Texting and Driving, a Dangerous Epidemic by Camryn Wilmot

Texting and Driving, a Dangerous Epidemic

Imagine letting your daughter go out with a couple of friends to go see a movie. After the movie is over, your child lets you know that they are leaving. Forty-five minutes pass and you realize that your child should be home by now. You call and text multiple times but still no response. Out of the blue, you get a phone call from the police saying, “Your child was killed in a car accident, I’m sorry for your loss.” At first you don’t believe them, but then they assure you that it is true. Suddenly tears are falling from your eyes. Later, you find out that your daughter was hit by someone who was texting and driving. According to a 2017 article in Consumer Reports, Greg Gardner writes that “forty-one percent of drivers with smartphones said they had used their hands to text while driving, and eight percent admitted to watching a video on their phone while driving”—Forty-one percent (“The Dangers of Driving While Distracted”). Technology causes many problems but texting and driving is by far the most dangerous. This evidence would suggest that our society has chosen, technology over driving. Let’s dive into this sad but real epidemic.

Distracted driving studies go back as far as 1963. During this time, a scientist named John Senders drove blindfolded to show how much the driver has to pay attention to the road to drive effectively: “He wrote in a report published in 1967 about the phenomenon of “road hypnotization” – staring at the road ahead, but not actually seeing it” (“Distracted Driving has been Around Longer than you Think”). Cell phones were introduced in 1983 which drastically changed the definition of “distracted driving”. “By 1997, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) reported that there were more than 50 million cellular customers in the U.S” (1). Later that year, CTIA  also did a survey that concluded that nine out of ten cell phone owners used their phones while driving (1). People know that it is dangerous to text and drive, but they still continue to do it. Ever since that report became public, many laws that banned the use of electronic devices while driving were created. Parents give their kids cell phones when they are so young: “Today, more than 98% of Americans own a mobile phone” (1). Currently, texting and driving is banned in forty-six states, and talking on the phone is banned in fourteen states. This epidemic could be caused by many things—changing the radio, eating, cell phones, driving under the influence, or inputting directions into GPS.

Texting and Driving affects all people. Victims’ families go through so much to cope with the loss of their loved ones: “The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year” (“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics”). Dealing with the death of a loved one leads to family and friends becoming sad and depressed. Depression can cause other problems like not eating or sleeping enough, drug or alcohol abuse, and suicidal thoughts (1). This could all be fixed simply by not texting and driving. Distracted driving could also cause people to experience a immense amount of trauma: “Beyond the trauma resulting to the families of victims, there is the collective trauma we experience as a nation around the ongoing plight of texting and driving” (“The Horrors of Texting and Driving”). When seeing someone texting while they are driving makes other drivers uneasy and nervous because they know that all their attention is not on the road. It’s scary for the driver and other bystanders, walking or driving. For example, experiencing this kind of trauma may cause a fear of driving and/or a fear of just being in a car. Many people with anxiety often experience this: “The basis of all anxiety is an exaggeration of danger and an underestimation of one’s ability; the active imagination of the driving phobic can result in the most gruesome car crashes… in their mind” (“Fear of Driving”). It’s sad that just seeing accidents on the news can affect someone’s outlook on driving.

When someone says, “distracted driving,” everyone thinks of young teenagers just starting to drive because they do not know how to put their phones down. There are many incredibly sad stories on how someone who was texting and driving took another person’s life: “Five-year-old Moriah Modisette died one Christmas Eve after a distracted driver plowed into the back of her family’s car on a Texas highway, according to police reports” (“The Dangers of Driving While Distracted”). Garrett Wilhelm was accused of video chatting on his cell phone during traffic (1). While he was video chatting, he slammed into the back of her family’s car, causing the car to spin and rest facing the wrong direction (1). Moriah’s family was also in the car with her but no one else was hurt. This incident could have been prevented if he would have waited to video chat until he arrived at his destination. Another sad example of how dangerous texting and driving is when: “Carlee Rose Bollig was behind the wheel of a pickup truck when she ran a red light at an intersection” (“Minn. teen charged in fatal texting while driving crash”). Charles Mauer and his 10-year-old daughter, Cassy, were on their way home when Carlee smashed into their vehicle (1). Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Tiffany Schweigart says investigators now have a clear picture of what led to the fatal crash (1). Carlee was texting on her phone when she ran the red light and took the lives of two innocent people. These two examples both involve teenagers using their phones while they are driving—when they’re not supposed to.

Texting and driving isn’t only a problem amongst teens: “The driver of a pickup truck that collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing thirteen people, apologized after the crash and acknowledged he had been texting while driving, a witness said Friday” (“Witness: Truck driver in Texas crash that killed 13 was texting”). Witnesses told the press that the truck driver was driving erratically prior to the Wednesday collision; the truck had crossed the center line several times while he followed it (1). Kuchler, the truck driver, kept on saying “I’m sorry”, over and over again (1). This example shows that texting and driving is also common in older adults rather than just young new drivers also. People need to think more about who they would affect rather than just thinking about themselves. If people would just stop texting and driving, the epidemic could easily be stopped.

