Christine McClelland’s Winning Scholarship Essay

Technology continues to become more advanced. While technology is supposed to help make our lives easier, it can also hurt us. Communication has gone from letters in the mail, to conversations on the phone, to texting or posting about your day. This has made society more dangerous.

Texting while driving should be considered a serious offense. How many times do you end up driving behind someone who is all over the road? When you end up pulling next to that person, are they looking down at their phone? This happens to me a lot and the person that I am trying to avoid playing bumper cars with is usually looking down at their phone and texting. It is extremely dangerous. People who text and drive are not only putting themselves at risk, but everyone else who is on the road is at risk as well.

There are many different things we can do to discourage people from texting while driving. First, it needs to be a law everywhere in the United States. A lot of people do not like to get in trouble. So just doing this will discourage some people. The first offense should scare people so that they don’t continue to text while driving. I think if someone is caught, they should get a written arrest and have to appear in court. I think they should be placed on probation and also should have to attend a class. This class should focus on what happens when people text while driving. Hopefully this alone will discourage people from texting while driving again. They should also have to do 50 hours of community service. If someone is pulled over for texting and driving while they are on probation, they should be arrested and their car should be impounded. They should have to spend a week in jail and receive another 100 hours of community service. I also think their license should be suspended for six months. I would think that the possibility of getting your license suspended would discourage anyone from texting while driving. The third offense should be very serious. If someone is caught for the third time, they should be arrested, they should have to spend a year in jail, and their license should be suspended for two years after they get out of jail. Keeping these people off the roads will save numerous lives.

Nothing good is going to come from someone texting while driving. If someone continues to text while they are driving, then they will eventually end up in a serious accident. Your luck will run out at some point. Don’t be that person. Be responsible and pay attention to the road. Don’t endanger people or put them at risk. You are going to feel extremely guilty if you crash into someone and end up hurting them. We already have enough people on the roads who don’t abide by the law. Don’t make yourself another statistic.