Transcript Texting and Driving on the Flathead Reservation.

Texting and driving on the Flathead
Reservation.
By: Skyla Perry
The Problem
 One of the main problems I see on this
reservation is texting and driving. Everywhere
you go you see people texting and driving.
Teens are the worst but parents are doing it
to. Your parents tell you not to be on the
phone when your driving but what do they do
when there in the car? Text and drive. If
parents don’t want you to text and drive they
should not text and drive with you in the car
or at all.
 Parents don’t realize how much they have a
affect on their kids. If teens see their parents
doing something that their parents tell them
not to do, it makes the teens want to do it
even more. One very good example is texting
and driving, my parents text and drive all the
time and it bothers me to not do the same but
I'm smarter than that I don’t want to risk my
life over a text message!
Facts
 35,000 American teens have died in car
crashes in the past five years. That’s 6,000
per year, and 18 per day.
 More than 75% of teens admit they text
while driving.
 54% of teenage car crash deaths occur on
Friday, Saturday and Sunday , Saturday
being the deadliest day of the week for teens.
Montana: Cell phone laws.
 Ban use of cell phones and other mobile
electronics devices while driving in
Montana. Text messaging included. There
is a $100.00 fine for texting and driving.
 In 2009/2010 Montana did not have a law
for texting a driving.
Texting and driving is worse than
drunk driving.
 Rigging a car with a red light to alert drivers
when to brake, how many seconds does it
take to hit the brake when sober, when legally
drunk at .08, when reading a e-mail, and when
sending a text 54 seconds to brake.
 Legally drunk: add 4 feet
 Reading e-mail: add 36 feet
 Sending a text: add 70 feet
 Texting and driving is worse than drunk driving
because your eyes are never on the road when
you text and drive, at least when you are drunk
your eyes are somewhat on the road.
 Reaction times for the texters in the study
dropped by 35%, while legally drunk drivers saw
a 12% drop and drugged drivers saw a 21% drop.
Texters were a 91% more likely to drift out of
their lanes, as compared to 35% for the
smokers.
Teenagers on their cell phones!
75% of American teenagers own cellphones
and 66% of these teens text message.
82% of teens between 16 and 17 have a cell phone.
34% of teens who text message admit to
texting while driving.
48% of teens say they have been a passenger
in a car whose driver was texting
Adults on their cell phones!
 82% of adults have cell phones.
47% of adult cell phone users report
texting while driving.
27% of all adults report texting while driving.
49% of adults report they have been a passenger
in a car when the driver was texting.
44% of adult report they have used a cell phone in a
car in a manner that puts themselves or others at
danger.
17% of adults report bumping into something while
driving when using a cell phone
Solutions
 Some of the solutions I came up with to help
teens stop texting while driving are…
 Have teens who have got in car accidents
come in and talk to the high school about the
decision they made to text and drive and was
it worth it.
 Have our school resource officer or tribal law
enforcement come in and talk to us about how
many teens they have seen text and drive and
tell us about what could happen.
http://www.cskt.org/gov/law-order.htm
 “Driving Distracted.” Distraction.gov. n.d.
web. 13 April 2011. Fiddler, Louis.
Personal interview. 13 April 2011.