Don’t Text and Drive

12%
Equals 100%

I am a huge fan of
mathematics. In fact, in my freshman year in high school, I went so
deep down the math rabbit hole that I finished four years of math in
one school year. It is with that said that I am presenting a math
problem that will cause most people to think.

12%
Equals 100%

12% of all teen car
crashes are the result of cell phone use while driving. I postulate
two things:

1. 100% of
   people who get into auto accidents while texting and driving regret
   being on their cell phone.

2. 100% of these
   accidents are preventable

Awareness

Did you know that,
according to AAA in an article in 2018, “The AAA Foundation for
Traffic Safety has conducted numerous studies regarding distracted
driving that demonstrate:

• Drivers
  interacting with cell phones to perform tasks like texting or
  surfing the Internet are two to eight times more likely to be
  involved in a crash.

• Taking your
  eyes off the road for just two seconds doubles your chances of being
  involved in a crash.

• 59 percent of
  all teen crashes involve some form of driver inattention, and 12
  percent of teen crashes involve cell phone use.”

Another way to look
at this is if you consume four 12 ounce beers in 1 hour, here in
Texas that puts you at the BAC (Blood Alcohol Level) to be considered
driving drunk. Texting and driving puts you in that same precarious
position – breaking the law.

Why
is this important to
you

Here is Austin,
Texas “AAA Texas says distracted driving is an epidemic in the
state and across the nation, and kills an average of nine people and
injures 1,000 each day, according to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.’

In the 748 days
since I turned 16, 6,732 people have died due to distracted driving,
according to the numbers above. 748,000 are injured during that time.

Another way of
looking at it: If the average person has 40 friends, that means
approximately 5 of your friends will be impacted by distracted
drivers.

One of those MAY be
you or someone you love.

Distracted
Driving Prevention

First, it is
important that you own your own behavior. Four things that you can do
that will greatly diminish the liklihood of you texting while
driving:

1. Focus on
   Driving – don’t let your mobile device be the cause of your
   distraction

2. If driving
   with others in the car, enlist their help so you can focus safely on
   driving. Make a commitment to those in the car AND yourself to not
   use your phone while driving.

3. Stow your
   phone away – put your phone out of reach

4. Pull over and
   stop if it is important

Doing the above will
all contribute to minimizing the risks associated with distracted
driving.

And for a visual
(and graphic) depiction, this video drives home the point:
https://youtu.be/zGDZIv8_pB0

Hopefully, in some
way, you see the connection I am making between the risks on
distracted driving and how your awareness can prevent any accidents
that can happen due to texting and driving.

Although not a
wholly empirical construct, you should be able to see that 100% of
distracted driving incidents are preventable. In retrospect, 100% of
all those that have been in accidents from distracted driving regret
doing so.

If 12% of teen car
crashes are the result of distracted driving, then 100% of them are
preventable.

I submit – 12% =
100% (preventable)