You’re driving down your neighborhood when your friend sends you a funny text. Do you reply? You say,  “It’s not that big of a deal I won’t hurt anybody,” so you text your friend back saying “Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli!” All of the sudden you hear a screech and you slam on the brakes. All you hear is the engine of your car and wind blowing through the trees.

You get out of your car and there lays a dead little boy.

Yah…you see that?

You did that.

You killed that little boy. All because you had to send that silly little text to your friend. I bet you feel like mush right now. Good. Because you should be. Congratulations! Now, you can cross the street and tell his parents that you ran over their baby boy.

Do you understand now?

How can you not understand why texting and driving is such a big problem. The minute you decide to pick up your phone, you’re deciding to put other people’s lives in danger. It’s one thing to put your life on the line, but why do you find it okay to risk other people’s lives? Imagine if a driver killed you while they were texting and driving… exactly… you wouldn’t be appreciative of that either.

Now imagine this. You’re a football player and you’re in the middle of a football game. Your coach asks you to put on a blindfold on and make a touchdown. Now, of course, you say no. Why? Because you know you are putting other players at risk by potentially causing great injuries. Compare that to texting and driving. If you know you could potentially hurt somebody by texting and driving, then why do you want to still do it?

If you simply cannot put your phone down or shut down the urge to reply to your text messages while driving, then just pull off the road and park your car before picking up your phone. If you can seemingly keep your off the road for five seconds, then I am positive you can take an extra two seconds to park your car.

Because the minute you decide to pick up that phone and text someone back, you’re simultaneously deciding to put other people’s lives in danger. It’s one thing to put your life on the line, but it is absolutely unfair to put other people’s lives at risk.

You may say, “I’m not going to crash,” “I’m not going to hurt anyone,” blah blah blah.

Guess what.

You’re wrong.

Again.

When you text and drive, you’re 23 times more likely to get into a car crash than drinking and driving.

If we put such a stigma on drinking and driving, why not texting and driving? The next time you think about replying or sending or reading a friend’s text, stop the urge to pick up the phone or just park your car–it only takes a few seconds. Not only could you save your car (I mean I don’t really care), but you could also save someone else’s life.  It could prevent you from having to cross the street to explain your actions to anyone.

Agree with Agoum?  Disagree?  Share your thoughts below or email the opinion writer at 20.monydhel.agoum@omahamarian.org