Cellphone Impaired Driving

In the first three minutes of the YouTube video, the Mythbusters conduct an experiment to observe a person’s driving ability while using a cell phone and while driving drunk. To do so, the experimenters come up with the hypothesis, “driving using a cell phone is just as dangerous as drunk driving.” There are two independent variables. One variable is the cell phone, and the other is the alcohol. On the other hand, the dependent variable is the instructor who is giving the driving test. They test this hypothesis using three experimental conditions. First, to get acquainted with the course, each of the two people drive cell phone free and sober. The next experimental condition consists of Jamie, one of the experimenters, distracting each driver with a phone

First off it is important to have a controlled condition in testing the hypothesis so we can determine what changed during the experiment. The only conditions that should be different in this experiment are talking on the cell phone while driving and focusing on the road without distractions (use of a cell phone). A closed course would be best to test the hypothesis because it would need to

The Mythbusters observed the myth that driving whilst talking on the phone is as dangerous as driving drunk. They formed their hypothesis that driving on the phone is as dangerous as driving drunk. Then, they tested their hypothesis. They created an experiment that would have participants drive a car through a course three times. Each time a participant went through the course, they experience different conditions. The first time, both participants drove through the course normally. This served as the control group for the experiment. The second time, participants were asked questions over the phone while they completed the course, and, the third time, they were drunk when they drove through the course. Throughout the experiment, there were several independent variables in place to ensure that only one variable was being tested.

You have been asked to create an experimental design to test the hypothesis that texting while driving interferes with driving skills. Explain why variables that can affect the data collected from the experiment should be monitored and held constant when testing this hypothesis. How should participants be assigned to conditions? How can the researchers design the experiment so that the only difference between both conditions is texting?

To investigate the dangers of texting while driving, a true experiment is needed to determine if texting is a cause of traffic accidents. A true experiment is thought to be the most accurate type of experimental research, and it is the only type that can establish a cause and effect relationship. Thus, a true experiment can find if texting is a cause that affects traffic accidents. To begin, the experiment will take place on a major road, located in an urban city because a large number of fatal traffic accidents occur in urban settings, when vehicles are traveling less than thirty miles per hour. Random assignment will be used to select participants, and place them into two equal groups, so the sample size is representative of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level. Random assignment helps eliminate bias between tech savvy teenagers and older adults, or the use of technology between different ethnicities, or income levels. The experiment will include a control and experimental group, and the manipulated variable is texting while driving. The control group will be instructed to drive through the mapped out course, without a cell phone present in the car. However, the experimental group will drive through the same course, with cell phones that are receiving text messages. The experimenters will have a camera in the car that helps them collect data from the both groups. Each driver will be evaluated on, the number of times they send a text message, the number of

Mythbusters presented a hypothesis that a person driving while on the phone is just as dangerous as one drunk. They ran several test to try and solve their belief of which would affect the driver the most. They had two subjects for their testings, a male and a female. They both were asked to preform a series of tasks while driving like normal. They were made to complete it three different times. Once like normal, and the others either on the phone or intoxicated. The constant of this experiment was that they were trying to complete tasks, but the dependent factor was that they had inhibitors two of the times.

As technology becomes more and more advanced it becomes more and more of a distraction to drivers. Every day you see ads on TV, billboards, and the internet about the dangers of texting and driving and yet some of us still do it. According to USA Today, in America, more than 3,000 people died due to texting and driving. That is about one in 11 U.S. traffic deaths. If I was asked to create an experimental design to test the hypothesis that talking on a cell phone impairs driving skills, I would use a driving simulator to test accuracy of drivers when they drive while using a cell phone and when they aren’t using a cell phone.

