Texting while driving can ruin your life, don't do it. Texting while driving puts you and the people around you at unnecessary risk and is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated, because the consequences can be equally deadly. Therefore texting and driving should be as illegal as drunk driving. Putting yourself and those around you at risk of death or serious injury is not acceptable and is one hundred percent preventable. Texting while driving should be prohibited by federal law. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Texting while driving should be banned by federal law Intenseness is the state in which you have your mind focused on texting to the point of not being aware of what is happening in the world around you. (The Online School Organization, 2014, p. 1) When someone texts while driving, the person is sometimes referred to as an “intexticata” person, relating to an intoxicated person. (Professional Safety. 2013, para. 1). There is a good reason for this, because the effects of an intoxicated person behind the wheel of a moving vehicle can be the same as the effects of an intoxicated person behind the wheel. The end result is crashing your vehicle into someone else's vehicle or property, or even hitting a pedestrian. Intestate driving is on the rise among road users. (A. Benedetto, et al., 2012, p. 29) Smartphones are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers, and teenagers represent the majority of new drivers. Many middle-aged adults also started texting while driving and weren't told about the dangers of doing so because texting devices didn't exist when they first got their licenses. In the article "Texting While Driving Is More Popular Among Adults" the author discusses the fact that many middle-aged adults take part in texting while driving. (Eddy, N., 2013 p. 1). This shows that it is not just teenagers who text while driving, which makes this problem even more serious in society. If intestinal driving behavior increases in society, it means that society is behaving irresponsibly and dangerously, causing a public safety problem. If society does not act reasonably and responsibly on its own, then federal law should intervene for the sake of public safety. Texting while driving is dangerous and irresponsible. In the article “Effects of Cell Phone Activities on Driving Performance: A Driving Simulator Study,” the author states that “In 717 of 723 crashes examined (99%), a driver behavioral error caused or contributed to the clash." (A. Benedetto, A. Calvi, F. D'Amico., 2012, p. 30) Although the "behavioral error" was not necessarily sending messages, taking your eyes off and concentrating on the road to send messages is equally dangerous and any other behavioral errors out there. This includes drunk driving and reckless driving. The use of a cell phone for any purpose while operating any vehicle prevents the operator from operating the vehicle with full concentration and attention. Therefore, there is automatically at least some risk when someone uses their cell phone while driving a vehicle. In the article “Impactful Distraction” the author writes “cell phone conversations impede what a driver sees and processes, as numerous studies have shown. This, in turn, slows down reactions and other faculties. (Seppa, N., 2013, p. 1). If cell phone conversationsthey slow down the driver's reaction time, which could be deadly in an emergency situation, then even texting while driving would definitely slow down the driver's reaction time. The author of Impactful distraction also states “The risk of an accident quadruples when the driver is on the phone…” (Seppa, N., 2013, p. 1). This shows that using your mobile phone while driving carries risks, even if you only use the simplest functions. Sending SMS could be considered the most complex operational function of a smartphone. This means using the texting function while driving would be the most dangerous operation of the cell phone, which would increase the risk of an accident by more than quadrupling. If you are quite new to the topic of texting and driving, you might think that texting isn't that difficult, so it's probably not that dangerous while driving, or you might think to yourself, I'm skilled enough to handle it. If these are your thoughts, then you should take note of the article "Wat 2 Do Abt Txt'n & Drv'n (aka: What to do about the problem of texting while driving?)" which examines some of the actions of texting while driving. The author writes “texting diverts at least some of the driver's mental attention from the task of driving. Second, drivers who text must take at least one hand off the wheel to send messages and, generally, to read them. (Gardner, LA, 2010, para 1) and “drivers usually receive the content of their text messages visually, which requires them to take their eyes off the road for a certain period of time.” (Gardner, L.A., 2010, paragraph 2). Any experienced driver should be able to see the danger in this type of driving behavior. “The best hopes for addressing it effectively lie in a multi-pronged strategy that condemns the behavior legally and socially” (Gardner, LA, 2010, abstract). Texting while driving is a public safety issue. The result was loss of life, long-term injuries and property damage. However, research shows that there is a three-fold disconnect between the public option on texting while driving, scientific studies on texting while driving, and texting while driving legislation. (Seppa, N., 2013, p. 1) This disconnect must be eliminated by banning texting while driving and educating the public primarily through mandatory readings to obtain or renew a driver's license. When Mr. Seppa interviewed an emergency room doctor at West Virginia University named Jeffery Coben, Mr. Coben stated that "injuries rarely occur due to random events" (Seppa, N., 2013, p. 3) , implying that car accidents that result in injuries are not random events, but rather are predictable and preventable. Mr. Coben went on to state that “every accident is an interaction between an individual driving the vehicle and the environment they are in.” (Seppa, N., 2013, p. 3) Mr. Coben is absolutely right. When a vehicle crashes because the operator was texting instead of focusing on driving, it is a foreseeable outcome that could have been avoided, and not an accidental accident. Bowel leaks and injuries are completely preventable. However, texting is becoming a common part of life and there are behavioral changes that come with it, but texting when moving is dangerous. People who walk while texting will change their walking style to be more cautious, but research shows that their changed walking behavior does not make them safer. If people can't walk more safelyas they change their behavior when texting, then what makes them think they