More Texting Teens Perish In Distracted Driving Car Crash Accidents
The children of today grow up almost as connected to their cell phones or other mobile electronic devices as they were connected upon birth to an umbilical cord. When they get old enough to drive, they’re hooked, 24/7. Unfortunately, driving while emailing, calling, texting or otherwise checking the Internet can be a fatal mistake.
Studies recently have shown increased teen car wreck traffic accident fatalities due to two factors: more teens driving at night, and more teens driving while texting or making cell calls.
Between 1999 and 2008, nighttime fatal crashes involving teen drivers increased by 10 per cent. Such deaths rose at a lower rate for older age groups, while driving fatalities in general began a decline.
Bernie Fetts, a senior research specialist for the Texas Transportation Institute, told the Associated Press that the increased deaths arise from a “perfect storm” of factors. One such factor is driving at night, which is inherently more dangerous for anyone in any age group. Another is calling or texting while driving, which compromises a person’s ability to drive.
Frequently teens stress that it doesn’t matter, because they’re so skilled at sending texts. Bu regardless of their fluency or dexterity, texting diverts a portion of their attention from the far more vital task of driving, where a single moment of distraction can cause a fatal result. Indeed, about 6,000 Americans die annually because of drivers who talk, text or email, and about half a million will suffer injuries.
Americans are becoming increasingly savvy to the deadly results of texting or calling while at the wheel of a vehicle. That’s why 23 states so far have passed laws banning texting while driving. The national FocusDriven organization, based in Texas, was created to battle distracted driving due to texting or cell phone calls much as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was formed to combat DUI car crash accidents.
Oprah Winfrey of talk show fame also has created her own response to the car carnage: a “No Phone Zone” pledge for teens to sign. Those who sign promise not to text or use their cell phone while they are driving.
Jim S. Adler & Associates strongly supports such safe driving measures and urges everyone to save their texts and phone calls for a proper time – when they aren’t driving a multi-ton vehicle at high speeds in complex traffic. Today’s teens may think such texting and calling won’t divert them from driving safely, but those who have perished in texting car accidents prove otherwise. Texting car crash accidents can happen, and that unexpected first time may prove to be a fatal last time.