A Poem On Texting And Driving - Lauryn Penland Poem by Michellina Cookington

My mother died February 24th,2016, when she was traveling on the entrance ramp to Northbound I-29 from Mexico City Avenue. She traveled off the roadway and overcorrected and sent herself and truck down an embankment. Ejected from her vehicle, she was dead on arrival. My grandmother told me soon after that my mom had taken her seatbelt and off and leaned down to let her three legged cat, Cooper, out of it's kennel.She said she took her eyes off the road for a little too long and it all went downhill from there. Literally. But my mom never wore her seatbelt, she always had her phone in her hand either texting someone or going through facebook. But not even texting, she always used the speech to text feature but she didn't understand that she didn't have to put the speaker of her phone up to her mouth for it to hear her. Anyway. Feburary 24th,2016. I'm 24 years old. My relationship with my mother is taken from me before i even get to experience it. Fast forward one year. Im sitting in the passenger seat of my 18 year old sisters car on the way to the mall when my boyfriend's best friends pull up next to us at the stoplight while im screaming at my sister for texting and driving. I've done this many times before but she never seems to listen and im tired of screaming to be heard so lets talk about it. Lets talk about how 11 teenagers will die a day as a result of texting and driving. Lets talk about the AAA poll stating that 94% of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving and 35% still admit to doing it anyway. Lets talk about how 21% of teens involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones. Let's talk about how my father expects me to text him and inform him of my arrival and departure every place I go, I can imagine the anxiety he feels in between. Let's talk about how answering a text diverts your attention from the road for about 5 seconds. Driving at 55 mph that's enough time to drive the length of a football field. Let's talk about how 1 in 4 car crashes in the United States is caused by texting and driving. Let's talk about how i can't say car crash without wincing. Let's talk about how I can't say texting and driving without thinking of my mother. Lets talk about how my mother is now not a person but a statistic. Let's talk about the look on my father's face when he had to tell his two daughters that their mother was dead. Let's talk about how I start sweating when people ask me when I'm going to get my driver's license because I'm terrified of driving and becoming a statistic. Let's talk about how texts can wait. Let's talk about how everything can wait. Why are we always in such a hurry?