It can wait

Most of you, I would guess, have your driver’s license, and if not that, then your permit. As young drivers you have this new-found freedom given to you by a little card. Unfortunately, this new freedom comes with a huge responsibility. Now, I’m sure you know HOW to drive; you know how to stop, turn, back up, park, ect., but your responsibility doesn’t deal with the knowledge of the mechanics, it’s the knowledge of driving safely.  

What is “safe driving”? Well, the technical term for safe driving is defensive driving, and the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course defines defensive driving as “driving to save lives, time, and money, in spite of the conditions around you and the actions of others.” Think about that, and I want you to pay close attention the phrase “in spite of conditions around you,”.  Some of you might take that phrase literally and think about snow, rain, ice-physical conditions outside of the car, which is perfectly fine; however, I interpret that phrase as referring to the radio, the air conditioner, your cell phone. The most worrisome condition is by far your cell phone.

                In 2011 alone, 23% of car crashes involved cell phone usage. This percentage may seem small, but keep in mind that that is almost a quarter of all car accidents, and that 23% translates into 1.3 million crashes…doesn’t seem so small now does it? The issue of cell phone usage and driving mostly pertains to teenagers, us, and of all cell phone related tasks, texting is the most dangerous. In fact, a texting driver is 23 times more likely crash than non-texting drivers.  According to www.textinganddrivingsafely.com, 77% of young drivers are very or somewhat confident that they can text and drive safely, and 55% of young adults claim it’s easy to text while they drive. Just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. Studies show that when people our age text and drive, they spend 10% of their driving time outside of their lane. That is enough time to hit a car passing you, hit a rail on the side of the road, run off the road, hit a pedestrian; the list goes on and on.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the average time you spend looking at a text is five seconds. Let’s say you are going 55 miles per hour, if you do the math, you will travel more than 300 feet without looking at the road, that’s the length of a football field! Just like Mr. Clark says, that’s enough time for you to crash into the preschool bus full of children and nuns, causing them to flip over and explode, making you responsible for their deaths-it’s possible.

Even though texting and driving may be the most dangerous of all cell phone tasks, it doesn’t mean it that calling, emailing, and searching the web should be ignored. Dialing your phone creates your chances of a wreck three times more likely, and just reaching for your device shows your risk of an accident is 1.4 times more likely to occur and talking on the phone is about the same. Surfing the internet is becoming more of an issue as technology advances. According to an article in USA Today, a study found that among young drivers, surfing the Web on a smartphone while behind the wheel increased from 29% in 2009 to 48% in 2012. That is almost half of young drivers!! Whether it’s logging on to social media sites, to Google entries, the internet is providing drivers a dangerous tool.

I know most of this speech is about kids our age, but cell phone usage and driving is a problem with adults too! A recent article from the New York Times said that 59% of teenagers have reported their parents to have texted and drove. In fact, parents out-weigh teens when it comes to talking on their phone while driving, 91% to 89%. Also, it’s known that webbing while driving goes down with age, but this dangerous trend is becoming more popular with adults. In older age groups, accessing the Internet while driving increased from 13% in 2009 to 21% in 2012. With the same accident occurrences applied, adults can be just as dangerous as teens when driving and operating a cell phone.

What is being done about this growing dilemma? Well, 32 states and D.C. have prohibited young drivers from all cell phone use, and 39 states plus D.C. have made texting and driving against the law. While these new laws are great assets the public safety, they are unfortunately not extremely effective. Actually, they are only effective if law enforcement actually catches you in action. This is sad because 18% of fatal car accidents are directly related to cell phone usage and driving. That’s about 7000 deaths every year that were 100% preventable. So, next time you’re in the car, if you hear a beep or buzz come from your phone, I promise you, it can wait.  

Sources:

"Featured Video: Stairs." Texting and Driving Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. 

"Safe Driving." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012.

"Study: More People Surfing Web While Driving." USA Today. Gannett, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "Teenagers Say Parents Text and Drive." Teenagers Say Parents Text and Drive. New York Times, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. 

"Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012.  
        
**I'm sorry for the white background. I typed it on a word document and then copy and pasted my speech onto the blog, and I don't know how to make it normal. Sorry!!!