Chappell Smith & Arden, P.A. is dedicated to helping injured clients get the justice they deserve, and we also want to extend that dedication to students in their pursuit of higher education. We’re proud to offer this privately funded scholarship to help students obtain their degrees and build a better future.
For our first essay contest, we asked college students to answer the following prompt:
Texting and driving: In South Carolina and other states, all drivers are prohibited from using a wireless communication device to compose, send or read a text message (or other text-based communications like email) while operating a vehicle on a public street or highway. Are these laws effective? Why or why not?
After reviewing all the submissions, we’re pleased to announce the winner—Anastasia Shabalov from the University of Chicago!
Here’s her winning essay:
Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death in the US, with around 3.4 million people treated in emergency departments annually. The societal costs of traffic crashes were estimated to be $432 billion in 2016.[1] In response to these staggering statistics, 48 states have banned some kind of cellphone use while driving, in an effort to reduce distracted driving. In particular, texting while driving bans have been proven to reduce fatalities, but states can take steps to make these laws even more effective.
The University of Alabama Birmingham School of Public Health analyzed eleven years of data, and they found that primary enforcement effectively reduces traffic fatalities by about 3% per year, averaging out to 19 deaths prevented per year.[2] Importantly, texting bans are differentiated by primary or secondary enforcement. “Primary” enforcement means that driver may be pulled over and cited even though the driver has committed no other traffic offense. However, with a secondary ban, the driver cannot be stopped for texting while driving unless they have committed another infraction. This means that primary bans are typically more effective, in accordance to the University of Alabama’s findings.[3] Additionally, the university found that targeting primary bans on young drivers was even more effective, reducing fatalities by 11%. Moreover, banning every use of handheld devices while driving was most effective at reducing traffic deaths among adults.[4] However, “secondary” texting bans, such as what Ohio has implemented, had no effect on fatality rates for any age group.[5] This proves that texting bans can, in fact, be effective, but only under certain conditions.
Therefore, these laws can obviously be strengthened. I believe that we need to change all secondary enforcements of texting bans to primary bans in order to make these laws more successful. In addition, laws specifically targeting younger drivers should also be considered. In cases where it is possible, states should completely ban cellphone use to reduce distracted driving. Road safety continues to be an important issue to the American public, and state governments should do everything in their power to protect their citizens. It is amazing that these texting bans have helped reduce fatalities, and hopefully, these additional changes will prevent further injury and death in the future.
Work Cited
[1] McCartt, Anne, et al. “Bans on Cellphone Use While Driving and Traffic Fatalities… : Epidemiology.” LWW, https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2021/09000/Bans_on_Cellphone_Use_While_Driving_and_Traffic.17.aspx.
[2] McConnell III, Malcolm P. “Do Texting Bans Work?” Allen and Allen, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.allenandallen.com/do-texting-bans-work/.
[3] Ferdinand, Alva O, et al. “Impact of Texting Laws on Motor Vehicular Fatalities in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Aug. 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103220/#:~:text=Primarily%20enforced%20laws%20banning%20all,aged%2015%20to%2021%20years.
[4] McConnell III, Malcolm P. “Do Texting Bans Work?” Allen and Allen, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.allenandallen.com/do-texting-bans-work/.
[5] Slater & Zurz LLP. “Laws Banning Texting While Driving Decrease Fatalities.” Slater & Zurz LLP, Slater & Zurz, 2 June 2022, https://slaterzurz.com/laws-banning-texting-while-driving-decrease-fatalities-but-stronger-laws-are-needed/.
About the winner
Anastasia Shabalov will be a first-year law student at the University of Chicago starting in fall 2022. She graduated with a B.S. in Economics from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2021, and the following year, she worked as an equity research analyst at UBS in New York City. She was originally born in Riga, Latvia, and speaks both English and Russian. She plans to study antitrust in law school and possibly become a professor.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this college essay contest, and congratulations, Anastasia, on your scholarship!
If you’re interested in entering a future essay contest, be sure to check out our scholarship page.