Student works against texting while driving

Dear editor:

I would like to raise the awareness of how dangerous it is to text while you drive.

I bet you didn't even know that more crashes happen when you text and drive than drinking and driving. In 2007 alone, around a thousand car crashes in the United States occurred as a result of distraction caused while texting. While you are driving, if you are writing or reading text messages, your reaction time in case of emergency reduces by approximately 35 percent. Texting while driving contributes to a rise in the possibilities of accidents by about 23 times, which could make the crash way worse.

Around 50 percent of teenagers agree to the fact that they do text while driving and that is way too high of a number.

That is one of the reasons why I am trying to raise the awareness of texting and driving.

Liz Catheman's daughter ended up dying in a terrible crash while texting, but when there is always a terrible thing going on something good has to come out of it and fortunately something did. It made Liz realize that people should be more aware of how deadly and dangerous it is to text while driving. So she made posters and petitions to make people aware of the dangers and finally she went to the big dogs!

On Oct. 13, the Meridian City Council voted unanimously on an ordinance to ban texting while driving. Dubbed "Kassy's Law," it was inspired after Mrs. Cathennan's daughter Kassy, was killed in a car crash because she was texting while driving. Kassy's mother hopes the ordinance will raise awareness among teen drivers.

"So many positive things are going to come out of something so negative," said Catherman. "Hopefully it will make them stop and think twice, you know this was my friend, and hopefully they show respect for Kassy and just hang up and drive, focus on what you're doing in your car."

Now, texting while driving in Meridian could result in a $75 fine. Getting caught for a third time will result in a misdemeanor, meaning up to $300 and up to 90 days in jail. For the first month, police officers had only issued warnings.

Meridian becomes the second city to prohibit texting while driving. Since Oct. 1, it has been illegal to do so in Twin Falls and I think Mountain Home should be the third or tenth even or not at all, but I hope this has made you think twice when you reach for a phone and are driving.

-- Danielle Simon, Hacker Middle School