No text is worth losing a loved one over. Today texting while driving is becoming more popular than ever. Research shows that in 2002, texting while driving contributed to more than 182,894 crashes and 1,248 deaths. William Saletan states that the researchers’ minimum calculation was 508 deaths; a Harvard study put the number at 2,600 deaths. These deaths could be prevented by simply allowing a call to go to the voice mail. The NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, estimates that distraction while driving contributes to about 25 percent of all traffic crashes. “Using your phone while driving should only be done when there is an emergency,” said Saletan. Research shows that there is little to no difference between the distraction from the use of a hand-held and hands-free cell phone while driving. Both present potential risk. Saletan states that there are public policies that can help us drive safer: pull the car over while talking, have a passenger talk for you, let the person know you are driving, and simply put the phone in your pocket.

Using a phone while driving is very dangerous and should only be done if there is an emergency. If you are texting of talking on the phone you are posing a risk to all the drivers on the road, and yourself as well. It is simple to get distracted while on the phone, you are focusing on the conversation and not what you should be concentrating on, the road.

Each year over a thousand innocent people die because drivers weren’t paying attention to the road, but were texting their friend something that could have waited. Personally, I text and talk on the phone while driving. But since the new law that has been passed, I do not text while driving anymore, while I do talk on the phone. When I did text while driving I found it more difficult than talking while driving because you have to look at what you are typing or reading the text instead of having your eyes on the road. While talking on the phone is legal, it is also dangerous. Like texting it is a major cause of traffic accidents each year. But it is easier to perform because your eyes are still planted on the road and the environment around you. Technology is making it easier to talk on the phone while driving as well. They have created hands-free phones and head sets so you can have two hands on the wheel at all times.

Although technology is taking steps to make it more convenient to talk on the phone while driving it is still dangerous. People aren’t going to stop talking or texting while driving because they feel like they do it “well”, but no one can do it well. People won’t stop texting or talking on the phone while driving until something dramatic happens to them or a love one, then they will know that it is the wrong thing to do. Everyone shouldn’t text or talk while driving.