You think you’re invincible. You think that it could never happen to you, because you’re careful. But all it takes is a split second. For you to look down at your cell phone screen, read that one, useless message and you’re airborne, tons of steel and fiberglass flying through the air. You are out of control and there is nothing you can do. And just like that you become part of a statistic, just another dead teen thanks to texting and driving. Your last words were to your best friend, four letters that would alter not only your life, but the lives of your friends and family forever.

Texting and driving is something we know we shouldn’t do, something that we are taught is wrong, but continue to do anyway. When a person is driving a vehicle while composing a text message, it makes them 23 times more likely to crash, according to www.textinganddrivingsafety.com. So why do these individuals continue to do it?

Most drivers believe that nothing can happen to them. Even after being educated on the dangers, they still go against what they know to be right. Other drivers attempt to justify their dangerous actions by saying they were in a hurry, that they were so eager to send out information that it simply could not wait until they reached their destination. And then there are the reckless drivers who use their phone when driving simply out of boredom or the rush it gives them to defy the law. Is risking your life, and increasing the possibly of being one of the eleven people who die daily to texting and driving, worth the few moments of entertainment?

Teens are the biggest offenders of texting and driving. According to “DWI: Texting while Intexicated,” texting is reportedly the #1 driving distraction reported by teens. Texting while driving is equivalent to driving blind for five seconds at a time. In the same article it states that texting and driving causes 600,000 accidents per year. 600,000. Texting while driving is comparable to driving after drinking four beers. And yet there is no strict laws or repercussions for texting while driving. In only ten states is cell phone use entirely prohibited.

Many argue that it is someone’s decision whether or not they choose to compose a text message while they are driving. Just because a law is made, it doesn’t mean that it will be followed. There will always be individuals who feel the need to go against the law, just because they feel like they won’t be reprimanded for their actions.

So, what will it take for these laws to be made and followed? Another 600,000 deaths? Texting and driving is as severe as drinking and driving. It is time that the amount of accidents and deaths are brought to a halt. It is not only up to the government to make laws, or the police to enforce them, but the drivers all across the country to abide by them. Until drivers stop texting while driving, the statistics will never change.