Distracted Driving: Don’t Do It!

Imagine this. You’re on your way home from a long day of work. Tired, you are just about to go home, sit on the couch, and watch a movie to unwind from the day. You’re stopped at the last intersection before you turn onto your street. It seems that you have hit every red light on your way home from work, as if the world were out to get you. After what seems like an eternity, the light turns green and you start to go through the intersection. You hear a squeal. A bang. A scream. You look up and see the mangled mess of the minivan in front of you. A pickup truck full of teenagers has just plowed straight into it and the scene is horrifying. Seconds later and that would have been you.

The story I just told was a true story. It is the story of Minnesota’s Charles Maurer and his 10 year old daughter Cassy. It was a normal day and Charles was taking Cassy home from the library. Everything was going according to plan, at least, until they didn’t make it home. You see, as they were driving through the intersection, a 17 year old named Carlee Bollig was on her phone and blew through a red light, striking Charles with her pickup truck. Charles’ minivan was totaled and he was dead by the time the helicopter could take him to the hospital. Cassy was critically injured with severe brain damage. After 10 days of no progress or brain activity, the Maurer family decided to take Cassy off life support. Maurer’s 15 year old daughter and her friend were severely injured but survived.

Texting while driving has become rampant in America. Stubborn teenagers have decided that checking their Instagram feeds or texting their friends is more important than the lives of those around them. Bollig was riding unlicensed with her friends, checking Facebook the whole time. Her friends repeatedly told her to stop, but she didn’t care. In fact, she cared so little about the lives of those around her that she told her friends to “f— off” when confronted about her social media use while driving (NYDailyNews). Her friends asked, nay, begged her at least eight times to get off her phone and focus on driving, but did Bollig listen? No. She even said that she “didn’t care if she crashed.” Are our phones that important? Is making a plan with a friend or sending a Snapchat to someone else so important that we decide it is worth the lives of others? According to a AAA poll, 94% of all teenage drivers know the risks of driving distracted, however 34% admit to texting while driving anyway. If so many of us say we know the risks of texting while driving, why do we do it anyway? If we claim to care about the lives of others and claim to know the true risks of our actions, why do I see so many people driving with phones in their hands?

The distracted driving epidemic has caused a huge death toll in America. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says more than 2,800 people died because of distracted driving in 2018. That means nearly 8 people die from distracted driving incidents daily and the numbers are only rising. We need to spread awareness about the effects of texting while driving. The AAA poll said that 94% of teens know the risks of what many of them do while driving, but I beg to differ. We have been told not to text while driving, but I don’t think many of us have seen the true impact of it. Not many of us have been involved in one of the crashes or met a survivor. The beginning seeds of awareness seem to be sown in the minds of teenagers but we need to be shown the true impact of what texting and driving does to people, families, and communities. Teenagers need to be shown the true harm and anguish that it causes. When one person dies or is critically injured, so many more people than just that one person are affected. That person had a family, friends, co-workers and each and every one of those people are feeling the pain of having their loved one gone.

Texting while driving needs to stop. Taking your eyes off the road to respond to a text or post on social media is beyond irresponsible and reckless. States are finally starting to come around to making laws against distracted driving but many are saying that this response is too little, too late. Many police officers do not notice people doing these acts and many of these laws carry weak punishments. For example, Bollig was only sentenced to probation with no jail until she violated her probation and was sentenced to prison for at least 46 months. If the minimum punishment for getting a DUI is at least one day in jail and a hefty fine, the penalty for texting while driving should be similar. According to the NHTSA, texting while driving is at least six times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.

We hear stories almost daily about distracted driving accidents. Whether it be someone blowing through a red light at an intersection or entering on the wrong side of the freeway, there is absolutely no reason why there should be so many of these incidents. Many of these crashes are because of the irresponsibility of teenagers. Teenagers: we need to wake up to the brutal realities of texting while driving. Adults: why are you encouraging this behavior by participating in it yourselves? We need to set our priorities straight and realize texting our friends is not worth the potential devastation that ruins so many lives. Teenagers claim to know the risks of distracted driving, but we need more education. We need to see the victims and the true harm distracted driving causes. The sentences for these offences need to be more severe. It is better to be penalized now and learn your lesson rather than learn it when you or your victim is wearing a body bag. It is far past time for everyone to wake up and realize the true dangers of texting while driving.