Have you ever been texting while driving? If so, then I’m sure you’d like to hear this one. In September of 2010 many teens were losing their lives in horrible car accidents for one reason, text messaging while driving. Once officials noticed this was getting out of control and that so many teens were losing their lives, they decided to put a new law in effect to see if it would stop teens from even using the phone at all while driving. it might have worked for a few days when they really enforced it but after that it didn’t seem to phase teens because they weren’t afraid of getting in trouble anymore. The most recent death of a teen was on December 11th 2010. The death of Ashley Valente was a tragic story, Ashley was only 20 years old and had not even gotten a chance to experience life to the fullest yet. Whether she was actually texting while driving or not is unknown, but most people are saying that was more than likely the cause of the accident. Ashley had many loving friends and family, but the family member that was hit the hardest by her passing was her brother. Many describe the two as the best of friends and that they loved each other very much, but she was taken away from him because of one mistake. Teenagers may think that the whole texting while driving law is a joke but it truly is not a joke by any stretch. If people read more into the horrible accidents that occur from texting while driving then maybe they would behave differently. Every time you go to send a text while driving you should think twice about all those who have lost their lives at such an early age because of exactly what your doing at that very moment. Think of all the pain and agony many people who have lost children to texting accidents feel all the time because they cannot ever get their children back, just because of that one mistake. The perfect example is Ashley Valente, she will never be able to get married or have children or watch her brother get married or be there for him when he needs her most, or any of the other things she may have wanted out of life. Although I did not know Ashley, I feel that her story may be able to change the habits of many teens who live in Wilmington or who knew her forever. So my question still remains, Have you ever been texting while driving?