can drive more safely by changing their behavior while driving and texting? According to the article “Practicing Safe Text: the Impact of Texting on Walking Behavior,” texting causes traffic accidents. The authors state that “phone use while driving increased the number of distracted driving accidents.” (Lopresti-Goodman, S.M., Rivera, A., & Dressel, C., 2012, para 1). Research shows that the predictable outcome of texting and driving causes the vehicle to crash, resulting in property damage and possible injury, including death. Therefore, for the sake of public safety, texting while driving should be prohibited. Speaking of law, there's an article titled "New Approaches to End Texting While Driving" in which a California Highway Patrol officer named Brian Pennings is educating teens about the dangers of texting and driving. According to Officer Pennings, “motorists who text are twice as likely to crash as those driving under the influence of alcohol.” (New Approaches to Eliminate Texting While Driving, 2013, paragraph 1) Drinking alcohol impairs driving skills, but texting disables driving skills altogether. A blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 will impair someone's ability to control the speed of a vehicle, but intestination will prevent someone from knowing there is a danger right in front of them. According to Officer Pennings “fewer teens drink or take drugs before driving than texting or talking while driving.” (New Approaches to End Texting While Driving, 2013, paragraph 2) So we have two topics here. The first drives while intoxicated, the second drives while intoxicated. Driving while intoxicated is the more dangerous of the two activities and the more dominant activity of the two. Yet driving while intoxicated is the only one of two illegal activities in all fifty states. Now you might be wondering “that's weird, why?” The answer is because drunk driving has been around for over a century, but cell phone texting has only been around for about a decade. Human intoxication dates back to before the invention of the automobile, but texting on cell phones and smartphones has only become a popular activity in the last five years. That makes now the right time to make texting while driving illegal in all fifty states. According to mothers against drunk driving, all fifty states have made it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, and at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 will impair someone's ability to control the speed of a vehicle and cause difficulties in information processing and reasoning. (page 1) Many states have made it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of as little as 0.02. Now, what is more dangerous is driving with reduced ability to control the speed of a vehicle and difficulty processing information and reasoning, or driving while completely focused on reading a text message on a cell phone, without processing any information in relation to where you are? Is the vehicle moving or what's ahead? At least with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 you can still try to avoid crashing your vehicle into something with limited capabilities. But when you concentrate on reading a text message, you have no idea that the danger is there, so you won't even make any attempt to avoid it. The article “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States, 1999 to 2008”examined trends in distracted driving leading to a fatal crash, and its relationship to cell phone and texting use, during the period 1999 to 2008. The authors state that “laboratory and naturalistic studies have shown that talking on a cell phone increases the risk of collision by more than 30%.” (Wilson, F.A. and Stimpson, J.P., 2010, para. 2). We therefore know from studies in the recent past that simply talking on a cell phone while driving significantly increases the risk of collision. We also know that this dangerous activity can be done without even taking your eyes off the road. But texting while driving requires the driver to look at the phone instead of the road. We also know that taking your eyes off the road for any reason while driving is dangerous. Therefore, logical and deductive reasoning demonstrates that texting while driving is dangerous and increases the risk of collision. Being intestinal while driving a vehicle should be socially condemned because it is very dangerous. Therefore, intexting yourself while driving should be federally prohibited. The federal government already recognizes that texting while driving is wrong. In fact, according to the Federal Communications Commission: The White House issued an executive order on October 1, 2009 stating that the federal government should demonstrate leadership in reducing the dangers of texting and driving and that all federal employees should not engage in text messaging when driving a government vehicle or while driving on official government business. Additionally, it directs all executive branch agencies to reevaluate and consider new rules and programs to ban texting while driving and raise awareness among federal employees of the safety risks associated with texting while driving. guide. (para. 2)Now the federal government must go to the next level and ask the Senate and House to pass legislation that would also ban the American public from texting while driving. There is more research and plenty of evidence to support that texting while driving is dangerous. For example, in the article “The Effects of Text Messaging During Dual-Task Driving Simulation on Cardiovascular and Respiratory Responses and Reaction Times,” the article discusses a study that attempts to replicate the effects of text messaging distractions. text on reaction times. Forty test subjects finished computerized reaction time tests with a single task, which was no texting, and a dual task where texting was the second task. The results showed that text messaging significantly increased reaction times. Reaction time is what separates expert, defensive drivers from amateur drivers when it comes to avoiding an accident. Those with quick and decisive reaction times are more likely to prevent a collision or mitigate its impact, and are more likely to walk away from a collision with minimal injury. Surely someone will argue for personal freedom, saying that it should be my choice whether I want to take the risk or not, just like they did in the past when they had to wear seat belts. People will also justify texting and driving by claiming that they are so busy that they need to multitask, especially if they have a long commute. For example, someone might say they have a two-hour commute and say they can't be unavailable for that long. But that doesn't justify taking their attention away from the road to look at their smartphone, which could risk a.