Shabea Shaw
Dr. Radford
College Writing and Research
September 25, 2013
Pew Foundation Mary Madden and Amanda Lenhart’s article “ Teens and Distracted Driving” argues that texting while driving has increased over the years especially in teenagers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports an estimate of 515,000 people injured due to a form of driver distraction. Madden and Lenhart states that teens between the ages of 16-17 have texted while driving converting that into 26% of all American teens. When survey teens stated there were various reasons behind texting while driving. Some of those reasons include reporting there whereabouts to friends and parents, getting directions, and flirting with significant others. Madden and Lenhart express that the parents or adult figures of these teenagers are held responsible because the parents text or talk on the phone while driving, which is not setting an example for teens. Madden and Lenhart’s article “Teens and Distracted Driving” has caused me to become aware and change my perspective of texting while driving. In the article a young boy stated he would not text and drive while his parents are in the car, but would text and drive if it were his friends or sibling. I can relate and speak on the behalf of most teens because we think it is ok to risk the life of our friends, but when driving with an adult figure we are hesitant to even touch the phone. Parents are also setting the tone because they do not realize