Raybin Dockery
Staff Writer

Imagine driving your car in heavy traffic when you hear the oh-so familiar buzz or beep of your cell phone to let you know you’ve received another text message. It’s probably your best friend wanting to go to a movie or your mom wanting you to pick up some items from the grocery store.

Traffic is finally moving faster and you decide to pick up the cell-phone and send a quick text that should take just a few seconds. While you’re finishing your text message, the car in front of you stops immediately and you crash into them.

You’ve just been in a really bad car accident and by law you are at fault since you hit the driver from behind. This whole situation could have been prevented if you had focused on the road and waited to answer your text.

Avoiding text messages while you’re driving can reduce your chances of a car accident. According to a CNN article, “Driving while texting — do you know the cost?”, four states are trying to ban texting while driving and 17 states, including the District of Columbia, have banned all young drivers from using their cell phones.

A-TECH senior, Amber Bennett, agrees with the lawmakers, stating, “Driving is very dangerous and anyone could get easily distracted, especially teens; I think teens should be banned from texting because teen drivers are more likely to get killed and should focus on the road.”

Many parents are also trying to prevent their teens from texting while driving through new technology that controls teen cell-phone use. TXtBlocker and TASER International are two companies that allow parents to program their teen’s cell phones so that incoming and outgoing texts and calls are disabled while the teen is driving. Parents can also be alerted if their teen is speeding or in a speeding vehicle.

Teens across the nation truly need to consider turning off their cell-phones completely while driving because, according to the National Teen Driving Statistics, drivers between the ages of 15-20 accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal car crashes. A recent report from AAA, estimates the cost of crashes involving 15-17 year-olds to be $34 billion in 2009.

Driving is a serious privilege and should not be taken lightly. The next time any teen driver in the U.S. considers to text and drive should consider the cost of his or her life. To learn more information on texting while driving visit the website www.KeeptheDrive.com