Topic > The Tragedy of Texting While Driving

In recent years, more car accidents have occurred due to texting while driving. In Laurie Roberts' article, " Arizona (Finally) Ready to Ban Texting While Driving ," she highlights the fact that Arizona is one of the last states to have yet to take action regarding texting while driving. Roberts addresses the Arizona state government, asking whether it will take a tragedy like the one in Texas to ban cell phone use on the road. Roberts effectively uses stories about how innocent lives have been ruined, along with statistical information, to engage his 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 turns to Texas and how it took thirteen people to die for their government to pass the ban. A young truck driver swerved into the other lane while was on the phone, hitting a church bus full of fourteen people. Say no to plagiarism Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Roberts then shares stories of people in Arizona who have had accidents because of their phones and only received a speeding ticket when they could have fatally injured someone. DPS officer Tim Huffman was even killed by a text while sitting in his car writing a report the article addressing the fact that a texting law could save innocent lives and hold people accountable for their actions, (Roberts, 2018). Laurie Roberts uses ethics in her article when she talks about accidents that happen on the road because of cell phones, but she is not the only person to have addressed this topic. Former President Obama once said that “texting causes drivers to take their eyes off the road and at least one hand off the wheel, endangering themselves and others,” when he issued an executive order banning workers federal officials to text while driving government vehicles. , (Poorbaugh, 2014). Roberts also clearly uses emotional examples in his article, such as talking about how Agent 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 on the brain, causing him to be hospitalized for three years and have more than $400,000 in hospital bills. His father suffered a broken neck as a result of the accident and both say they are still in severe pain today. Their lives were essentially ruined and Camp walked away with only a nine-month prison sentence (Poorbaugh, 2014). The only thing Roberts is missing is the logistics of his argument for Arizona passing a ban on texting while driving. According to Michael Poorbaugh, 43% of students openly admitted to texting while behind the wheel, resulting in approximately 3,000 annual teen deaths and 300,000 injuries (Poorbaugh, 2014). References Poorbaugh, M. (2014, May 29). Don't text and drive.