Small Town News

Texting and driving: the deadly habit destroying our youth

---

Hall Monitor

You are on your way home from after-school sports, bumpin' the music in your car, super excited to get home and call your buddies to see who wants to chill for the night. You feel your phone buzz in your pocket and you chuckle to yourself, 99.9 percent sure it's your babe. You pull it out, taking a quick glance, but promising yourself that you won't respond.

Too bad it's the sweetest message ever and you just can't help but sneak in a quick response. You look down for a second to finish the text and when you look back up, you realize the light has turned red and you're already sailing through the intersection. There is a car headed straight for you.

What are the consequences of

that split-second decision? Is your life or someone else's really worth risking one look at your phone? Ask yourself this: Are you going to choose carefully between life and death the next time you receive a text message while driving?

Most people think they are exempt from the statistics they've seen on Oprah. They think that those graphic images of collision victims on TV don't relate to their

lives in any way. They blindly ignore the warnings they have heard so many times and refuse to take the pledge against distracted driving, thinking such a calamity will never plague them.

Teens out there: the statistics are not in your favor. According to Allstate teen driving statistics, per mile driven, teenagers are four times more likely to get in a car crash than any other age group. In 2008 alone, more than 4,000 teens died in car crashes. That amounts to an average of 11 teen deaths on the road every day.

Undoubtedly, many Liberty High School students have witnessed terrible accidents attributed to distracted driving or at least witnessed the DUI simulation in the school parking lot last spring. It seems futile that despite such efforts, those

brutal images fade so rapidly when the impulse to check a text message while driving arises.

A survey conducted in 2009 came up with results concluding that 82 percent of teens admit to using their cell phones while driving. Although this statistic may not hit home for everyone, the fact that about 1.6 million teens nationwide read or compose text messages while driving is appalling.

Washington state passed a law in June 2010 making texting and driving a primary offense. In the first 28 days after the passing of this legislation, the Washington State Patrol issued 736 citations to people for talking on cell phones while driving and 43 for texting behind the wheel. At $124 per ticket, the state had made nearly $100,000 in one month's time.

Although most teens think they are perfectly capable of texting and driving safely, the fact of the matter is they can't. What can we realistically do to change this deadly habit?

If teens refuse to abide by this law, perhaps they stand a better chance of listening to you, a friend. Each one of us has the power to make a difference in the lives of our peers. By taking the pledge against distracted driving on www.teensagainstdistracted-driving.com, you, too, can take the first step in saving lives.

According to TA.D.D. sources, researchers call texting a "perfect storm" of risky driving activity because drivers take their hands off of the steering wheel and their eyes and minds are off of the road.

Now it's your responsibility to stop the storm.



Copyright 2011 The Issaquah Press, Issaquah, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 The Issaquah Press Issaquah, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from The Issaquah Press