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EDITORIAL: Note to Teens: Driving, Text-Messaging Don't Mix

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Jun. 14--Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Hey teenagers, is any text message worth dying for?

We're sure you will agree that they are not. So put down the cell phone while you are driving and wait to send messages and make phone calls until you park someplace.

Unfortunately a bunch of students in Washington state, including those at Squalicum High School, apparently are doing exactly the opposite.

About 90 Squalicum students were among students from seven high schools in Washington who were surveyed anonymously by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission about their habits behind the wheel.

Of the Squalicum students, some 60 percent said they talk on their cell phone at least once in a while as they drive and 21 percent, amazingly, admitted to doing some sort of text messaging while driving. We imagine students at other county high schools would answer similarly had they been surveyed. Statewide, 64 percent admitted to talking on the cell phone and 24 percent said they text messaged while driving.

It's unfortunate teens are using text messaging while they drive. Cell phone use is bad enough, but typing in and reading text messages? It's amazing that we aren't hearing more about accidents blamed on this incredibly unsafe practice. Driving takes concentration. Reading and driving are two things that cannot co-exist.

Still, it's clear that some teenagers do not know this. We hoped that some people in our area would have learned from the tragic 10 days in February that saw four teens die in automobile accidents. But we hope parents will again use this new information to share with their sons and daughters the truth about teens behind the wheel.

Drivers between the ages of 15 and 17 caused more than 30,000 deaths between 1995 and 2004 in the United States. And studies show that while teen drivers hold 7 percent of all drivers' licenses, they are involved in 20 percent of all accidents and suffer 14 percent of all fatalities.

This is a serious issue. Teenagers need to know that they are endangering themselves, their friends and everyone else out on the road when they engage in risky behaviors behind the wheel.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

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