With all of the technology becoming so easily available to everyone, texting and driving has become harder and harder to solve. Sadly, it is not as easy as keeping your hands off your phone. When people here that vibration or ringtone that they got a notification from one of their friends, your brain receives a rush of dopamine (“Tips to Avoid Texting and Driving”). Dopamine is a chemical that causes feelings of pleasure and satisfaction (“Dopamine”). Dopamine also plays a key part in addiction (1). Based on this evidence, people who text and drive are addicted to their cell phones and cannot stay off of them while driving. One possible solution to texting and driving is using hands free devices instead of your cell phone. These hands-free devices give people the same cell phone experience, just all hands free: “A hands-free device can be a Bluetooth earpiece, dashboard system installed in the vehicle itself, or a speakerphone feature on your phone” (“Is it Safe to Use a Hands-Free Device While Driving?”). Many people think that a hands free device is safer than using your phone: “According to the National Safety Council, 24% of all call crashes involve cell phone conversations, hand-held and otherwise” (1). This solution does not work and has been proven to cause accidents therefore, it is not the cure of texting and driving.

The next possible solution to this problem is to use the iPhone’s “Do Not Disturb While Driving” mode (“The Solutions to Texting and Driving”). This mode can tell when you are and are not driving. Consequently, your phone while stay locked, won’t ring, and/or vibrate until you are not driving. The con of this solution is that it is only available on Apple iPhones. The people who have Android cell phones will not benefit from this feature. Therefore, this feature will not work for everyone. Even though this solution is better than hands free devices, it is still not the best solution to texting and driving. The next possible solution is setting up a phone dock to put your phone whenever you are driving. These gadgets can be very helpful if you are using your cell phone for the GPS or directions to somewhere. Just like the hands free devices, these are also very dangerous. Without a phone dock, you only hear the notification and/or vibration that you got a text message. With a phone dock, you not only can hear the notification but you can also see it pop up on your screen. When you see that notification, you will automatically want to move your eyes from the road to your phone to see who texted you. This solution will just cause distracted driving rather than help it and is not the best solution.

Another possible solution to texting and driving is to use safety incentive programs like, the Motovate Safe Driving Incentive Program. This solution picks up where the iPhones “Do Not Disturb While Driving” is left turned off. This safe driving incentive program is done through an application on your phone: “The program uses gameful design and rewards to incentivize drivers to not use their phone while they’re on the move” (“Solutions to Texting and Driving”). This program works by counting the miles that you drive without looking at your phone. These miles are called “safe miles”: “Safe Miles can be redeemed for either personally-sponsored rewards or rewards from corporate teams which are specific to the driver with varying totals of miles needed to redeem” (“Get Motovate”). Friends can also share to their friends to stop them from texting and driving also: “Fleets use it as a health and benefits safety program, while drivers can share and create teams with their families and friends” (1). There are no cons for this solution. Therefore, this solution works the best and should be used by everyone.

Albert Camus’ mind worked in the complete opposite of a normal person’s mind:

“The essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), 1942, expounds Camus’s notion of the absurd and of its acceptance with “the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement – and a conscious dissatisfaction” (“The Nobel Prize in Literature 1957”

The epidemics of texting and driving does not relate to Camus’s belief of this “total absence of hope” that he describes. On the other hand, absurdity does relate with this dangerous epidemic. People’s desire to continue to endanger themselves and/or others to the point of serious harm and death is what’s absurd. No one can see the actual danger in texting and driving because everything is fine after they step out of the car. Camus believes in everyone had a set of unwritten rules and should follow those rules: “His austere search for moral order found its aesthetic correlative in the classicism of his art” (1). Moral order is defined as a body of unwritten social mores and conventions which serve to maintain societal order (“Moral-order”). If texting and driving was a rule of moral order, everyone would stay safe because it would be like common sense. This evidence shows that Camus liked the idea of everyone following an unwritten rule to maintain the moral order that he was always searching for. With this incentive program, everyone would be following their moral duties by paying attention to the road and not breaking the law by texting and driving. Therefore, Camus would think that the idea of an incentive program, for distracted driving, would be an amazing idea to stop the epidemic from spreading further.

            Texting and driving is an epidemic that might seem so little but is very dangerous. It is important that parents inform their children about all of the dangers associated with texting and driving. Again: “The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year” (“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics”). Within a blink of an eye, you or someone else you love could end up severely injured because of a texting and driving accident. Texting and driving has only become increased over the past few years and needs to be stopped. It’s in the hands of the new drivers to stop this dangerous epidemic. With companies like the Motovate Safe Driving Incentive Program, the texting and driving epidemics can be decreased over time.

Works Cited

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