Texting While Driving

Introduction

An estimated 20 percent of drivers are sending or receiving text messages while behind the wheel, according to a Nationwide Insurance study. And, according to another poll, that number skyrockets to 66 percent when drivers 18 to 24 are isolated. The practice, especially popular among young people, is exacting a deadly toll. This paper discusses texting while driving in a concise and comprehensive way.

Texting While Driving: A Discussion

Texting is one of the quintessential teen media applications. This is particularly true in East Asia and in Europe. Adolescents were the first to use text messages, and they have developed the practice in terms of its linguistic dimensions and its role in the broader use of mobile communication. They have integrated texting into their daily lives, and the way that they stay in touch with peers and parents through texting has found a role even in the negotiation of romantic relationships. Adolescents have learned to use texting as an unobtrusive form of interaction, which can be used as a covert way to stay in touch while in more staid settings such as school. Adolescents have developed forms of interaction such as specialized abbreviations and slang, although this aspect of use is often overplayed in the press. Although current technologies are likely to be replaced by others that are more advanced, adolescents have pioneered the use of asynchronous, mobile text-based interaction.

No one knows how many vehicular crashes are related to drivers distracted by text messaging, but anecdotal evidence is mounting. A fiery crash made headlines in June when five female friends died in a collision with a tractor trailer just a week after graduating from their suburban Rochester, N.Y., high school. Police discovered the teenage driver had been texting moments before the crash. Similar accidents are happening with increasing regularity nationwide ...