Since texting has become a staple of society in terms of communication, the focus on the dangers of texting and driving has increased. Scary statistics have parents in arms as they urge their children to refrain from using their cell while driving. At this point, cell usage and driving has been integrated into our road culture and all eyes are on the teenagers of America as up to 43 percent of teens admitted to using their cell phones behind the wheel—and those numbers are just from the ones who were honest. In response, 14 states passed legislation to prohibit all drivers from using cell phones while 46 states have banned drivers from texting. This problem has not only invoked the action of law makers, but also featured in popular media, creating a cliffhanger on the popular show “Glee” as Quinn was shown texting while driving, resulting in a terrible crash.
And while the initial problem appeared to be teenagers texting and driving, new data shows that adults are actually the largest age group to make this kind of offense. In comparison to the 43 percent of teens that admit they text and drive, half of the adults surveyed by AT&T admitted that they also texted and drive. In their weak defense, more than half said they didn’t text in 2010, and I report this as a weak defense as almost all of them were knowledgeable that texting and driving is wrong.
To all the teens who want to show this to the next adult that blames them for texting and driving statistics, the PewResearch Center also conducted the same survey. Their data reads similarly as they report that 34 percent of teens admitted to texting and driving while 47 percent of adults confessed as well. To quote all of our Math teachers, “Numbers don’t lie.”
This problem isn’t going away, and it isn’t likely to get better with these results. In a similar survey the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reported that the least likely age group to use their phones while driving was adults 60 and older. Thanks, Grandma.
The rising number of people who use their cell phone while driving is disturbing, and the government has taken a new approach to combat the trend. The government has begun to use the country’s favorite past time to discourage texting and driving: public shaming on social media.
Although not a hard solution, these tweets have garnered attention to the organization and their cause. And if you get anything out of this, realize that everyone is to blame for texting and driving (except Grandma, leave her alone).
