Today’s submitted story is the winner of The Salem News and Missouri Press Association’s “It Can Wait” essay contest. Kristin Hemken will receive a $50 prize from The Salem News, and her essay was submitted to MPA. The statewide winner will receive $500.
Texting and driving: A lesson learned too late
By Kristin Hemken
As tears of happiness rolled down their aging faces, the couple glowed with excitement. For years, they suffered endless heartbreaks. Losing babies through horrid miscarriages nearly broke them, and the costs of In Vitro Fertilization and other doctor-help ways of having a baby gave them a nearly insurmountable challenge and threw them into debt. But now, finally, after spending all of their savings, their baby was delivered from a surrogate mother. This method was their last hope, and it had paid off.
Their new healthy baby girl was handed to them after hours of labor, and they were mesmerized.
They watched their beautiful child grow, and cherished every moment as a blessing, always remembering what they went through to get her. They went through the terrible two’s, the “why” stage and the tantrums, the fights, and know-it-all remarks, but they loved her nonetheless.
When their little girl was grown, they knew they had to give her some freedom. So, at age 16, they gave her a car. Knowing the dangers of driving and the numbers of accidents that teens have, they were extremely nervous about their daughter's safety, but she was full of excitement. Her school had an assembly, and they rattled off statistics. One that stuck in her mind was that 80 percent of crashes involve some form of distracted driving. She thought about it every time she drove, and made sure to pay attention.
Sitting at a stoplight, she waited patiently for it to change. Then, as she pulled away, the horrific screeching of rubber tires, the grinding together of metal and smashing glass made an unforgettable sound. The little girl who had been so loved and intentionally brought into the world by her parents was so unintentionally taken out of it.
The young man that smashed into the side of her car had been texting his girlfriend, sure she would get mad if he didn't reply to her "What are you doing?" message. He survived the crash, suffering only a concussion and broken collarbone, but the girl died on impact, her neck snapped.
The girl's parents turned completely ghostly when they heard the news. Crying the all too familiar tears of complete heartbreak, their quivering hands struggled to hold each other up as they sobbed. They began to question every aspect of their lives, wondering what they did to deserve so many hardships, and why the young man got to live, while their blameless daughter had to die.
At another assembly at the girl's old school, the young man was brought in to speak. He struggled through his speech to the group of high school students. He began by telling them facts that he knew they probably weren't listening to. He told them, "Eighty percent of crashes involve some form of distracted driving, texting drivers spend up to 400 percent more time with their eyes off of the road, 50 percent of teen drivers say that they text while driving, and in Missouri, if you get caught texting and driving under age 22, it's a $200 fine." He was trying desperately to discourage them from making the same mistakes that he had. But it wasn't until he broke down and told his story were they really listening. By the end, their glassy, tear-filled eyes looked up at him, and he hoped that someone would change their mind, and maybe take a pledge not to text and drive, and that he could save a life.
OTHER ENTRIES
Texting and Driving: It Can Wait
By Cody Botkin
73% of all young American drivers say its easy to text and drive and see no problem, but 23% nearly 1.3 million car crashes are caused by young adults texting and driving. All across America people are having problems with texting and driving. Texting and driving should be illegal. Why it should be illegal is because of the percentage of crashes caused by texting and driving, the percentage of fatalities caused by texting and driving and also the impact it can have on others around you or another person.
The increase in car crashes since 2008 has increased dramatically because of texting and driving. 73% of car crashes did involve cell phones being use while driving, and could have been prevented by not using the cell phone in the first place. In 2012 over Twenty-five thousand car crashes were caused by texting and driving. That is over Twenty-five thousand to many. The long term impact on other people around you could possibly be the worse, just imagine how your mother, father, sister, brother, or grandparents would feel if you lost your life because of something as stupid as texting and driving. Or how would you be able to live with yourself by taking a life from another person because of your texting and driving.
