(Houston, TX) The Houston Personal Injury Law Firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner is sponsoring its 6 th annual Text Free Texas Scholarship Contest for local high school students who pledge not to text while driving.
Students of driving age from four local high schools are invited to participate. The student who writes the best pledge from each high school will receive a $250 scholarship. This is the sixth consecutive year that the law firm has sponsored this program during April, Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Every day in the U.S., approximately 9 people are killed and 1,000 are injured in accidents involving distracted driving. In 2015, 3,477 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in distracted driving-related accidents.
Studies show that texting while driving is actually more dangerous than drunk driving. On average, sending a text message takes 5 seconds – that’s 5 seconds a driver takes his or her eyes off of the road. In that time, a car going 55 miles per hour will pass the length of a football field.
The dangers associated with texting while driving are especially high for teen drivers. Among all age groups, teen drivers were most likely to be distracted at the time of a fatal car accident.
At Abraham Watkins, we have seen first-hand the devastating effects of distracted driving. We encourage young drivers – and all drivers – to take a zero-tolerance approach to distracted driving.
The purpose of the firm’s annual Text Free Texas Scholarship Contest is to raise awareness of the dangers of texting while driving, especially in young drivers. This year’s Text Free Texas (#TxtFreeTX) scholarship program is available to high school students, grades 10 through 12, from the following schools:
- Challenge Early College High School
- Furr High School
- Victory Prep Academy South
- Worthing High School
The scholarship winners will be announced the first week of May.
To learn more about the Text Free Texas Scholarship Contest, contact Madison Kauffman at Abraham Watkins by calling (713) 222-7211 or visit TextFreeTexas.com.