King  1  

David  King  

Mr.  Cottle  

Enc  1102  

March  24,  2013  

Texting  and  Driving  

  Just  about  everyone  has  seen  at  least  one  of  the  texting  and  driving  

commercials.  They  tend  to  be  very  serious  and  straight  to  the  point.  To  illustrate,  the  

commercial  starts  showing  family  members  holding  a  sign  with  words  on  it  such  as  

“Yeah  T”.  One  of  the  family  members,  usually  one  of  the  parents,  would  start  talking  

about  the  person  and  describe  them  with  detail  about  their  personality.  For  

example,  some  people  tell  how  their  sister  was  funny  and  their  best  friend  while  

others  talk  about  memories  of  when  their  child  was  younger.  The  commercial  goes  

on  to  tell  the  viewer  that  the  sign  they  are  holding  is  the  text  message  that  their  

child  was  reading  or  texting  when  they  crashed  their  car  and  died.  There  are  many  

different  types  of  these  ads  and  they  all  are  usually  effective.  Some  are  more  factual  

while  others  are  more  visual.  The  factual  ads  serve  to  give  statistics  to  the  viewers  

on  the  issue  of  texting  and  driving  and  how  it  has  grown  over  the  years.  The  graphic  

advertisements  tend  to  be  more  serious  and  catch  the  attention  of  the  viewer.  None  

of  these  ads  are  happy,  but  rather  somber  and  realistic.    

  “It  won’t  happen  to  me.”  That  is  probably  the  number  one  saying  teenagers  

think  to  themselves  before  they  do  something  like  text  and  drive.  These  people  that  

do  text  and  drive  probably  think  that  it  is  okay  for  them  to  send  a  text  real  quick  

rather  than  wait  or  make  a  phone  call.  This  however  is  not  okay.  Distraction.gov  

    King  2  

proves  this  when  it  states,  “Texting  is  the  most  alarming  distraction  because  it  

involves  manual,  visual,  and  cognitive  distraction  simultaneously”  (Distracted  

Driving).  A  lot  of  people  are  blind  to  the  fact  that  texting  while  driving  is  a  very  

serious  problem  that  is  growing  in  America.  According  to  Alcohol:  Problems  and  

Solutions,  “Texting  while  driving  has  passed  drinking  while  driving  in  the  leading  

cause  of  accidents  and  deaths  in  teenage  drivers”  (Alcohol:  Problems  and  Solutions).  

The  statistics  for  incidents  with  texting  while  driving  is  alarming.  For  example,  

Texting  and  Driving  Statistics  tells  us  that  texting  and  driving  causes  1.6  million  

accidents,  330,000  injuries  a  year  and  11  teenagers  die  everyday  (Texting  and  

Driving).  More  people  need  to  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  texting  and  driving  is  not  

something  to  overlook.  It  is  a  topic  that  needs  to  be  addressed  and  the  AT&T  

advertisements  are  a  good  start.  

  Texting  and  driving  affects  everyone  whether  they  are  doing  it  or  not.  These  

television  ads  are  very  affective  and  personally  have  had  an  affect  on  me  in  my  life.  

After  seeing  many  of  these  ads  on  television,  I  have  seen  what  can  happen  if  I  was  to  

text  while  driving.  On  a  personal  level  I  began  thinking  not  only  would  I  be  

endangering  myself  if  I  was  to  take  part  in  such  an  unsafe  act,  but  also  who  else  I  

might  be  putting  at  risk  or  hurting.  I  realized  that  everyone  around  me  on  the  road  

could  be  injured  and  not  only  would  I  hurt  them,  but  I  would  be  harming  all  my  

loved  ones  as  well.    

