We all remember how it was when we were kids, you said goodbye to friends afterschool and you don’t talk to them again till the next day at school, or until Monday morning. If you wanted to talk to them you had to call their home phone and awkwardly ask whoever answered the phone to connect you to your friend.

All that has changed now. Since the first cell phone came out in 1983, cell phones have been very popular among all generations, but are especially booming for teens. A study by Pew Research showed that 78% of teens have cell phones.

Teens are now within a few seconds of being able to connect with anyone they want.

Obviously this has many pros and cons, many of the pros being they can find information faster, relate to other people as well as make themselves heard. However, one con, which has created a deadly habit, has also come to light.

Driving down the highway, as I check my mirrors and look out my window, on any given day I see at least 10 drivers on there phones; whether it be texting or actually talking on the phone.

Communicating on electronic devises while driving. Texting, calling or emailing, it really makes no difference, has all come about since the need for constant communication has grown in teens as well as adults.
I am not innocent in this either. Every time I get behind the wheel, I am tempted to check to see why my phone just vibrated, or text my friends about the newest and most amazing thought I just had.

But why do we feel the need to constantly communicate with others all the time? Why is it that we can’t take a 30-minute break from constantly sharing and hearing information with other people?

Well, we have tried to eliminate this behavior with laws; 41 states have laws regarding using electronic devises while driving; These states have cracked down on texting while driving. In Minnesota alone, they gave, in the first 8 months of 2011, 332 tickets. Unfortunately, the number had risen from the previous years numbers of 137 tickets in 2009, 355 tickets in 2010.

So, obviously, we need to do something, if according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, texting while driving kills 11 teens each day.
So, if the laws aren’t fixing this, what can?

One simple solution is if you are aware that your friend, parent or sibling is driving, no matter how earth shatteringly important you believe it to be, don’t pick up the phone and try to tell them. No information that can be shared over text is of higher value than their life and the life of those around them.

Another way is don’t text while you are driving. I know its hard, but try putting your phone on silent, in the back seat, or in a bag where you can’t see, hear or feel it go off. If you really can’t wait, pull the car off the highway or road into a legal spot to park, and then text or call.

And finally, don’t let someone you are in the car with text or call while driving. We all can make alter what happens on the roads. By simply saying, “hey can you wait till we aren’t in the car to look at that text?” the likely answer will be, “Ya sure no big deal.”  And in the most dire need of information, you can always look for them.
No text is worth someone else’s life, so put your phone away and pay attention to the world in front of you. I get it, there is information we figure out or are given that we feel we must tell others at that moment right then, but it can wait till it wont distract another human being who is controlling multiple tons of machinery.