Even after being in a near death incident last year and knowing three people who have lost their lives because of texting and driving, senior Bryan Burleson still continues to text while driving.
“A text is very important, especially if it’s from a girlfriend,” Burleson said. “I don’t like to call people because it is too quick.”
Burleson left a friend’s house driving toward Hobbs, going about 80 or 90 mph. He was texting his girlfriend and didn’t see a curve with a 10 mph speed limit.
“When I looked up, there was this huge sand hill and I ended up ramping it,” Burleson said. “I was at least 12 feet in the air and hit a guideline wire. I ended up in a cotton field, and my hood was crumpled.”
The damage to Burleson’s truck was $1,300.
“I called my dad after it happened,” Burleson said, “and he just wanted to know if I was okay and what I was doing. I told him I was all right and that I just wasn’t paying attention.”
Burleson didn’t feel comfortable telling his dad the truth.
“I try to keep the fact that I text while driving from my dad,” Burleson said. “I think he would worry about me getting hurt. Fathers shouldn’t have to bury their sons.”
Any phone use while operating a motor vehicle is illegal for drivers under the age of 18.
“We know we’re not supposed to text while driving,” junior Shawn Barndollar said. “People do it for the instant gratification of a text. They need to realize that delaying that moment makes the gratification of the text even greater. They just need to wait for it.”
In a survey of 518 SHS students, 247 said they have in the past or continue to text and drive.
“I got pulled over once for texting while driving,” Barndollar said. “The officer showed me awful pictures of wrecks caused by texting.”
Barndollar no longer texts while he drives except on rare occasions.
“Texting and driving is extremely dangerous,” Barndollar said. “It’s people with low attention spans trying to multi-task.”
Sophomore Jordan Smith said there are exceptions to text messaging.
“If it’s an emergency I think it’s okay to send the message,” Smith said, “but if it’s just for an ‘LOL’ they don’t need to send or read it. If that is so necessary they can pull over.”
Smith said that people text in vehicles like they do in school to try and hide it.
“If people are going to text and drive they should pick up their phones,” Smith said. “If they put their phones by the steering wheel they could watch the road and then alternate it with the screen.”
Burleson watches the road while he texts.
“I don’t look down the whole time I’m texting,” Burleson said. “I will look up to make sure I’m on the right course.”
Freshman Analysia Gonzalez said students shouldn’t be hypocrites when asked about texting and driving.
“If people are going to do a survey and say texting while driving is dangerous, they shouldn’t do it,” Gonzalez said. “One text from a boyfriend is not important enough to risk your life.”
According to www.KeeptheDrive.com an average of 11 teen lives are taken each day in car crashes that could easily have been prevented.
“That many lives being taken makes me scared to be on the road,” Gonzalez said. “These people that text and drive think life is less important than a text. They’re ignorant.”
With the overwhelming evidence that shows texting while driving kills, students often are in danger even when they are not the driver.
“If I’m in the car with someone, and they want to text while driving, I make them put the phone down or I’ll text for them,” senior Rebecca Villarreal said. “The driver is endangering everyone in the car and not just themselves.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 80 percent of all crashes involve driver inattention within three seconds of the crash.
Often the cellphone habits while driving are ones learned from parents.
“It’s horrible for mothers to text and check email while driving,” Smith said. “They’re selfish and ignorant to be risking their lives and the lives of their children.”
Barndollar said that parents influence teens to text while driving.
“The parents texting is an example to the child,” Barndollar said.“It doesn’t help when they catch their kids texting while driving, and they don’t tell them not to. When there is no discipline, kids think, ‘Why not?’”
Burleson said he does not drive like his dad.
“I pay attention to the way my dad drives, and I do the complete opposite,” Burleson said. “My dad likes to be on people’s tails while he’s driving, and I’m completely different.”
Thirty-nine states along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have banned texting while driving for all drivers. Texas currently has seven legislative bills pending for texting-free driving.
“People are still dying as a result of the law not being in place [in Texas],” Barndollar said. “Having the law could make it more dangerous. In a proviso, there are ways to get around things. A vast majority of people would stop as a result of it.”
With new technologies, hands-free driving is easier and safer to get the message across.
“Some phones have an app, so you can voice text,” Burleson said. “That’s definitely worth it. It’s awesome that phones have the technology built to do that.”
A poll showed that 37 percent of students thought being under the influence of drugs and alcohol was the most dangerous thing while driving, while only 21 percent thought texting and driving was the most dangerous.
“I think texting and driving is more dangerous than being drunk while driving,” Gonzalez said. “I know that when I text and drive I don’t really pay attention, so I try not to text while I’m driving. I barely have my permit, and I could get caught.”