Teens Rally Against Texting and Driving
By now we’ve all seen the video on YouTube that aired on British television. It shows four girls driving a vehicle and texting, all staring at the screen just before a head-on collision.
The public service announcement should be seen by all teenagers who are close to the driving age, or presently driving. A warning – it is a gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. Parents may want to watch it first. But it is real and everyday drivers distracted by texting are doing exactly what the teens in this video are doing.
Now a group of Florida teens from Parkland, Florida (population 24,000) is taking the public service message and other videos of the dangers of texting and driving and trying to do something about it.
The teens are donning white t-shirts that carry an anti-texting message. And they’ve taken their campaign to city hall to convince the city commissioners to ban texting while driving in their town.
Wisely, the teens know it is kids who influence other kids, so sophomores, who are just getting their driving permits, have had the most influence on other kids in school.
"Before we started this project, my friends and I had no idea that texting was the most dangerous thing to do while driving," said one male student.
And other kids are listening, especially when they see an actual video of a bus driver texting before a crash.
Virginia Tech finds that dialing a cell phone is three times riskier. But the study shows nothing was riskier than texting – which presents 23 times the risk of a non-distracted driver.
Source report: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=145173&catid=6&GID=CsvbOxcJh+YJHX8vGlSaR8L9DW4CXbexKPFEZV+cVI4%3D
