Is It Worth Your Life? The Danger of Texting and Driving
We are obsessed with our phones, and many of us check them up to hundreds of times a day. Forgetting your phone is a disaster that can leave you feeling disconnected and out of touch. Our constant access to the thoughts and comments of our friends, shared posts and photos on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram as well as email messages are an integral part of our lives. It can be tough to stop paying attention to the alerts on your phone while driving, but think about it: is it worth your life?
Living Life, Having Fun and SURVIVING
Life is isn’t supposed to be boring. You have every right to seek out adventure and make the most of it. There is a difference between seeking adventure and excitement and engaging in actions that could leave you injured, disabled, disfigured or dead. Texting while driving is not only illegal, it is extremely dangerous – and not just to you. During the time you are reading or answering a simple text – about 5 seconds on average – your vehicle will travel the length of a football field when you are moving at a reasonable speed of 55 mph. A lot can happen during those 5 seconds. And it has. If you care about your family, your life and other people, you owe it to yourself to set aside your phone when you are behind the wheel. Just do it!
The Risks You Take if You Text and Drive
These are some of the risks you take if you choose to text behind the wheel:
- Failing to stop when traffic comes to a halt.
- Drifting out of your lane into oncoming traffic.
- Failing to take corrective action if there is a road hazard.
- Slamming into another vehicle that is entering the roadway.
- Having a head-on collision.
- Being fatally injured.
- Causing the death of another person.
- Being permanently disabled or disfigured.
- Causing another person to be disabled or disfigured.
Who is in Charge of Social Change? You.
Dosomething.org is an organization for young people who are committed to social change. They have several campaigns running at all times, and one of them focuses on texting while driving. Make a difference and get active in your community. The organization reports some pretty scary statistics:
- 19% of drivers admit to surfing the web while behind the wheel.
- Texting while driving makes a car accident 23 times more likely.
- Teenage drivers who text while behind the wheel spend about 10% of the time driving OUTSIDE their own lane.
Be a part of the movement to stop texting while driving. You can be an opinion leader, and stand up for what is right. You want to survive, and you want your friends to survive too. Do the right thing and don’t text while driving, and don’t be bullied into doing it! Stand up and speak up. You can make a difference and save lives – including your own.