What Are The Consequences Of Texting And Driving?

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Advances in cell phone technology can save time and help people stay in close contact with one another. Cellphones were originally marketed mainly to business executives as car phones, but their use in the car has become a matter for public concern and debate. Statistics shows that texting while driving has increased over the last decade, as the annual total of text messages surged from 57 billion in 2005 to 1.8 trillion in 2010. Research done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows that those who text and drive are 23 times more at risk than those who don’t text while driving. In discussions of texting while driving, one controversial issue has been about prohibiting texting while driving nation-wide. On the other hand, Larry Copeland …show more content…
Rosenberger gives some examples of deaths caused by those texting while driving in his article. For instance, he talks about a lady who missed a red light while texting and drove into the cars ahead of her. The lady later died tragically from the fatal auto crash which she could prevent. The deaths and injuries caused by those texting while driving are so unbearable and heart breaking. I witnessed the death of my classmate when I was only sixteen years old. One Monday morning after writing our exams everybody left school for home, but unfortunately not everyone got home. When I was about getting in a taxi my classmate was crossing the road and was suddenly hit by an oncoming truck and died on the spot. The driver was texting while driving because he didn’t even realize what he had done until a minute later when witnesses tried to stop him. Seeing my classmate in a pool of blood was heart breaking, people think texting and driving is safe not knowing the deaths or injuries it could cost. People shouldn’t text and drive even if they think they can do it safely. …show more content…
Driving under the influence is one of the most dangerous things one can do. When someone drinks and drive, not only do they put themselves at risk, but also everyone else around them in danger. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body’s reaction and also affects the brain. They argue that driving while drunk is a huge deal and can leave a long tail of broken dreams and hearts. According to statistics, about 17,000 Americans die each year in alcohol related traffic crashes and about 600,000 Americans injured. Every thirty minutes someone gets killed because of those who drive while intoxicated. Driving under the influence is also a big problem in our society; for instance, a teenager killed three people in a late night crash because he was driving while intoxicated. Many people have died and are still dying every day because of people who decide to drive while drunk. I quiet agree with my opponents that driving while intoxicated is an important issue, but I still insist that texting while driving is more dangerous. Driving while drunk impairs a driver’s judgment and reaction times, but driving and texting causes more accidents and injuries. According to Richard Chang, “driving while texting is six times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.” I think this statistics is enough proof to inform my opponents that

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