  AT&T’s  texting  and  driving  advertisements  are  very  effective  to  me  

personally.  They  use  the  victim’s  family  members  to  tell  viewers  the  story  of  their  

loved  one  that  died  due  to  texting  and  driving.  The  approach  of  AT&T  is  a  very  

    King  3  

serious  one.  None  of  the  texting  and  driving  ads  are  humorous  in  any  way,  but  

rather  they  are  grim.  The  use  of  seriousness  in  these  advertisements  is  very  useful  

and  effective.  Having  the  solemn  parents  come  on  the  screen  and  start  talking  about  

their  child  that  died  catches  my  attention  immediately.  Hearing  about  what  their  son  

or  daughter  was  like  only  adds  reality  to  the  ad  and  how  it  is  not  something  made  

up.  These  advertisement  tactics  personally  affect  me  because  they  get  me  to  start  

thinking  about  my  parents  and  family  and  what  they  would  have  to  say  if  they  were  

making  one  of  these  commercials.  It  also  makes  me  understand  how  hurt  my  family  

would  be  if  I  died  due  to  texting  and  driving.  I  begin  to  imagine  all  the  pain  that  my  

family  would  endure  if  I  were  to  die.  These  ads  also  help  me  to  realize  how  much  I  

should  appreciate  life  and  how  easy  it  would  be  to  lose  it.  Another  affect  these  

commercials  have  on  me  is  that  they  help  me  to  comprehend  how  dangerous  texting  

and  driving  is  and  how  it  could  change  my  life  in  an  instant.    

  Not  only  have  these  ads  had  an  influence  on  me  to  not  text  and  drive,  but  

they  also  inspired  me  to  stop  others  from  texting  and  driving.  It  is  very  common  to  

be  in  the  car  driving  with  a  friend  while  they  get  a  text.  Many  times  the  driver  will  

grab  their  phone  and  reply  even  though  they  are  driving.  As  the  passenger  I  now  tell  

them  to  put  the  phone  back  and  offer  to  reply  for  them  or  tell  them  they  can  wait  to  

reply.  I  explain  how  serious  texting  and  driving  is  and  remind  them  that  they  are  not  

only  responsible  for  their  life,  but  mine  and  others  on  the  road  if  we  were  to  get  into  

an  accident.      

The  AT&T  texting  and  driving  ads  have  impacted  me  to  worry  about  my  own  

life  as  well  as  others  when  on  the  road.  This  is  not  only  due  to  the  seriousness  of  

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texting  and  driving,  but  also  due  to  some  of  the  ads  AT&T  has  used  to  show  how  

serious  it  is.  To  explain,  many  of  their  ads  illustrate  the  parents  talking  about  their  

son  or  daughter,  but  there  are  others  that  show  a  sibling  or  a  friend  talking  about  

the  person  that  died.  These  ads  have  another  affect  on  the  viewer.  They  show  the  

friend  or  sibiling  talking  about  the  person  that  died  and  how  close  they  were  and  

memories  of  when  they  were  younger.  The  ad  continues  to  show  the  friend  explain  

the  text  that  his  or  her  friend  was  reading  when  they  crashed  and  died.  Usually  the  

text  that  was  being  read  was  sent  from  the  person  talking  on  the  commercial.  This  

type  of  advertising  helps  viewers  to  see  that  they  too  can  have  an  affect  on  someone  

else’s  life.  If  they  knew  the  person  they  were  texting  was  going  to  be  driving  they  

should  have  told  them  to  reply  once  they  arrived  to  wherever  they  were  heading.  I  

personally  have  done  this  many  times.  A  friend  has  told  me  they  were  heading  over  

to  some  place  and  I  will  tell  them  to  text  me  back  when  they  get  there  or  if  I  find  out  

that  they  are  driving  while  texting  me  I  will  purposely  not  respond  for  a  while  until  I  

know  that  they  are  no  longer  driving.  The  AT&T  ads  have  gotten  me  to  start  

influencing  others  to  stop  texting  and  driving  just  by  the  using  one  of  the  victims  

friends  on  one  of  their  advertisements.    

 

   

    King  5  

Works  Cited  

"Alcohol: Problems and Solutions." Driving While Texting Six Times More Dangerous

than Driving While Drunk. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

<http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/files/Driving-while-Texting-Six-Times-

More-Dangerous-than-Driving-while-Drunk.html>.

"Distracted Driving | Frequently Asked Questions | Texting and Driving." Distracted

Driving | Frequently Asked Questions | Texting and Driving. N.p., n.d. Web. 07

Apr. 2013. <http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/faq.html>.

"Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar.

2013. <http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/>.

YouTube. YouTube. YouTube, 02 July 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92kPKbXHqss>.