Driving and Texting?

Driving and Texting?

      Using cell phones has become an everyday thing in the United States, with an estimated 233 million subscribers in 2006 (Lee). Is the use of a cell phone while driving a right or a privilege? This is become a heated debate in many different states and countries. President Obama has expressed his opinion in Executive Order 13513, stating that government employees are not allowed to text message while operating any government owned machinery, including cars and trucks. Do not get me wrong, cell phones are an extremely nice thing, and in fact are needed, but they have their place and that is not in the hands of a person operating a motor vehicle.


      A study done by the Los Angles Time stated, “cell phones were involved in almost 4,700 crashes in California between January and September 2001 alone (thirty-one people were killed and thousands injured in these incidents)” (Lee). Those 31 lives could have been saved if phones were not used by people driving. In a Harvard University study there were estimated 330,000 annual injuries in the U.S. due to cell phone-related auto accidents, leading to 2,600 fatalities (Pearson). One life lost is too many. My friend, Jason Thibault, and his mother were killed in June of 2006 by a driver believed to be texting, leaving the two other members of their family behind. The loss of their lives hit the White Bear area really hard, and hopefully taught them a lesson. It is a sad way to have to learn not to text and drive. Before this I had no idea what the laws were about texting and driving in this state, but now I feel texting should be outlawed and if the only way to stop that is to have phones removed from drivers’ hands entirely.

      Even with texting being banned in Minnesota (Farrell), people still are doing it. You see it every day as you are driving down the road. Not enough to stop people from doing it is in place. The driver of the car that killed Jason was later fined $500 for careless driving (Anderson). A fine of $500 is not enough for two-lives, nothing is-but there needs to be stronger punishment in place. Drivers who do text and drive are unlikely to get caught and in the rare circumstance that they are paying a small fine is not going to send a message to others saying stop. In other countries fines range from $380 to $1000 and can include jail time of three to six months (Person). If your friend was fined $1000 and thrown in jail for six months for simply sending or read a message on his phone, would you keep texting while driving?

      A study done in Great Britian showed that drinking and driving at the legal limit (.08) was safer than using your cell phone and driving (Pearson). There are thousands of laws in place to keep people from driving while intoxicated, some resulting in license suspension, and even prison time. There is nothing comparable to that if you are using your phone, even though it has been proven to be more dangerous. The government needs to catch up, and put laws in place stopping the use of phones in the hands of drivers before more people’s lives are lost.

      Many lives have been lost in auto accidents, nearly 43,000 in 2002 (Pearson). Between the ages of three and 35, you are most likely to die in an auto accident worldwide (Pearson). These days people are so against going to war because of the cost of lives, but those same people are willing to endanger lives by using their mobile phones while behind the wheel. Cell phones are one of many devices that make life easier, and they have their places, but behind the wheel of a vehicle is not where they should be used.

Works Cited

Anderson, Julie. “Driver Sentenced for Killing Half of Family.” Myfoxtwincities.com. Fox9.com, 09 Oct.      2009. Web. 5 Feb. 2010.

Beard, David. "Lawmakers seek ban on texting while driving: Bill also addresses cell phone conversations." Dominion Post, The (Morgantown, WV) 03 Feb. 2010: Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Farrell, Michael B. "The spread of bans on driving while texting. (cover story)." Christian Science Monitor 21 July 2008: 1. Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Lee, M., and Tracey M. DiLascio. "Counterpoint: Cell Phone Use Should Be Regulated." Points of View: Cell Phones (2009): 3. Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Obama, Barack H. "Executive Order 13513--Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving." Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (2009): 1. Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Pearson, John. "Counterpoint: Cell Phone Bans Make Sense." Points of View: Cell Phones (2009): 5. Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 5 Feb. 2010.

Valenzuela, Beatriz E. "DEADLY DISTRACTION: Driver who struck and killed a Hesperia teen admits she was texting while driving." Daily Press (Victorville, CA) 16 Jan. 2010: Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Below is a short clip from a Public Service Announcement released by the United Kingdom.