My stomach dropped to my feet, I turn to my roommate at lunch around 11:15, “I feel weird; I don’t feel like myself”. “It’s probably something you ate” she said. I blew it off for the rest of the day telling myself she was right, but knowing she was wrong. Around 4:00 my phone starts buzzing, incoming call from Ariel? Ariel has a strange case of phone-phobia, you could say she’s more of a texter, I answer thinking she must have some juicy gossip if it involves a phone call. Before I can even utter my hello, I hear her sobs and hysterical crying. “Ruffin’s dead”!
Ruffin my crazy, invincible, hilarious, charming, outgoing, sweet, beautiful friend. Gone.
My friend, Ruffin Creekmur died in a car accident driving to his community college on February 22, 2010. The accident occurred around 11, which is exactly when I had the feeling that something was terribly wrong. It is not exactly known what the cause of Ruffin’s accident was, but it is safe to assume that is has something to do with carelessness on the road. He overcorrected himself and ran into a tree on the opposite side on the road.
Ruffin was always known as a little bit of a crazy driver. He was always having some kind of problem with his car, hitting a deer, getting a flat, or the car just giving out all together. My friends and I would always laugh at him for having the worst luck…but it never bothered him. To Ruffin he had all the luck in the world.
So many teens today feel just as Ruffin did, they have luck, they would never get in a car accident. But the truth is, it’s easier than you think. One glace away from the road is all it takes for such a tragedy to happen. Ruffin wasn’t necessarily texting at the time of his death but I think it is an important issue that relates to my dear friends accident. As the use of the cell phone is becoming more and more prevalent in our lives today, it is increasing the cause of car accidents more and more as well. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “about 5,870 people died and about 515,000 were injured last year in accidents attributed to distracted driving” and that drivers under the age of 20 had the highest distracted driving fatality rate among all the age groups (Halsey, par. 6). This is due to the fact that teens practically have cell phones glued to their hands at all times, and driving doesn’t stop them. This is a scary fact that can impact anyone’s life on the road whether being the person texting while driving, or risking the life of someone else by contact.
Ruffin was always the kid that would try anything, if you said he wouldn’t do it, he would do anything in his power to prove you wrong. I once challenged him to eat 5 Saltine crackers in less than a minute without water telling him it was nearly impossible, he said “Okay Ray, only if you do it too”. So Ruffin and I tried to choke down 5 Saltine crackers without water, failing at the attempt but laughing the whole way through. Ruffin would do anything you told him to, to me he was invincible. This is something that I loved and admired about Ruffin, he was always up for anything. But it could also be the detriment to his accident. Most teens also believe that they are insuperable and that it is nbd (meaning “no big deal” in texting terms) to text while driving. But “A quarter of U.S. teens ages 16 to 17 who have cell phones say they text while driving, and almost half of Americans ages 12 to 17 say they've been in cars with someone who texted while behind the wheel”(Hasley, par. 2). All my friends’ text and drive, my brother texts and drives, hell, my mom and dad even text and drive. I used to text and drive.
I used to text while I was driving nearly every day. But now that I have experienced the pain of losing someone due to distracted driving, I will never do it again. It is so easy to get distracted while sending a pointless text to a friend…can’t it wait 30 minutes? According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau Research and Analysis Report of the factors influencing mobile phone use while driving, text messaging while driving results in decreased detection of road signs and poorer response to changing driving conditions, impairing overall driving performance and increasing accident risk (Walsh 2). They also found that “it has been estimated that approximately one quarter of all accidents in the United States result from driver distraction” (Walsh 2). Ruffin was distracted, and now he’s gone. It can never be taken back, but there can be steps taken towards preventing this for others.
Now, 25 states have banned texting while driving ("State Cell Phone Use and Texting While Driving Laws", par. 2). “Two reasons for the legislation: the growing sophistication of cell phones that are increasingly catered to texting and, perhaps more important, the growing number of high-profile accidents—and those always tend to translate into legislation" (Schulte, par 2.). It is a growing concern and more states are taking action. “The reduction in driving performance when using a mobile phone has been compared to driving with a blood alcohol content of over 0.08” (Walsh 2). It is almost as dangerous as driving while under the influence, so there should be punishment for it as well. I used to think that the ban of cell phone use while driving would be an erosion of freedom, but I know have changed my mind completely. My hope is that in the future no one will use a hand held mobile device while driving to prevent accidents on the road.
Ruffin has taught me many things in my life since befriending him in 9th grade of high school, everything from not taking myself so seriously to living life to the fullest as he did. But the last thing Ruffin has taught me is to always be cautious while driving. Driving carefully is something I never took too seriously before. Every time I would leave my house my mom would say “Railey be careful, drive safely, and call me as soon as you get there.” I would always reply “Mom, don’t worry I’ll be fine.” Fine? How did I know I’ll be fine? Accidents happen, no one can predict them, and the only way to try to avoid them is to always be cautious while driving.
Works Cited:
Halsey, Ashley. "U.S. Teens Report 'frightening' Levels of Texting While Driving - Washingtonpost.com." Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
Schulte, Bret. "Outlawing Text Messaging While Driving - US News and World Report." US News & World Report - Breaking News, World News, Business News, and America's Best Colleges - USNews.com. 11 Feb. 2008. Web. 05 May 2010.
"State Cell Phone Use and Texting While Driving Laws." Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). Web. 01 May 2010.
Walsh, Shari P. "Psychosocial Factors Influencing Mobile Phone Use While Driving." Australian Government/Australian Safety Bureau. ATSB RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS REPORT ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH GRANT REPORT 2007-06, Dec. 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
