“LOL” turns into “RIP” more and more every day in the United States.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, if you are texting while you are driving, you are 23 times more likely to get into an accident than if you are driving undistracted.
The VA Tech Transportation Institute says that if you are traveling 55 mph, in the average time it takes to text (about five seconds), your car can travel the distance of a football field.
Would you ever consider closing your eyes for five seconds on the Pennsylvania Turnpike? What about driving the length of a football field blindfolded? It may seem crazy, but texting and driving is just as dangerous, and people lose their lives every day, essentially doing just that.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has deemed texting and driving equivalent to driving after drinking four beers. Is it acceptable to drive after having four beers? No. So why should texting and driving be any different?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts says 11 teens die from texting while at the wheel every day. To help reduce those numbers, it is important to take the ‘It Can Wait’ pledge … and mean it.
Besides the countless lives that will be saved by more people pledging to not text and drive, it will also increase awareness about the problem. When people hear that thousands and thousands of others have taken the ‘It Can Wait’ pledge, they will also feel that they should take the pledge as well.
Those who have taken the pledge will hopefully remember what they have promised, and overcome the temptation to text while they are driving.
If communication is an absolute necessity, then people who have pledged that ‘It Can Wait’ are much more likely to pull over and bring their car to a stop before texting.
When the ‘Designated Driver’ pledge first began, it was a small idea. Today, it has grown to a great level of popularity for drivers. It is encouraging to think that the ‘It Can Wait’ pledge will be the next driving safety pledge to go from a small idea to a massive movement.
Before you next get into your car for a drive, why not take the ‘It Can Wait’ pledge? Just think of the lives you may save.
Texting while driving can wait, but taking the pledge cannot wait!
The above editorial is the winning essay in The Mercury “It Can Wait” essay contest for high school students. The essay was selected from entries submitted by students in area schools. Submissions were received from Pottsgrove, Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts and Daniel Boone. Holzman’s essay will be entered in the statewide contest sponsored by Pennsylvania News Media Association and AT&T and will be eligible for a $500 prize. For a look at all essays entered in the Digital First Media Philadelphia daily newspapers, go to http://www.pottsmerc.com/topic/it-can-wait.
