In 2010, 81% of the US population admitted to texting while driving (Edgin 2014). 48% of teens say they've been in the car while the driver was texting (Suffran 2014). This statistic is extremely dangerous. Not only is it dangerous to the driver and passenger of the car, but to all other drivers on the road. Countless lives have been taken because of someone else's poor decision to text behind the wheel. "In 2008, nearly 800,000 Americans admitted to texting while they were driving" (Suffran 2014). " 6,000 of them died" (Suffran 2014).
We are all guilty of getting distracted behind the wheel. That one text message you are just dying to read, it will only take a few seconds you swear. But, those few second of taking your eyes off the road can change your life or someone else's life forever. "Reaching for a phone, dialing, texting and other uses of portable devices increased the risk of getting into a crash by three times" (VTTI 2009). Car wrecks resulting from texting and driving have taken our nation by storm the past decade. And yet people are still blind to the dangers of texting while driving. A way to resolve the issue of texting and driving can be mannered in a few different ways. In order to reduce the number of fatalities caused by texting and driving, laws need to be enforced. "Currently, thirty-five states have enacted complete bans on texting for all drivers" (O'Hara 2014). "Another seven have banned it from novice drivers, or those who have their license but are under the age of eighteen" (O'Hara 2014). All of these deaths caused by texting and driving must be changed by a unified, national ban. The problem is, a law banning the use of cell phones would dissatisfy certain citizens, and it would cause for the need to comply with a new rule that opposes what has been fixed behavior for many Americans. Although a ban could cause issues, it results more benefits.