Amira Ansari Journalism

Interviews

Teenagers texting behind the wheel, putting lives at risk? Many people think that teenagers are the main target who text while driving when there are many others. Many adults and older adults text while driving. Why do you think they do it? “I do it because I'm addicted to texting. It is hard not to do though because I'm so used to texting all the time and always want to do it”, says Erin Geyen, Junior at Eastview High School.” Many others say the same thing. How dangerous is driving while texting? According to a Harvard Study 2,600 traffic deaths are caused each year by drivers using cell phones or texting and 21% of those related deaths are from teens who are driving while texting. Using your phone or texting while driving is a very dangerous thing. You don’t have your eyes on the road at all times and when you’re texting you’re looking down more than your looking at the road. Wouldn’t you think that with the new law DTW (Driving While Texting) that less car accidents would occur? Junior, Averi Haugesag says “Not really, I don’t think teenagers really care what the law says. If they want to do it they will do it.” Maybe some views will change after hearing how much it really does affect how you drive. Texting while driving doesn’t seem that dangerous and many people don’t think it is until they experience it. 48% of teenagers have been in the car with someone when they have been texting while driving. But no one seems to stop it. And others maybe think that it’s okay to do because everyone else does it. No one used to text while driving and now all of a sudden it’s a big thing. Why do you think that is? I asked Erin Geyen, “Because texting has gotten so popular. Everyone texts even parents and teachers. Everyones realized its such an easy and fast way to communicate. But, I do think texting while driving can wait till later and if it’s that important pull over to the side and text back.” Many people think this, but think that it will be okay and it won’t happen to them. As you can see, many people agree with the fact that driving and texting is not safe but still do it because it’s just not easy to stop doing. “I agree with the new DWT law because it’s true that driving while texting isn’t safe to do and many accidents are caused from people doing it”, says Katie Sonnenburg. Getting in an accident isn’t the only harm texting while driving can do. You can put others at risk too. There has been other related accidents that have happened when pedestrians get run over from someone either being on their phone or other distractions while driving. Even lane changing and speed changes. A lot of people think that driving while texting is just as bad as drunk driving. “I would consider texting while driving just as bad as drunk driving because either way they both make you distracted and you have no clue on what is going on around you and you’re not expecting to get into an accident”, says Katie Sonnenburg. It is unrealistic that texting while driving has ruined that many peoples lives when something like that can definitely be prevented from happening. Many police officers have seen that 515,000 injuries and 5,870 fatalities has happened in the US from just texting while driving. After finding out all this information and the new DWT law comes out there will hopefully be less accidents occurring.

posted by Amira @ 11:28 AM