Text Messaging and Driving

Texting and Driving

I think one of the biggest issues in the world today is text messaging while driving. Even though the media tries to imply that it is mostly teens and the younger generation who are text messaging when operating a vehicle, I firmly know and believe that people of all ages are a victim of this growing problem. I even admit that sometimes I am guilty of texting when in my car. Even though all people do it, according to a recent survey on momlogic.com, “46% of 16- and 17-year-olds admit to text messaging while driving”.This is a problem for many reasons.

            To begin, momlogic.com also points out that if you text while drive, “the risk for a car accident increases by 50%”. This is an extremely frightening statistic,that all teens and drivers should be aware of. Due to this statistic, its evident that text messaging while driving has caused numerous accidents in the past years. There have been so many cases of a texting driver instantly killing themselves and others. It is simply impossible to be completely focused on the road and type a message on a cell phone at the same time.

I wanted to blog about texting while driving because I feel it is very relevant to both my life and many SMU students. I sometimes find myself texting and driving. Even though I have the letters on my phone memorized and can pretty much text without looking down, it is still extremely dangerous to text. My eyes may be on the phone, but my mind is focused on what I am typing to someone, therefore I am not fully alert to everything going on around me, which could cause me to easily make a very fatal mistake. With many students on the SMU campus owning an I-phone, this issue is made even more dangerous. The keys on an I phone are so touch sensitive, it is nearly impossible to type a text without glancing down after every other letter. I think this is an issue that SMU might want to address. Considering the students here are right in the ages of the core people who are causing this problem, it is important for everyone to be aware of the risks. It would be extremely beneficial if there were more signs and messages about how treacherous text messaging and driving can be. I hope to get involved and maybe make the campus more involved in preventing students from doing this, as well keeping them updated on new statistics about the issue, so that it frightens people about the reality of this phenomenon. It is absolutely essential that we stop texting when operating a vehicle, and the first step in ending it, is to stop myself from doing it.