Dear Next president,

Almost every day you’ll see a car In the next lane over that looks like the driver is playing Pong between the lane lines, sometimes going into the next lane over. They seem to be unable to keep their car straight on the road. When you pass them you see them staring down at their phone. Or the driver sitting at the red light who is still sitting there well after the light turns green and you’re stuck behind them.

A person not looking at the road for a couple seconds may not seem very dangerous, but one of those drivers could run into a tree, or a sign on the side of the road and hurt themselves, or they could even drive into another car, injuring not only themselves but also the driver of the car and any passengers. According to the National Safety Council, 1.6 million crashes are caused by distracted driving each year, and these accidents injure nearly 330,000 people. The use of cellphones while driving is dangerous, and should be made illegal and strongly enforced in all 50 states.

You see public service announcement type ads on TV saying not to drive while intoxicated because it’s dangerous, texting and driving is as dangerous as drunk driving. Texting and driving has been becoming more common in the past decade, in 2002 there were about 2,600 that number increasing to 3,331 by 2011. That’s a 22% increase. Since distracted driving is so dangerous, it should not be allowed. I believe that banning cellphone use while driving will reduce the number of accidents, injuries and deaths on the road.

Mr(s). President, cellphone use while driving is the cause of thousands of deaths each year. Please consider making a law to ban cellphone use while driving and save the lives of thousands of people a year, and increase the safety of all people on the road.

Best regards,

Michael

10th grade

Saint Paul, Minnesota