“For every 4 vehicle related accidents, 1 is caused by the use of a cell phone.”- Based on findings announced from The National Safety Council
We can read about statistics 24/7 and nothing will change. Everyone knows the danger and risk involved, we just never think anything will happen to us, but we are wrong and this is not the right mindset we should have.
Majority of us have either texted or talked on the phone will driving. This has been happening since the phone was installed in the first car. You’ve seen it in the movies and chances are you or your parents or grandparents did it back then and are still continuing to do it as it’s become a bad habit you just can’t get rid of. Driving throughout Austin, we all see it on a daily bases. We know it’s terrible and there are major risks involved, but how can we break this bad habit? No one is going to pull over and stop their vehicle every time they need to make a call or reply to a text. It’s nearly impossible to ignore your phone sitting next to you, so that option is thrown out the window!
There’s no quick fix to this, but we need to change our way of thinking about this matter. Driving and texting has been inhabited in our daily rituals and we need to put an end to it. Getting here will not be fast and easy, but with new laws in effect throughout the Austin Metro Area and now spreading to the surrounding rural areas and a heavy foot down we can certainly put an end to this over time.
Nationwide bans on texting and driving are helping us move forward in the right direction. Driving through Austin, you see billboards all around regarding texting and driving. We see it in the news all the time. Unfortunately, most of us don’t follow rules based only on our safety. It’s much more effective to make people pay a fine for breaking these laws. After all, nobody wants to pay several hundred dollars just because they couldn’t resist looking at that “new” text. One text is not worth one life or multiple for that matter.
We have to admit that we are the part of the issue at hand. This problem affects all age groups from teenagers to senior citizens; anyone driving with a cell phone contributes to this issue as soon as they pick up their cell phone while behind the wheel. We need to be honest with ourselves and think about our futures. What could happen if we are driving and texting; A LOT could happen. You are not just risking your life when you choose to do this, you are risking other lives that are on the road, whether it be a passenger, your child, a person walking down the street or even another driver. At the blink of an eye, a person’s life could be taken away. You may think that since nothing this terrible has happened that you can continue texting and driving, but eventually something terrible will happen especially with texting and driving.
We need to work at setting a better example for the younger generation. If your children watch you drive phone-less you will create a powerful influence for their future by changing their mindset at an early age. Overtime, we hope by having a behavioral change accomplished that more and more people will put the phone down when driving.
As a body shop located near south Austin, we have seen too many accidents related to cell phone use. Luck does run out though and just keep this in mind, is your life really worth that 1 text message, or better yet is it worth someone else’s life?
