English 135 : Texting and Driving Final Draft

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Running Head: Texting and Driving Final DraftTexting and DrivingEnglish 135Professor WrightDeVry UniversityIn your proposal regarding texting and driving, you argue that stricter laws banning texting whiledriving would be more effective than current technological solutions such as apps anddevices.Considering both perspectives, how can the development of technology (e.g., apps, devices)work in tandem with the implementation of stricter laws to create a more comprehensive solutionfor curbing texting and driving incidents? In your response, make sure to discuss the potentialadvantages and drawbacks of both approaches and explain how they can complement each other.Your response should be at least 750 words in length.

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Texting and Driving Final Draft2Texting and DrivingIn 2012, Texas college student Chance Bothe was texting that he needed to stop textingbecause he said that he could die in a car accident (Zafar, 2012). He was driving at the sametime, 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). In2013, 19-year old Elizabeth Haley Meyers was on her way to Royal Farms in Maryland whenshe hit 30-year old Wesley Roberts who was driving his motorcycle. She was texting whiledriving. Roberts died, leaving behind his children, a brother, and a father while Meyers faced thepossibility of being sentenced up to ten years in prison and having to pay thousands of dollars infines (Valcourt, 2013).Indeed, texting and driving is a growing problem in our country. According toPascual-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 HighwayTraffic Safety Administration also stated that “teens are six times more likely to crash whiledialing a cellphone and 23 times more likely to crash while texting” (Mays, 2014). The reactiontime of a person who is texting while driving becomes similar to that of a 70-year old who isdriving without a cellphone (Mays, 2014). Pascual-Ferrá, Liu and Beatty (2012) also found thatthe effects of texting and driving are comparable to the effects of alcohol use and marijuana useon driving. In this regard, software developers are developing smartphone apps and devices thatwould prevent users from using their cellphone while driving (LaVallee, 2009). They claim thatit would be impossible to keep people from using their cellphones whiledriving as it has becomea major part of their daily lives. Therefore, the apps and devices that prevent users from textingand driving would be the best way to control the people’s cellphone usage while driving (Farrell,

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Texting and Driving Final Draft32013). However, there are also those who claim that these apps will only serve as an additionaldistraction to the driver (Farrell, 2013). There are also those who claim that stricter laws wouldbe more effective in preventing people from texting and driving (Morelli, 2014).The purpose of this proposal is to identify the measures that would be most effective atpreventing people from texting and driving. Although I’m a novice scholar, I will use scholarlyand reputable sources that will support the points I want to make and that will establish mycredibility. I will use extant research (e.g.Pascual-Ferrá, Liu & Beatty, 2012; LaVallee, 2009)and credible news sources (e.g. Farrell, 2013, Morrelli, 2014) to provide evidence of the causesand effects of texting and driving and to illustrate the effectiveness of the measures we currentlyhave for preventing texting and driving incidents.It is important to establish effective measures for preventing people from texting anddriving because it has caused the loss and destruction of so many lives, especially among theyouth. With everyone using a smartphone, merely telling them to not text and drive will not bevery effective. This has led to other measures being developed for preventing such. In thisregard, this paper posits that although the use of apps and devices that prevent texting anddriving are helpful for curbing the habit, stricter laws that ban texting and driving would still bemore effective because these will encourage people to take texting and driving seriously or elsebe charged with a primary offense and penalized.Texting started to become popular in the US in the early 2000s as the varioustelecommunications companies provided better packages for their subscribers and enabledinternetwork text messaging (“A brief history of text messaging,” 2014). However, as peoplestarted to use texting for most of their communications, the problem with texting and driving alsostarted to arise.

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