The Tragedy of Texting While Driving

Over the past few years, more car accidents have occurred because of texting while driving. In Laurie Roberts’ article, “Is Arizona (finally) ready to ban texting while driving,” she brings up the fact that Arizona is one of the last states that has not yet acted on texting behind the wheel. Roberts addresses the Arizona State Government by asking if it will take a tragedy like it did in Texas for them to ban the use of a phone while on the road. Roberts effectively uses stories of how innocent lives were ruined, along with statistical information, to engage her readers and open their eyes to the dangers of being careless and unaware of their surroundings, (Roberts, 2018) In “Is Arizona (finally) ready to ban texting while driving,” Roberts first addresses Texas and how it took thirteen people to die for their government to pass the ban. A young pickup truck driver swerved into the other lane while on his phone, hitting a church bus filled with fourteen people.

Roberts then shares stories of people in Arizona getting into accidents because of their phones and only receiving a speeding ticket when they could have fatally hurt someone. DPS Officer Tim Huffman was even killed by a texter while he was sitting in his car writing a report. Roberts ends the article by addressing the fact that a texting law could save innocent lives and keep people responsible for their own actions, (Roberts, 2018) Laurie Roberts uses ethos in her article when she talks about the incidents that have happened on the road because of cell phones, but she is not the only person who has addressed this issue. Past President Obama once stated that “Text messaging causes drivers to take their eyes off the road and at least one hand off the steering wheel, endangering both themselves and others,” when he issued an executive order banning federal workers from texting while driving government vehicles, (Poorbaugh, 2014).

Roberts also clearly uses emotional examples in her article, like talking about how officer Huffman was killed. Another example is when Anthony Arminio was hit by William Van Camp while he was texting behind the wheel. Arminio survived but with broken legs, pelvis, hip, and bleeding to his brain, causing him to be hospitalized for three years and have more than $400,000 in hospital bills. His father suffered a broken neck from the crash, and both of them say they still deal with severe pain to this day. Their lives were essentially ruined, and Camp walked away with only a nine-month jail sentence, (Poorbaugh, 2014). The only thing Roberts lacks in is the logistics of her argument towards Arizona passing the ban of texting while driving. According to Michael Poorbaugh, 43% of students openly admitted to texting while behind the wheel, causing roughly 3,000 annual teen deaths and 300,000 injuries, (Poorbaugh, 2014). References Poorbaugh, M. (2014, May 29). Don't Text and Drive.