We’ve all been told a thousand times “Don’t drink and drive!” but, what about texting?
Texting while driving is one of the most dangerous things you can do on the road. Everyone who texts thinks that their messages don’t usually take a very long time to send, however, by taking your hands off the wheel and your eyes off the road, you are endangering yourself and others.
Studies done by Car and Driver show that the reaction distance while texting and driving at 70 mph is 319 feet, and while driving drunk at 70 mph is 17 feet. If driving drunk is less dangerous than texting, why do people insist on repeating their behavior? We put ourselves in dangerous positions that could very easily get us killed, and we don’t even think twice about it.
When you crash, it may not be lethal and you may not even get injured, but you still have to fork over your cash to fix everything that a few texts messed up. The average cost of a disabling injury in a car crash is about $61,600 and the average cost for each death in an accident is $1,130,000.
I don’t know how much money you have in your piggy bank, but I have a feeling it isn’t nearly that much.
Each text message you send can only be 160 characters. It is impossible to pack a short message full of so much meaning that it is more important than someone’s life. I know we all want to talk to our friends, but that can wait until you’re out of the car.
Don’t make plans for your beach party on Saturday when you’re driving your little brother to his friends house on Thursday. Save that conversation until you are out of your car or off of the road; anywhere that you don’t need to concentrate on your life or the lives of others.