According to AT&T, 97 percent of teenagers believe that texting and driving is bad, yet 43 percent still do it. One person texting and driving puts everyone on the road at risk. Everyone can relate to the struggle of texting and driving; one notification pops up and there’s a temptation to check it but checking that notification could be the last thing you do. 

     Recently, a teenager in Wellington, TX, was driving and struck a man on a bike—an incident that cost that man his life, and the life of that teenager will never be the same. This is why it’s critical to pay attention when driving, taking someone’s life could be the consequence of distracted driving. 

     However, consequences of distracted driving are not always that serious. It may be something as simple as getting a ticket, which could cost up to two hundred dollars in the state of Texas. That may seem like a minor punishment, however, that does not justify texting and driving. Even if someone gets away with texting and driving with no punishment, they are still risking the lives of themselves and others. 

     Before texting and driving people need to consider what the results could be of their decisions. There are ways to avoid texting and driving. If there is another person in the car it is very simple to have a passenger take the driver’s phone and respond to messages for them. If there is an instance in which the driver needs to check their phone immediately and there is not a passenger, then it is safer to pull over. Getting off the road to check phones could save more lives than one would think.