While learning to drive, your child learns the importance of using turn signals and other things. At some time during drivers-ed your teen may have participated in a brief discussion about distracted driving. Maybe. Teen texting and driving is a serious, life threatening issue.
80% of Crashes involved some form of driver inattention within 3 seconds of the event. — Text Free Driving Organization
Teen texting and driving is not only a risk to your child’s safety and health; it is also a serious threat to their future and even to their freedom. In June, Aaron Deveau, 17, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail when he was convicted of vehicular homicide. The teen was texting while driving when he crossed the median and collided head on with another vehicle. The accident caused the death of the driver and serious injury to the passenger. The evidence used against him were the phone records showing that he was texting at the time of the crash.
Teen texting and driving can be fatal, and vehicular homicide is a serious crime. You need to be sure that your child fully understands the serious risks and consequences of teen texting and driving. Try the following approaches to get the message through to your child.
Ask Questions about Teen Texting while Driving
Ask Questions about teen texting and driving. Make sure the questions are educational. Try asking your teen the following questions and then discussing their answers. Make sure to have teen texting while driving facts on hand when you do. Some suggestions include:
- On the freeway going 60 mph and a friend dared you to close your eyes for 5 seconds, would you? (5 seconds is the average amount of time a texting driver takes his or her eyes off the road.)
- Do you think it would be safe to drive without looking for the length of a football field? (Traveling at 60 mph, the approximate distance a vehicle travels is about that length.)
- If you were a passenger in a car operated by a legally intoxicated driver are you more or less likely to be in an accident than if the driver was sober, but texting? (Car and Driver Magazine recently concluding that legally intoxicated persons reacted twice as fast to driving hazards as drivers who were texting.)
These discussion questions can help put the issue of teen texting and driving into perspective for your child. Figures and statistics alone will not prompt the same reaction as asking your teen to really think about what they are doing if they are texting and driving.
Teen Texting and Driving: Criminal Accident?
What is an accident? Ask your child to define the word accident. If he or she is texting while driving and they cause a car crash, will they be at fault? Explain that an accident is something that can not be prevented. Ask your teen who would be at fault if their little brother, sister or cousin was struck by a texting driver while crossing the street. The pedestrian in this case could not have foreseen nor prevented the crash, so for the pedestrian it would be considered an accident. The driver who caused the crash, on the other hand, may have prevented the wreck if they had been paying attention to the road instead of their phone. So the driver did not have an accident, because it was possible he or she could have prevented it. Texting while driving does not cause accidents, it is a criminal act that causes injury to others, the same as drinking and driving. What your teen will probably call an accident is actually a criminal act.
Teens Go to Jail for Texting and Driving
Explain the Law to your teen. Penalties for texting and driving when you get pulled over by a police officer may be minimal. Small fines don’t sound much more frightening than any other traffic violation, certainly not as frightening as facing the consequences of a DUI. However, if the texting causes an accident that injures someone or takes a life, the consequences are likely to be just as serious as they would be win a DUI case. Vehicular homicide carries with it a (sometimes mandatory) sentence of anywhere from 1-30 years behind bars depending on the state. Ask your teen if the text message is worth killing someone and going to jail?
What is it Like to Cause a Texting Accident?
Does your child need visuals? In that case try showing them a film. A very graphic and disturbing film called The Last Text – Texting While Driving is a three minute long, incredibly realistic teen texting while driving accident reenactment. This video may be disturbing, but some feel that this is the only way to reach a teen who feels he or she can handle the “multi-tasking” required to text while driving.
If you prefer to show your child a texting while driving video that is not graphic, you can find a more documentary type video on the Text Free Driving Organization website. If neither of these videos seems like a good option for you and your teenager, try searching youtube. There are thousands of videos about teen texting and driving that have been published there, some of them as a part of high school video projects and teen outreach programs.
Have your Teen Text while Field Testing
Demonstrate to your teen that he or she cannot multi-task texting while driving. Create an exercise. Since teen texting while driving is considered the new drinking and driving, perform a field sobriety test on your child. Ask them to perform the field sobriety test, phone in hand. Tell them to follow your orders during the test while participating in a text message conversation with a sibling or a friend in another room. Odds are he or she will fail the test. Question: If your teen cannot walk a straight line while texting, why do they believe they could drive a straight line while texting?
Texting and Driving is Against the Rules. Period.
Force your child to comply and lay down the law. Tell them that they will absolutely not text while they drive. Let them know what the consequences at home if caught texting while driving. The consequences should be as severe as they would be if you caught your teen drinking and driving.
Wouldn’t you take away his or her driving privileges? Maybe they should lose their driving privileges and their phone?It is hard for teens to recall the good old days of landlines, but just one generation ago teens did not have cell phones at all. Remind your teenager that cell phones do not have to come equipped with texting and internet capabilities. If you do not confiscate the phone, you can have those features disabled with one call to your wireless service provider.
Force Compliance with Texting and Driving Rules
Many parents lament that teen texting and driving will continue because at their age, children are difficult to predict and control. This is very true, but there is a fix that will force your teen not to text while driving. For only a few dollars, you can purchase a texting while driving app. There are enough of these apps on the market that you can choose one that meets the individual needs of yourself and your family. Make your teen aware that you are installing a texting while driving prevention app on their phone and explain how it works.
The details will vary based on the service or application that you choose.If they uninstall the app or turn off their phone’s GPS, you will be notified. Make sure your teen understands that tampering with the app means the same as texting while driving, no matter their excuse. Then follow through with the harsh consequences if they do attempt to remove the texting while driving app.
Your Teen’s Safety Equals Success
Teens will never fully grasp the consequences they could face for texting while driving. However, the preceding approaches may give them a better handle on it. If your child never comes to intimately understand the severe consequences, then you did your job. If you succeed in making sure that your teen does not text while driving; then you have accomplished keeping your child safe. Contact us today for more info.
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