Texting While Driving
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To create awareness about the potential perils of texting while in the process of
Driving
- Introduction
The phrases do not drink and drive is very common. Texting is the same as drinking, that is, when one is driving. Many deaths are caused by road accidents. Elvik predicts that by the year 2020, one sixth of all deaths in the world will be caused by road accidents (38). This is a prospect that no person would want to come true. That is one reason why all the causes of road accident, texting while driving being among them, need to be avoided.
Transitional line: Having elaborated on the significance of the issue, I now proceed to the main speech.
- The Body
In this part, I am going to outline some of the reasons that might make one text while driving, what dangers one exposes oneself to when texting while driving, a few examples of accidents that have occurred due to texting while driving, and some of the ways one can avoid texting while driving.
- Reasons why People text while Driving
There are several reasons why people can text while they are driving. Some of the most common ones include the following:
- Obsession with the behavior
Some people may just have made it a habit to text while driving without any particular reason for doing so.
- Help
An example is a situation where the driver has received a message he or she needs to reply to urgently but there is no one close to help with either the replying or driving.
- Distraction
In this case, the drive may be distracted by messages that are not strictly necessary to be replied to.
Transitional Sentence: Having seen some of the reasons why people would find themselves texting while driving, I now consider some of the perils of texting while driving.
- Dangers of Texting While Driving
- Putting one’s life on the line
It is needless to mention that texting while driving makes the driver of the car vulnerable to road accident. Many road accidents have result in fatal injuries, and some of them have even resulted in deaths.
- Risking others lives
The driver of the car is not the only one who would be affected by the texting while driving. Occupants of the same car will also be affected by the behavior of the driver.
- Causing other accidents
A driver who is texting while driving may make other vehicle have an accident in their attempts to avoid hitting the car of the misbehaving driver.
2.4 Ways of Preventing Texting While Driving
These are some of the measures that can be taken to avoid texting while driving:
- The Driver may turn off the phone
- The driver may set the phone on out of reach mode
- The driver may plan ahead to avoid receiving texts at the time of driving
- The driver may use phone Bluetooth headsets or other means to help him communicate vocally rather than text.
Finally, it is necessary that phone companies be held at least partly accountable for the accidents.
- Conclusion
Texting while driving causes road accidents by distracting the driver and hence interfering with his concentration on the road. The speech has outlined the causes of texting while driving, the risk and finally offered some precautionary measures. I look forward to seeing a lower number of road accidents.
Works Cited
Elvik, Rune. The Handbook of Road Safety Measures. Bingley, UK: Emerald, 2009. Print.
LaVallee, Andrew. “Tech Journal: Firms Racing to End Texting and Driving — as States Pass New Bans, Companies Build Services to Disable in-Car Cellphone Messaging.” Wall Street Journal: B.5. The Wall Street Journal. Aug 26 2009. Web. 11 May 2012 .