Thirty years ago, the thought of carrying a mini computer around in your pocket would have seemed like a mere fantasy, something that you would only see in the very distant future. But today, it is reality.
Almost everyone I know possesses a cell phone. It is rare that we ever see someone who doesn’t have a smart phone firmly attached to their hand. And while smart phones allow us to access information with the click of a button, or communicate with someone instantly, they don’t always aid us in our day-to-day life.
I will admit, that in certain situations, I am one to pull out my phone and compulsively check social media or play stupid little games to pass the time. While I do use my phone as a, let’s say- safety blanket, in social situations. I also have no problem going without it for hours at a time.
This is where other people fail. Cellphones become problematic when people cannot go 20 minutes without checking their phones. When they hold their phones up on the steering wheel to Snapchat or tweet- I mean they can handle it right? It’s not like they’re driving a machine that weighs a thousand pounds and can kill people easily- including themselves.
Every time you get behind the wheel, you take your life and everyone else’s life into your hands- so don’t fill one of them with a cellphone. The fact that some people value social media and texting over living and safety, that just blows my mind. I promise, that funny tweet or that emoji that your friend texted you will still be there when you arrive at your destination. And I also promise that even though you succeed at texting and driving one day, one day it will also become a problem for you.
It will start as a simple veer into the shoulder or another lane- and it will get your adrenaline rushing and your heart pounding. The next time it may be the same thing. The time following that, you may feel that you can multitask. Your eyes barely leave the road right? Only 3 seconds, right? What could go wrong in 3 seconds?
A lot can change in 3 seconds. You can rear end someone. You can veer out of your lane and hit a street sign or a tree. You can hit a bicyclist that you didn’t see because you just had to Snapchat. The list goes on.
I know we’ve all heard this over and over again. Don’t text and drive. You may not even take this seriously, but I promise- it is serious. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts reveals that texting and driving causes approximately 11 teen deaths a day. How is that not serious? You don’t even have to be texting and driving to die as a result of it. It just takes one person who decides that social media is more important than a life.
Social media is not more important than a life. Texting is not more important than a life. Your cellphone is not more important that a life. Next time you want to text and drive, think about how it would feel to be responsible for the death of a person.
Just because you think it won’t happen to you, doesn’t actually mean that it won’t.