Florida Teens Rally Against Texting While Driving
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By now we’ve all seen the video on YouTube than aired on British television. The public service announcement should be seen by all teenagers who are close to the driving age, or presently behind the wheel.
A warning – it is a gruesome, up close and graphic look at the inside of a car during an accident. It is 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 – texting and not paying attention.
Now a group of Florida teens from the small town of Parkland, Florida (population 24,000) in Broward County are rallying against texting while driving. After seeing the British public service announcement, as well as other videos of texting drivers and the accidents they cause, these 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.
"Before we started this project, my friends and I had no idea that texting was the most dangerous thing to do while driving," said student Michael Ross.
And other kids are listening, especially when they see an actual video of a bus driver texting before a crash.
A new study from Virginia Tech finds that dialing a cell phone is three times riskier than a non-distracted driver. But the study shows nothing is riskier than texting – which presents 23 times the risk when compared to a non-distracted driver.
Florida is a state that has failed to adopt any bans on talking on cell phones while driving or texting. Legislators have tried, but the phone lobby is a powerful one.
Thankfully, we have a group of thoughtful teens that have done what our legislature has been unable to do. #