By Staff Editorial
By Staff Editorial
As college students, no one is excluded from the question of who uses their phone while driving.
As young adults, everyone has done the act at one time or another. As young people grow into adults, the idea of using the cell phone while driving becomes an act thought of as acceptable.
This generation has always felt it can handle multiple tasks at once, as it has been the first to convince parents it can do homework and watch television or listen to music at the same time.
As a matter of fact, while this editorial was being written, the writer has been watching a movie, texting friends and working on other assignments, evidence to the idea that this generation has developed a way to multi-task.
But the stakes are raised when people decide to use their phone while driving, rather than when they’re sitting comfortably in front of a television or computer. The idea is not so innocent then.
In a recent survey by the California Office of Traffic Safety, drivers using cell phones at any given time during the day is as high as 10.8 percent, which is 7.3 percent more than last year.
The survey says 16 to 25 year old drivers have doubled their use of the cell phone while driving from 9 percent last year to 18 percent this year.
Researchers from UC San Diego surveyed 5,000 college and university students from the ages of 18 through 29, with 21 years old being the average age. They found that in San Diego County, 78 percent reported they text or talk on their cell phone while driving.
The researchers also found that 50 percent of the students use their phone while driving on the freeway, 60 percent in stop and go traffic or city streets and 87 percent at traffic lights.
46 percent also said they are capable of using their phone while driving but felt 8.5 percent of other college students are not capable of doing the act.
Despite the efforts the state is making to crackdown on drivers using mobile devices while driving, California drivers continue to ignore the dangers of the act and don’t care about the consequences.
As this generation takes over the roads, and later the workforce, they must learn to set the example.
This generation is being looked upon to handle serious issues in the future, such as dealing with the outcome to the nation’s bad economy.
Bad habits like using a cell phone while driving are going to turn into a norm which society will begin to view as a good habit.
The roads are going to be more dangerous as drivers will have to fear the dangers of someone behind the wheel with a cell phone as much as those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
This generation needs to clean up its act and leave the phone alone while driving. No one can prove they can safely look down at their iPhone or Blackberry and send a text message while going 70 miles per hour on the freeway.
Alternatives such as Bluetooths are available and must be utilized because they are going to save lives.
The thought of responding to a text message that reads “wat r u doin?” is unreal if the message is going to cost the person their life.
As the generations before us learned by their experiences with drinking and driving, the concept of having a license to drive is a privilege, not a right.
In other words: txt ppl wen ur not behind a wheel.
