Some students throughout the school have been involved in crashes or have seen crashes where one person has been texting and driving. Some take this situation and compare it to being just as bad as drunken driving and explain their reasoning for their thought process. 

“I absolutely believe texting and driving is just as bad as drunk driving,” junior Cassidy Klock said. “It’s something so small and minor, but it pulls your attention away from the road. Not only is this putting yourself in any risk of danger, but everyone around you also.”

Others have another viewpoint. 

“I feel like texting and driving isn’t as bad as drinking and driving for a few reasons,” junior Michael Riccio said. “Texting and driving is something you can control, while drinking and driving you can’t. When you’re drunk, you can’t control what is happening. With texting, it’s something you’re deciding to do on the spur of the moment. But you can still control your actions by looking up every few seconds to see the road in front of you. So I feel like it isn’t as bad because you’re able to control the situation better.”

Leiya Resig thinks texting and drunken driving are equally dangerous. 

“I think the two activities are equally as bad because they both involve putting yourself along with others in danger,” Resig said. “You can control your actions in both activities. You can control how much alcohol you consume, if you choose to consume any at all. Although you might not be all there when you’re drunk, you were able to control your consumption and your thought process behind it. Along with that, you’re also able to control your ability to grab your phone while you’re driving on the road. It’s not something you absolutely have to do, it’s something people become tempted by. They both result in danger or accidents most of the time, and lead to many bad accidents.”

Some students were able to take into consideration both sides of the story, and talk about the major effects from either action. 

“Yes drinking and driving is horrible, and causes many accidents, but so does texting and driving,” junior Madison DeGretto said. “I feel like so many people easily choose drinking and driving to be automatically more dangerous because you’re not aware of what’s happening at that moment. And it’s not blamed on anybody. But what isn’t thought about, is that you had the choice to drink or not to drink. You chose to drink and sit in that vehicle and risk injuring yourself along with others. Same with texting, you chose to distract yourself with that piece of technology and possibly hurt yourself along with others. I feel that both are horrible in their own ways.” 

Klock shares her story about how she was in a crash, due to someone who wasn’t paying attention because they were texting and driving. 

“So about a year ago, I was involved with a crash with my sister,” Klock said. “We were driving and this car, who wasn’t paying attention, ran their red light and hit the side of our car. We spun out of control, and it has scared me to get into a vehicle and drive to this day. We later found out that they had been on their phone, and they ended up almost costing us our lives because they chose to respond to someone instead of keeping their eyes on the road.” 

Although some may say that one activity is more dangerous than the other, I agree that texting and driving is just as bad as drinking and driving for some of the reasons shared above. People are able to control their actions, and it’s not difficult to think before you act and put somebody’s life on the line.