than one million national car crashes and 16 percent of fatal accidents annual” (2011  ). Knowing the dangers of texting is very important because someone you love or someone that someone else loves may be harmed by the very act. After thoroughly researching the topic, I have learned so much about the dangers of texting and driving.  Today, I will tell you several reasons why you should not text and drive, as well as not riding with someone who cannot agree not to text and drive. I hope that the information I provide you with will make you think twice before texting and driving.  First, texting and driving creates a high risk for hazardous events to occur because when you are looking at your phone rather than your surroundings you are more likely to be involved in an accident. Secondly, texting might be signs of an even more serious problem-device addiction. Finally, not texting while driving might save your own life or that of someone you love.

First of all, when one decides to text while driving, the dangers being created are endless. Many teens and young people feel they cannot live without their cell phones. Prior to the invention of cell phones, people would stop and use pay phones or they would just wait until they got to their destination to communicate with someone. Yet, in the past twenty or so years, cell phones have become a luxury that most people refuse to live without. In 2011 more than 350 fatal crashes nationwide were attributed to cell phone usage (Consumer Reports, 2011). Suddenly, everyone has to be in constant communication or has important emails, messages, or phone calls that must be returned. Is it really that important? When a person is texting, his/her ability to respond to driving conditions are greatly impaired. They react slower; they often experience blurred vision, and changes in their depth perception while trying to back up. According to research, a person who is texting is more likely to miss traffic signals, braking vehicles, and more likely to be involved in rear end collisions (Consumer Reports, 2011). Likewise, even those drivers who are switching vision from the road to their phone are more likely to fail to see objects accurately (Consumer Reports, 2011). Text messaging is more dangerous than talking because it requires more concentration and thinking. For example,

“Texting or dialing a cell phone—or even scrolling through the menus of an iPod—forces you to take your eyes off of the road, leaving you virtually driving blind. That is exacerbated by the fact that the small buttons and screens and complex menus of portable electronics aren’t designed for use while driving, unlike the controls on a car’s dashboard” (Consumer Reports, 2011).

Nearly 50 percent of all teen drivers admit that they have texted while driving.

Secondly, texting takes your attention away from the road. According to Birdwell, texting and driving causes a 400 percent increase in the time a driver’s eyes are off the road. When you choose to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, you have taken on a great responsibility. You have not only become in charge of your own life, but also those you are sharing the road with. A vehicle is essentially a piece of heavy machinery that is powerful enough to kill someone when not properly handled. Road conditions change constantly in one single trip. If the driver is distracted, an accident is eminent. Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than drunk driving (2007). According to Consumer Report,

“The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has conducted several studies that illustrate how texting and cell-phone use impair driving. In a 2006 study, it found that almost 80 percent of all crashes are caused by driver inattention. A 2009 study found that physically dialing a phone while driving increases the risk of a crash as much as six times. And a study of commercial truckers showed that texting behind the wheel is riskier still, increasing the risk of a crash 23 times” (2011)

That split second that you take your eyes off the road can cause someone’s life.

Finally, the problem is so much larger than just texting. The root of the problem is addiction to technology.  Addiction to technology has been described as the mindless use of devices. This usage creates social, psychological, and behavioral difficulties for the victim. In this case, this addiction causes the victim to be unable to safely operate a vehicle. A study conducted found that more than 80 percent of people check their social media sites throughout the day. People who have technology addiction spend endless hours using their devices to access the internet. Birdwell (2007) believes that internet addiction can be a major problem for those who may be suffering from an underlying anxiety or depression issue. According to him, these people are more likely to become addicted to their device.

In conclusion, choosing to text and drive creates endless dangers, taking your eye off the road increases your chances of crashing, and is it possible that you are suffering from device addiction.  I will end my speech with some tough consequences that you may face if you cause an accident while texting and driving. In July, of this year, a 17 year old girl named Carlee Bollig drove through a red light and killed a father and his 10 year old daughter. The sad part about this story is that Carlee was allegedly asked by several of her passengers in her car to stop texting and pay attention to her driving after she ran the first red light. The victims Charles Maurer and his daughter, Cassy, were both killed in this collision. The father was killed instantly, while Cassy lingered on for 10 days on life support before being declared brain dead. Another passenger in the car with Bollig said they were screaming “red light” as Bollig plowed through the light. Bollig has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and will be tried as an adult. I am not asking you to cure cancer or perform a heart surgery, those would be difficult tasks. What I am asking you to do is to turn your cell phone off when you get behind the wheel of a car. By turning the phone off, you are eliminating that urge to check a message, send a message, or update a status on a social media site. By doing this one simple task, you are ensuring that you will save someone’s life. Ironically, that someone might be you, a friend, or family member. Each year, countless innocent people die because someone has absent mindedly operated a motor vehicle. No matter how skilled you may believe you are in driving, becoming distracted can cause you to miss something you might not have missed while attentive. Death from cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses often cannot be prevented by the actions of the victims, but the endless death cause by car collisions can be prevented. Choose to live and let live-put that cell phone down.

Works Cited

Birdwell, A (2007). “Addicted to Phone?” University of Florida News: Health, Research, Technology.

Driving Distracted.” Consumer Reports 76.4 (2011):22 MasterFILE Premier Web. 7 Nov. 2015

Olsen, Stefanie. “Are We Getting Smarter or Dumber?” Brain Fitness & Brain Training. Posit Page | 15 Science, 21 Sept. 2005. Web. 26 Jan. 2015