Texting While Driving..

I’m driving slightly over the speed limit on the Northern State, blaring some classic Ke$ha tunes on my way to Adelphi University. My phone’s ‘text’ ringtone goes off, and I swiftly glance at my iPhone as it rests on passenger seat adjacent to me.

As I let the phone sit there, and as the reminder alert rings, I cringe and squirm wondering who has sent me a message. The suspense was killing me, or at least annoying me to the point where I was barely focusing on the road. To respond or not to respond, that is the question?

Well, to the shock and awe of all of you reading this, I will admit, that I am guilty of responding. I know its wrong; I know I shouldn’t be doing it. But, for some reason, I feel that I am invincible, and I feel there is no way that while texting and driving, I could somehow swerve off the road into the divider, or into another car.

After conversing with students across Adelphi’s campus about this issue, many say that they have rules about texting while driving; for example, they only participate in the activity if they are at a red light, or at a stop sign. They also claimed that they would stop texting if someone who was in their car with them asked them to stop.

But, seeing that we make rules about texting while driving, we are technically rationalizing something that we shouldn’t be doing in the first place. We shouldn’t be engaging in a pastime that is taking our attention and focus off of the road, or off of the 3,000 to 4,000 pound piece of machinery that we are maneuvering.

While snooping around the Internet, researching this topic, I found a website called txtresponsibly.org, with their mission being, “to raise awareness of the dangers of texting while driving and to prevent harmful injury or death caused by the act of texting recklessly.”

On this website you have the ability to take an oath that you “will not read, write or send messages using any handheld device while driving…” Only 102 people have signed the oath thus far, but I know that there are so many more people out there that text while they drive. These same people also know, and understand, that it needs to stop.

I just became the 103rd person to sign the oath. No, I didn’t sign it to be preachy, or to convert all of you who are reading this. I signed it for me, to ensure my safety and the safety of those commuting with me and around me. I signed the oath to make sure my entire focus is on the road ahead of me, and not on the text waiting for me.

(Image Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)