A surprising sharp noise suddenly cut through the vehicle interrupting the conversation between Clarendon High School junior Savannah Thackeray and her mother.
It was neither the sound of screeching tires nor the crunch of metal colliding. Rather it was the noise of her mother’s slapping hand, scolding another hand in the process of reaching for a cell phone.
As Thackeray’s mother Jennifer Haney drew her hand back, she looked at her husband in a scornful manner.
“You really shouldn’t text and drive,” Haney said.
Just minutes before this transaction took place, Thackeray informed her parents about a video she viewed that day at school warning students about the dangers of texting while driving. Those who saw the video learned a valuable lesson that one distraction while driving can cause serious devastation.
“After I saw the video, it made me think,” Thackeray said. “It was scary. I didn’t want to text and drive anymore, and I wanted my friends and family to stop too.”
The video told the story of an tragic accident that occurred in Utah in 2006. Nineteen-year-old Reggie Shaw was driving his SUV while text messaging his girlfriend when he crossed into the other lane and hit another car carrying two men, who were both rocket scientists. The scientists’ car slid into the oncoming lane where a pickup truck hauling a trailer crashed into it, killing the two men instantaneously.
“It kind of creeped me out,” CHS junior Dominique Brady said. “I would never want to do that to someone. I can’t imagine being responsible for the death of two people just for texting.”
But Utah is not the only state that is affected by texting and driving. Even in Clarendon there are drivers who dare to endanger lives by checking text messages.
“I see people texting while driving every day,” Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said. “Texting is very dangerous while driving because it takes too much attention away from the driver. It has been the cause of many wrecks.”
Out of 109 students surveyed, 75 admit to texting while driving. One of these drivers is senior Jill Luna.
“I started texting while driving probably about six months after I got my license,” Luna said. “It keeps me busy and awake when I’m on the road, usually on long drives like on the way to Amarillo or Dallas.”
Senior Lauren Shelton says her texting while driving makes her feel rebellious.
“My parents tell me every day to stop texting while driving, and they even threaten to take my car away if I don’t,” Shelton said. “But it’s almost just like a habit now. I don’t even think about it.”
Knowing there are people out there who choose to text behind the wheel has pedestrians like physics and chemistry teacher Bruce Howard practicing their “defensive driving.”
“Texting while driving is not very wise because it’s hard enough to drive as it is,” Mr. Howard said. “I’m always watching out to make sure what the other driver is doing.”
According to information found on www.KeeptheDrive.com, the number one cause of death among American teens is not drug overdose, violence or suicide, but vehicle crashes mainly due to distractions. Texting is the number one driving distraction among teens.
CHS Student Council members have recognized this fact and plan to dedicate a week solely to raise awareness of the distractions and conditions that can cause wrecks.
“One day will be for texting while driving, and the others will be covering speeding, driving while sleepy, drinking and driving, and driving with no seatbelt,” said Brandi Mays, student council president. “We hope that the students will begin to realize how serious some of these distractions can be. Hopefully, it will be eye opening.”
Junior Bradley Watson is one of 15 students who have confessed that texting has caused them to swerve to avoid hitting a vehicle.
“One time me and my friend Johnny were coming back to school from lunch, and we were by the Post Office when this woman stopped in front of me to turn,” Watson said. “I had to swerve to miss her because I was reading a text. That has actually happened to me twice.”
Of the 75 surveyed students who text and drive, 39 consider texting a distraction, while 36 disagree. Sheriff Blackburn says it is a major distraction to all those who text though, and has statistics to back it up.
“There have been studies that prove that texting while driving is as bad as driving while intoxicated,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “It impairs you that much.”
In Texas, it is currently only illegal for school bus drivers and those under 18 to talk or text on cell phones while driving. But there is a law waiting to be passed by legislation that will make texting illegal for all those who drive statewide.
Survey results reveal that out of 109 students, 56 think that texting while driving should be against the law, while 53 disagree.
“I think it should be because it’s so dangerous and causes many accidents,” junior Kelsey Thomas said. “People need to focus on the road when they’re driving, not texting.”
Reggie Shaw’s accident that caused widespread devastation raised awareness of the dangers of texting while driving to both students and teachers.
“Drivers need to think about other people and the effect texting while driving could have on them,” Mr. Howard said. “Think of your passengers. I think it would be hard to live with if yourself if you ever killed or seriously injured someone. One mess up can change your life forever.”
Students are now spreading the word to their friends and loved ones to stop texting on the road before more lives are permanently changed or even taken away.
“I want to keep those who I care about safe,” Haney said. “If I have to, I will continue to slap hands of those who choose to text and drive.”
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