Texting and Driving Awareness Essay

‘Amanda Clark was on the phone when her Chevrolet Trailblazer rolled three times, landing on its roof. According to the Sacramento Bee, the Oakdale teen wrote about her near-death experience. “I hate the thought of dying without my family knowing how I felt about them.” One year later, she was driving while on the phone again, and lost control of her car, crashing violently. Cell phone records proved that she was texting. She was found unresponsive at the scene and died the next day.’

Smartphones have become a major cause of car crashes, leading to more personal injuries and deaths than any other driving distraction. Cell phone use while driving is considered the most distracting driver behavior, increasing crash risk by 2,300 percent. When someone sends or reads a text, they may only take their eyes off of the road for a few seconds. But according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), five distracted seconds at a speed of 55 mph is the same as driving an entire length of a football field with your eyes shut. It might seem like a harmless five-second action to read and reply to a message while you’re driving, but five seconds is more than enough time to cause a fatal accident. Teens are unfortunately most affected by the risk of texting and driving since they have an tendency to instantly respond to an incoming text, and it is hard for them to overcome this. According to a AAA poll, 94 percent of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway. 21 percent of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones.

When I got my learner permit, my mom always insisted that before I started driving, I had put my phone on silent and leave it in the back seat. This became a habit of mine. I worried that I might miss an important message if I silenced my phone while driving but my mom told me that no message was worth risking my life and the lives of others for. I am grateful that my mom set a good example for me and encouraged me to make smart decisions while driving. 

In my driver’s education class, the instructor often showed videos of the aftermath of teen texting and driving. It was jarring how an often a casual text from a friend is the cause of a tragic and often deadly crash. After hearing a few stories in class, I became interested in finding other stories about this topic. I came across a social media post about the story of a recent college graduate, Jesse Cohen, who crashed while texting while driving. The student was distracted by his phone and did not see a state trooper helping a stranded motorist on the shoulder of the overpass on the Long Island expressway. He did not break in time and hit the trooper, causing a horrifying accident that left the trooper paralyzed for the rest of his life. The story was heartbreaking and it resonated with me, especially after realizing that the person who posted the story was actually Jesse Cohen, who was sharing his story in the hopes that it would reach other young people. It hit close to home since the accident happened on Long Island and my dad traveled that route regularly on the way to work.

I decided to spread awareness about the dangers of texting and driving on social media since that was how Jesse’s story was able to reach me. I realized that social media would be the most effective way to reach a lot of teens, beyond just people within my local community. As part of my school’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club, I made posts about the most helpful tips to stay safe and prevent distractions while driving. I shared distracted driving statistics and highlighted Jesse’s story.

Last year, SADD also posted infographics about texting and driving on the club’s social media during the month of April, which has been designated as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The posts encouraged teens to take action and to speak up for themselves if they are in a situation where the driver is texting behind the wheel. In college, I plan to continue educating students around me and joining the SADD intercollegiate chapter to raise awareness about distracting driving, along with other issues affecting teens and young adults. Social media and other media technologies are a great way to raise awareness in teens about texting and driving which will allow roads to become much safer and reduce personal injuries behind the wheel.