Warning: No Texting While Driving
Kaley Israels
November 5, 2009
Filed under Opinion, Student Life, Top Stories
You just got your license and you’re driving down the road, you pull up and come to a stop in front of what looks like a traffic jam. All of a sudden, your phone beeps and you see you have a text. While checking the text and proceeding to reply, the car in front of you moves and the car in the back rear ends your car. Have you seen this happen? Or, has it happened to you?
This is a common fear to parents of student drivers who text while on the road. Teens love to text and most are excited about driving as well, but is doing both dangerous enough to get your license taken away? Some teens seem to think it is okay to text while stopped at a red light, but is it? A Sophomore explained,” I think it’s a bad idea to text while driving even if you are not moving. You need to be in control of your vehicle at all times.” If you text while the vehicle is in drive you are at risk of getting a ticket. In Kentucky, Ohio, and California, it is illegal to send a text message while driving.
People are getting fined for this crime, but what do student drivers think the worse consequence for this is? A CCA junior commented, “I think you can get points on your permit or get tickets when you have a license, maybe even get your license taken away.” Drivers hope that isn’t the case, but if the crime is repeated enough times, perhaps it’s fair to say that the police should punish those drivers accordingly for their careless behavior. Either way it seems students are aware of the danger but decide to take a risk anyway as CCA sophomore Lesley Asewicz explains, “I think texting is very dangerous while driving but most of us still do it.” So whether students decide to take the risk of getting a fine, or worse, or obeying the law is a choice they need to make.
So, while you’re on the road, keep in mind that the next time you have a text maybe you should wait until you reach your destination before looking at it. There are 14 states that make it illegal to send a text message while driving, and although Florida isn’t one of them, state legislatures are working hard to ban this popular practice.
Here’s what some people are saying about texting while driving…
“It’s dangerous because you can die, we should make this not only a student issue but and all around issue, but no one should do this because its very difficult to steer and type at the same time.”–Vice Principle, Jason Rachels
“No one should be texting while driving especially students because they haven’t been driving as long as adults; it makes them less alert, can cause frustration, and its unnecessary.” –CCA guidance Counselor, Joseph Bryan
“Yes I think texting while driving is dangerous and it’s insane to do it yourself, every human being alive should avoid it.”–Tami Pettingal
“You shouldn’t text or have phones in the car when you start to drive especially.”–Krista Vargas
“That can be deadly; it distracts focus from the road.”–Sandra Sorrentino
“As a fireman paramedic, my suggestion to student drivers would be not to text or be on the phone due to impaired judgment to defensive driving and as a beginner driver, you need to learn to be a defensive driver. And it’s just bad! ”
– Fireman Paramedic Peter Santamarina