Texting while driving, why are drivers still doing it?

Texting while operating a vehicle is illegal, but then why do so many Americans still do it? It is illegal to text while driving in more than 40 states. However, if you observe and take the time to count how many drivers do not follow the law it is completely baffling.

Every day, nearly 8,000 car accidents occur due to a driver being distracted. In the last 25 years, more than one million lives in the U.S. have been taken due to drivers not devoting their full attention to the road, with 33,788 of them being in the year 2010.

Nearly 94% of drivers agree with the No Texting While Driving law,  yet more than one-third of drivers admit to either texting or e-mailing while driving in the past month! I am on the road each day for nearly two hours on Interstate 95. It amazes me how many people either text while driving or are talking on the phone while driving. Laws are not put into effect for fun, they are there to protect everyone. Yet, people still manage t0 break some of the most important laws. Texting while driving really does impair ones ability to focus. Drivers begin to swerve as if they are driving intoxicated, their eyes are taken away from focusing on their surroundings or the car in front of them and their reflexes are not as quick.

There is a reason that so many campaigns have been started to keep people from texting while driving. Companies such as AT&T and AAA have all began educating Americans why it is important to put their phones down while behind the wheel. These companies are asking drivers to take a pledge where they promise not to text behind the wheel.

Texting while driving has cost lives for many loved ones and some people just do not understand how serious this can be. There is a reason this law was passed. Texting behind the wheel has obviously did a lot of damage that officials took this seriously. Maybe a harsher sentence should be given to those that violate the law to set an example that texting while driving is not a joke, but is actually a very dangerous action to gamble with.

So next time you get behind the wheel and consider picking your cellphone up think about those around you and how serious consequences may be when you text and drive.