Introduction
In the present day, technology has made life easy. However, the same technology is causing some troubles. For instance, texting while driving is turning out to be a very big issue in many countries across the world, especially in the United States of America. Every year, families lose their loved ones through car accidents. The cause of such accidents may be that drivers get distracted by texting while driving. However, the question that may come in is; why is it that the practice of texting while driving still continues despite its serious consequences? The answer to this question can be that a large number of drivers are not aware of the danger associated with texting while driving. However, some drivers believe that texting while driving is a practice that has been there for a long time and their parents also used to do this and they demand that they be allowed to do the same because they regard this as normal. The challenge here is how to find the best ways through which the drivers can be persuaded to stop texting while driving. It is suggested that parenting should help solve this problem and there is also need to put in place stricter laws which will help to stop texting while driving.
Texting While Driving
Various researchers have conducted studies on this topic. For instance, Austin Michael conducted a study whose purpose was to show how dangerous texting while driving can be. The study intended to show how this habit is harmful to the driver’s ability to control the car while concentrating on the mobile device (Michael 1). This researcher sought to present the realty to the drivers in regard with how dangerous texting while driving can be. Moreover, Amy Neustein conducted a research in which five thousand people were surveyed. Twenty five percent of the respondents accepted that they engage in texting while driving. Moreover, the findings indicated that, out of the total number of those surveyed, eighty percent emphasized that texting while driving should be illegalized (Neustein 10). This study also went beyond just suggesting solutions to this problem and gave the relationship between this habit and the law. The study suggests the ways through which laws intended to control this habit can be instituted.
Even if drivers may think that they will not get involved in a car accident, these people should be aware that engaging in texting while they are driving may also affect the traffics. According to Hosking, Young and Regan, engaging in texting while at the same time driving has an effect on the car’s speed and the driver’s behavior (Hosking, Young and Regan 1). In the study conducted by these researchers, the respondents in the study who agreed to engaging in texting while driving pointed out that they do not pay attention to the car’s speed while they are texting up to the time they realize that the speed of the car has reduced (Hosking, Young and Regan 16). On the other hand, another group of respondents pointed out that while texting, they sometimes increase the car’s speed without noticing (Hosking, Young and Regan 16). Janda, Jeffrey and Jerry point out that the attention of a driver is “distracted up to 37 percent when using a mobile device” (Janda, Jeffrey and Jerry 34).
According to Antonia, teenagers point out that since their parents receive calls and also sent text messages while driving, there is no point to prevent them from doing the same (Antonia 1). This is a big challenge to the parents and they need to start being good examples to their teenage children in order to convince them to avoid using their mobile phones during the time they are driving (Antonia 1). The drivers who are addicted to texting might present an argument that there should be no putting in place of a law or laws that illegalize texting during the time of driving. Some of them may point out that they have the ability to write text messages while driving without causing accidents. However, basing on the issue that these drivers claim they have not gotten involved in accidents while texting, this is not a good reason enough to allow text messaging while driving. This is because the researches that have been conducted indicate that this habit is quite dangerous and may lead to loss of lives. There are also other drivers who hold a belief that it is their right to send text messages using their mobile devices. But it should also be realized here that, it is not their right to ignore an issue that is greatly affecting the community negatively. Losing people through accidents that could easily be avoided is not a light matter.
Measures to Deal with the Issue of Texting While Driving
In situations where the teenagers get involved in car accidents, they face their parent’s wrath; but in reality, the reverse should be the case. In case a teenager gets involved in an accident following text messaging while driving, the first people that should be blamed and who are fully responsible for the behavior of their children are parents. One of the ways to avoid accidents by persuading the teenagers not to engage in texting while driving is found in parenting. The teenagers must be made to understand this problem by the people who are very close to them, and these are the parents. The parents have the responsibility to teach their children from an early age about how dangerous it can be to text while driving. Moreover, the parents are supposed to show their teenagers facts about this issue. They can do this by presenting to the teenagers the reality videos, and the stories of real life situations in which teenagers were involved in accidents or where possible, they can be shown pictures. Presenting such pieces of evidence will help in building a picture in the teenager’s mind about how risky it is to engage in text messaging while driving.
It is clear that it is hard to persuade some of the teenagers to stop the habit of texting while driving and in this case, the parents should be aware that this is happening because these children have been seeing them engage in the same practice. In such a situation, the parents should confess to their teenage children if they have engaged in this practice before and should convince their children not to do it again. This will put, in the teenagers’ eyes, the parents in the same boat with the teenagers and this will portray equality between the children and their parents. On the other hand, parents are supposed to as well punish their teenage children in case they engage in texting while driving. The punishment has to serve to deter the teenagers from engaging in the habit. The parents, for instance, should let their children know that the punishment they will face when they break the rules will be to prevent them to drive for a period of one month.
It can also be pointed out that teenagers may not care about the penalty for committing this offense for the reason that they are not scared of the cost of the ticket or perhaps it scares them, but they depend on their parents in paying for the ticket. However, the punishment should be stricter in order to receive more respect for the rules and laws. In a situation where the texting and driving ticket cost is fifty, the new cost should be doubled. In addition, if the driver is found again for the second time committing the same offense of texting and driving, he or she should be made to stay in jail for a whole day, or should be made to engage in community service as the punishment. Moreover, the “Department of Motor Vehicle” should take a step to explain the big risks of text messaging while driving to new drivers. For instance, in the course of the driving lessons, the new drivers need to learn from those training them and also from the handbooks they use about the facts, studies as well as pictures of the accidents which are brought about by the habit of texting while driving. This will help them to know that it is not good to engage in this practice.
Conclusion
Texting while driving is currently a very big problem, especially in the U.S. Various road accidents that occur are a result of drivers engaging in this habit. The drivers who engage in this habit do not know the dangers associated with it. It is found out that, in order to avoid this habit among drivers, stricter laws and severe penalties should be put in place. Moreover, parenting will also play a major role in enabling the teenagers to avoid engaging in the habit. Children learn from their parents and by parents taking the necessary measures to make their children to be aware of the dangers of texting while driving can play a very big role in ensuring the habit stops.
Works Cited
Antonia, Dell. “Teenagers Say Parents Text and Drive.” New York Times, 27 Sep. 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.
Hosking, Simon, Young Kristie and Regan Michael. The Effects of Text Messaging on Young Novice Driver Performance.Feb.2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in Global Politics. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Michael, Austin. “Texting while Driving: How Dangerous is it?’ Car and Driver. Hearst
Communications, Inc., June 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Neustein, Amy. Advances in Speech Recognition: Mobile Environments, Call Centers and Clinics. New York: Springer, 2010. Print.
