A woman was killed just moments after posting a Facebook message and hitting a truck head-on, Saturday, April 26. She posted a message about Pharrell’s song ‘Happy’ before drifting across a grass median and slamming into a truck. This is another example of how texting and driving makes someone 23 times more likely to crash.
“I think the whole thing is just sad. It’s sad to know how quick your life can end by sending a simple text,” said Emilia Migliaccio, freshman.
A recent study done by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shows 77 percent of young adults said they feel confident that they can safely text and drive, while 86 percent of teenagers were aware of the dangers of texting while driving, but did it anyway.
“I think it’s very dangerous, and that teenagers are probably the worst offenders. Apparently it’s actually safer to drive drunk than to text and drive,” said Migliaccio.
According to the NTSB, texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving drunk. Also, 10 percent of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.
“I also think that more teens do it because they see their parents do it and they are influenced into thinking it’s okay for them to do it as well,” said Migliaccio.
According to an AT&T survey, about 49 percent of adults say they have sent a text while behind the wheel, compared with 43 percent of teens in a survey, meaning more adults text and drive than teenagers.
“More people text and drive and think it’s ok, and then they get into accidents. We have to make it seem like more of a problem. People don’t think it’s a big deal and don’t talk about it. I think that has to change to keep people safe,” said Migliaccio.
AT&T started sponsoring “stop texting while driving” campaigns and advertisements. They even launched a website where people can pledge not to text while driving, called itcanwait.com. On the website, people can pledge to never text to drive and take action to educate other about the dangers of texting and driving.
