Teenagers Texting While Driving
Joe, eighteen, is very fond of driving. He loves to drive his car fast to far off places. But, he often indulges in texting when he is driving his car. Once, while doing so, he lost his control over the car and it crashed into a tree. Joe was badly injured in the accident and had to stay a long time in the hospital to recover. The accident was a shock for his parents, who had to also deal with the cost of the hospital bills and repairing the car.
Like Joe, there are many youngsters who drive without knowing the simple traffic rules and regulations and end up being a part of car crashes. Accidents are on the rise in almost all the metropolitan cities. A lack of knowledge of the traffic rules and irresponsible behavior are the reasons for the same. Even though many areas have made texting and driving illegal, such incidents are always reported which points out to some faults in the entire system. The prominent dangers of texting and driving is that of accidents on the roads which can injure or even prove to be fatal.
Facts About Teenagers Texting and Driving
Teenagers not only risk their own life when they text while driving, but also the life of others on the road. This is one of those offenses which needs to be punished strictly to stop the death of people unnecessarily. As per the statistics put forth by some people, around twenty-six percent of teenagers in the United States of America have indulged in texting while driving their vehicle. Another fact is that it is not just the guys who indulge in this 'adventurous' thing. The survey showed that almost equal number of girls send text messages while deriving. Sending text messages while driving the vehicle is believed to increase chances of fatal accidents by around eight times. In another survey, around forty-six percent of the teenagers agreed to have indulged in texting while driving. Apart from texting, more than fifty-one percent of the teenagers interviewed confessed to have driven a vehicle while talking over the mobile phone. There are plenty of distractions while driving which the teenagers should strictly avoid. So, now having understood the statistics of dangers texting while driving, let us understand what steps can help us deal with the problem effectively.
How Can We Improve the Overall Situation?
The serious situation can be dealt with by conducting counseling and driver education sessions in which road safety officials will guide the teenagers. The government can make it compulsory for all citizens to attend the road safety sessions. At the end of the session, a small test can be conducted to judge how productive the session was. The safety officials will be able to understand whether the teenagers have understood the driving rules from the result of this test. Another thing which we can do is make driving tests stricter and refuse licenses to those who are not serious about safe driving. On the roads, there should be banners where instructions such as 'avoid texting and driving' or 'no driving while talking on phone' can be written with appropriate signs and symbols. Parents of teenagers should keep a watch on how their child drives and give him the right suggestions at the right time to avoid accidents and injuries. Explaining the disadvantages of the deadly combination of cell phones and driving is the need of the hour.
Thus, we can conclude that teenagers texting while driving is indeed a very serious issue which needs to be handled sincerely. Collective efforts in this regard can alone make sure the safety and well-being of the people on the roads. So, hoping that you will consider the suggestions mentioned above seriously, I will like to conclude here wishing you a happy and safe drive.
