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voices thebattalion 11.15.2010
Driving while texting
Osazuwa Okundaye — THE BATTALION
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ociety lives faster than the speed of a click. The technology we have can exchange messages more rapidly than Alexander Graham Bell ever imagined. Unfortunately, we have the tendency to get carried away with some types of communication, especially when it comes to texting while driving. I’m sure you can smell the statistics about the horrors of texting while driving coming from a mile away, but don’t move on to the Sudoku puzzle just yet. One rarely mentioned problem with texting behind the wheel is the guaranteed inevitably incoherent text message. You might attempt to send a friend something as simple as “What are you doing?� but the message they receive is
something like “Whaz aard tyuo ding?� It’s puzzling how this happens when so much attention is given to texting while on the road. A study by the Caleb Wilson Virginia Tech Transjunior history portation Institute major found that for every six seconds a driver spends sending or receiving a text, 4.6 of those seconds are spent with their eyes off the road. We’ve all heard that texting while driving is considered more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. It’s only matter of time before messages sent while driving become less intelligible than drexts, drunken text messages. Deciphering driver seat text messages is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Texting behind the wheel wouldn’t be a big issue if miserable spelling and grammar was the
only problem, but sadly it’s not. A study by text. If there’s no shotgun texter available, the University of North Texas Health Science you should holster your cellular firearm. Center found that texting while driving acWe should also stop texting behind the counted for 16,141 deaths between 2002 wheel because it’s becoming increasingly and 2007. illegal. Thirty states have text messaging bans I don’t mean to guilt trip you into throwfor drivers. Eleven of those states have ing your iPhone away, but there’s no enacted laws in 2010. In Texas, we’re doubt car accidents abound due already prohibited from using cell Texting to distracted drivers texting. phones in school zones. It won’t It’s easy to think “that will be long before DWT, driving while driving never happen to me,� but while texting, is accounted for it can. One A&M student banned everywhere. 16,141 deaths was involved in a deadly car The dangers of texting in between 2002 wreck this year because of the driver’s seat are too great to and 2007 texting while driving. ignore. More than one dead horse Drivers should never have has been beaten about this issue, one hand on the wheel and the but that doesn’t make it any less imother on their BlackBerry. Instead, portant. Cell phones have made it possible they should utilize the “shotgun text� whento stay connected 24/7 but next time a friend ever possible. Simply dictate the message to a sends you a hilarious message, remember this. passenger for them to send. Of course, there’s It won’t kill them to wait for your “LMAO� not always someone riding shotgun in your reply, but texting it while driving could kill car, but don’t let those times be an excuse to you.
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