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Texting And Driving Is A Growing Problem

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Texting and Driving In 2012, Texas college student Chance Bothe was texting that he needed to stop texting because he said that he could die in a car accident (Zafar, 2012). He was driving at the same time, causing him to drive into a cliff. He miraculously survived but not without serious injuries – traumatic brain injuries, a fractured skull, a crushed face and a broken neck (Zafar, 2012). In 2013, 19-year old Elizabeth Haley Meyers was on her way to Royal Farms in Maryland when she hit 30-year old Wesley Roberts who was driving his motorcycle. She was texting while driving. Roberts died, leaving behind his children, a brother, and a father while Meyers faced the possibility of being sentenced up to ten years in prison and having to pay thousands of dollars in fines (Valcourt, 2013). Indeed, texting and driving is a growing problem in our country. According to Pascual-Ferrá, Liu and Beatty (2012), 25 percent of vehicular accidents, that is, 1.6 million accidents, every year can be attributed to cellphone use and texting while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also stated that “teens are six times more likely to crash while dialing a cellphone and 23 times more likely to crash while texting” (Mays, 2014). The reaction time of a person who is texting while driving becomes similar to that of a 70-year old who is driving without a cellphone (Mays, 2014). Pascual-Ferrá, Liu and Beatty (2012) also found that the effects of texting and

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