If you use a cell phone you are most likely aware of “text messaging”. Texting has been on the rise, “up from 9.8 billion messages a month in December ’05 to 110.4 billion in December ’08” according to www.textingdriving.gov . This task requires you to type on a screen and for most people this means you have to look at the screen you’re tapping away on. For some, just reading this alone might make you realize how ridiculous it would be to drive while texting on your cell phones.
The EiS staff decided to conduct an informal survey on how many teens really does text while driving, we are constantly told this is illegal and extremely dangerous yet when given the opportunity most people take advantage of it. However we do live in the 21st Century where technology is very prevalent and just a way of living everyday life.
Previous academic studies—much more scientific than ours—“conducted in vehicle simulators have shown that texting while driving impairs the driver’s abilities” according to www.fcc.gov . At Fossil, we found that 40 out of 50 students said they texted while driving or stopped at a red light. As anticipated fewer teachers than students said they text while driving; 5 of the 15 surveyed admitted to texting while driving or stopped at a red light.
Most of the kids and teachers that were interviewed asked “Why is texting at a red light dangerous, you are at a complete stop.” It can be tempting to think that the time it takes to read or send a text while driving isn’t all that long. In reality, though, doing so “takes your eyes off the road for about 4.6 seconds”- according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To put that in perspective, that’s about how long it would take you to drive an entire football field, at 55 miles per hour, blind.
Text messaging while driving makes you “23 times more likely to be involved in a crash” according to www.fcc.gov . Nearly 47 percent of smartphone users admit to texting while driving. But even the drivers who don’t text while moving might still be texting in the car.