There is a site called www.itcanwait.com where you can make pledge to not texting and drive. It doesn’t take more than 5 seconds to go to the website and click I Pledge. Their website also has a lot of information on the effects of texting and driving. All you have to do is click I Pledge, I did it, Will you?
No Text Is Worth Dying Over
By Jacob Smallwood
Did you know that in 2011, 23% of auto collisions were caused by cell phones? The numbers are actually very devastating. I think texting and driving is stupid because one text is not worth your life and somebody else’s. I think texting and driving should be illegal because its life threating, it kills thousands every year, and it’s just not worth it.
Texting and driving should be a crime. But the thing is, everyone will eventually be finding themselves doing it. Were all humans, we make mistakes. Texting and driving is life threating, no matter what anybody says. It’s not right; some people call it practical suicide. Texting and driving kills innocent people, it’s not right.
There are organizations that actually care about texting and driving. AT&T sponsored itcanwait.com teaches you to not text and drive and make a personal promise to yourself to NOT text and drive. You can also share the website information to inform others and to try to make a difference in their life. Texting and driving is not right, and needs to be taken seriously.
Texting and Driving
By Melvin Arganbright
I know most people have texted and drove. I would just like to try and convince you to not to. First off every text you send or receive, takes your attention for just over 4 seconds. That is long enough to completely ruin someone’s life. A fatal car wreck, pedestrian getting hit, family pet injured or killed. All of these and much more can occur in such a little increment of time.
Here are some statistics on texting and driving: approximately 660,000 drivers are using cellphones whilst driving, this has remained steady since 2010. United States’ drivers are reported as 20% of teens using cellphones and 10% adults using cellphones while driving. Engaging in visual-manual subtasks (such as reaching for a phone, dialing and texting) associated with the use of hand-held phones and other portable devices increased the risk of getting into a crash by three times. Driving a vehicle while texting is six times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Together we can stop this horrific plague. There are several ways we can cut down on ways to text and drive, such as, putting cameras in vehicles that go off when a phone goes off, have parents take a child’s phone away while they drive, shutoff texting from your phone plan. There are many other ways you can put a stop to this also. Everyone needs to be thoroughly informed on what texting and driving can do to you and your family, educate everyone you know and care about!
Is it worth it?
By Vanessa White
Did you know that in 2011 23% of auto collisions involved cellphones? That’s 1.3 million crashes! Many people text and drive on a daily basis. No one should ever text and drive because you risk yourself and others lives, in Missouri texting while driving is illegal if you’re under the age of 21, and if you text and drive your 23 more times likely to get in an accident.
When you are texting and driving you are putting yourself and others life in jeopardy.
You can change someone’s life in seconds and tear a family apart. If you were to be responsible for someone’s death that would be something you would have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life. Getting a ticket for texting while driving can be up to $150. You’re more likely to get in a crash because of your lack of attention on the road.
To save life’s, make a promise to yourself to never text and drive. It’s very important to know the risks you are taking while texting and driving. Go to itcanwait.com take the pledge to never text and drive, not only for yourself but, also for the safety everyone else. Taking this pledge will make our community safer. As a whole we can make a difference!
The Text Can Wait
By Josh Bounds
Did you know that 10% of injury crashes in 2011 were reported as distraction-affected crashes? In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 416,000 injured in 2010. Texting and driving is not worth killing or hurting people. The text can wait.
Texting and driving is the number one most preventable type of car crash in the world. If you just put your phone up when you drive, you could prevent one more car crash. A way to stop texting and driving is to apply a drive cam, which records a driver’s activity while in the car. Another way is to get the AT&T app called AT&T drive mode which disables the person’s phone while driving so they can’t text and drive. Texting and driving should be illegal in all 50 states.
Another way to prevent teen texting and driving is to go to the AT&T website, itcanwait.com, and take the pledge not to text and drive. Itcanwait.com is a website that gives facts and statistics to show how many deaths and injuries are caused by texting and driving. No text is worth someone’s life. Not only does it kill that person, it also destroys their family. It can wait.
