Hi, my name is Regina Bourkas, and I will be talking about how texting while driving could cause accidents and how it is dangerous. Well, first off all, I’m sure almost all of the people who drive in Montreal text while they drive, because my parents do too! There are three types of distracted driving; manual, cognitive and visual. Texting is all three types, demonstrating just how dangerous this activity is. First, there are the most common. This is anything that takes your eyes off the road. Clearly, texting while driving ticks off this box, as it requires a driver to divert their eyes from the road.

Next, we were talking about manual distractions. This is anything that requires drivers to take one or more hands off the steering wheel for any reason. This could be something like eating while driving, changing the radio station, or taking a sip or coffee or anything that you are drinking. Finally, there are cognitive distractions. This is anything that takes a driver’s mind off the road ahead of them. Texting certainly does this, as it redirects a driver’s focus onto the conversation they’re engaged in, taking their mind off the road ahead of them and off of the task at hand of safely navigating the road.

Over 3,000 teens and young drivers die yearly due to texting while driving. In several countries, it is illegal to text while driving, like here in Canada, but even though it is illegal some people just don’t care. I think that in the future there should be little censors in people’s cars to see if they are using their phones (only for the people in the driver’s seat). I know people really won’t like this idea, but people need to understand the dangers of texting while driving. I hope that people will start taking precautions because this really scares me.

Social media plays a big role in society today. There should be massive campaigns to try and put the effects of texting while driving on social media. This might help discourage people from texting while driving. People get distracted because of social media updates or text messages while driving. We need to create something to put our phone on hold while we drive. Please do not text while you drive!