Making poor choices and treating others with disrespect can affect you in the long run and can easily contribute to a downfall. Macbeth was fully aware of the choices he made with the inhumane torture and disrespect he had on the citizens of Scotland. Being a tragic hero is when one experiences an immense tragedy which leads to a downfall, but Macbeth never had a tragedy because his death originated from the choices he made and reactions he had while he had authority as king. Macbeth being selfish and only caring about himself creates an undeserving and improper image as king which brought chaos into the land of Scotland. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth does not fit the formula for a tragic hero because he is not a moral

A control condition, also known as a control group, is an important part of an experimental design because it allows one to identify other factors that might be causing the effect that is being examined. In this particular case bad driving is the effect that is being examined. If a control condition was not used, researchers may conclude that adults who use cell phones while driving are bad drivers. However, the study would not distinguish between bad driving caused by talking on the phone versus drivers exhibiting bad driving habits. Variables that interfere with each other and their possible effects are known as confounding variables. Confounding variables can be eliminated by using a control group. Without using a control group in this study

You are permitted to withdraw from the experiment at any time during the study. Your published results will remain anonymous. We will show you a video of two cars crashing, and then you will fill out a questionnaire regarding the video. When taking the questionnaire please provide us with your own answers. The questionnaires will then be collected and the debriefing will begin

In this experiment, the controlled variables were the age of the person, length of experiment,

“A distracted driver may fail to see up to 50% of the available information in the driving environment. You may look but not actually “see” what is happening. Focus of the driver is not on the road or traffic and it becomes difficult to handle phone and vehicle at one time. Cell phones during driving also reduce the mental capacity of drivers as they fail to concentrate on minor or major activities happening around them. Cell phones distract drivers' attention resulting in comparatively slow response to traffic signals and other related traffic events. Studies have shown the fact that breaking reaction time is also slower while talking on a cell phone during driving. The perception, vision, general awareness, and concentration of the driver are impacted while communicating on a cell phone during driving. Especially during bad weather or driving on slippery roads, drivers engaging in conversation pay less attention to these areas increasing risks of fatal accidents.

The war on drugs has been a failure. The war on drugs has failed because the government spends millions of dollars on trying to stop people from using drugs but the government has not stopped them from using them. The government has spent 1 trillion since Nixon declared war on drugs and 51 billion dollars each year from incarcerating people. A total of 2.3 million people are in prison for drug related crimes. This is more than anywhere else in the planet. Drug use and overdoses are still the same. Many people say that if drugs were to be legalized, drug use would increase dramatically. This was not the case in Portugal. Portugal decided to decriminalize all drugs in 2001. Many people feared that this would collapse the country, but in fact the opposite happened. Prisons were not overrun anymore. It is safer for the government to decriminalize all drugs because this way all the drugs are not in the hands of the drug dealers, they are in the hands of the government. This is safer and better because now the government knows who is buying the drugs and how much that individual is using. The consumer also knows what he or she is consuming. This is not the case with the drug dealers where an individual does not know what he or she is getting. Many people say it is not fair for people to go to jail for nonviolent crimes such as

alone every year. The issue of driving while talking on a cell phone has become serious enough that five states have passed laws prohibiting this type of act and making it a primary offense to do so. Not only are drivers talking behind the wheel, but many have admitted to engaging in even more potentially dangerous behavior with their phones such as text messaging and surfing the internet. A distracted driver is a dangerous one. If you are focused on a conversation and your eyes are not on the road, drivers cannot be expected to make a quick and safe decision should the need for one arise. The behavior of a driver while using a cell phone has been compared to that of one driving while under the influence. Studies have shown that those who use a cell phone while driving are four times more likely to be involved in a crash than those who don’t.

Although many of these new technologies are possible and useful because of the cell phone, there are some downsides that come with this device. One downside is the danger of cell phones usage while operating mechanical vehicles such as cars. Because cell phones let us be so mobile, they also let us talk in situations where we are doing something else. While a person is in the middle of a discussion, he can be distracted from anything else he is doing. According to study published in "the New England Journal of Medicine," the chances of getting into an accident while on a cell phone are increased by "four hundred percent (qtd. in Hua)." Another study that was done by scientists in the "transport research laboratory" suggested that driving while using a cell phone is more hazardous then driving under the influence of alcohol at the permitted blood alcohol content level. The study says that a person on the cell phone reacts half a second slower than an alert driver (qtd. in Wrolstad). Considering the results of the research, more legislation is needed for cell phone usage, possibly banning or limiting the usage of cell phones during situations calling for a person's full attention.