Consequences of Texting behind the Wheel Essay

Statistics show that texting while driving is on the rise. In a published article, “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States”, from National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2005 to 2008 car accidents involving a use of a cellular device increased by 28 percent, while drunk driving fatalities declined by 35 percent. In today’s world, many people are becoming attached to their phone, and they cannot put it down for 30 minutes. A study completed by Pew Research Center showed that 59 percent of young adults ranging from 18 to 34 years old are the most likely to text and

Several factors contribute to distractive drivers of any age. Cell phones would rate the greatest threat to teen drivers. Incoming calls and text messaging would rate the greatest threat would instantly distract most teens. Any inattention to the road could cause a serious or lethal accident. A few months ago in Casa Grande, AZ an accident involving a teen who was texting lost his life with another passenger seriously injured in the opposing car. “According to the American Automobile Association, almost half of teens admit to texting while driving.” (Distracted Driving 253) Other distractions would include programming global positioning system, smoking, eating, drinking, and applying make-up.

What some teens struggle to understand is if they would avoid the number one problem in teen driving which is distracted driving, a huge amount of lives would be saved. There are many factors that feed into making distracted driving the number one mistake in teen driving. Some factors include, 9 people lose their lives and around 1,000 people are injured in distracted driving crashes each day in the United States, it can hurt your insurance immensely, and parents are unaware of how severe the

Cell phones have become an essential part of many peoples’ lives as they are one of the main sources of communication. People are able to complete many tasks using their phones, such as making phone calls, sending and receiving e-mails, text messaging, and even snapping photos. Cell phones are not only beneficial, but they are impactful in many ways. As many positive uses there are for cell phones, cell phone usage can be undoubtedly precarious while driving. Cell phone usage while driving is many times done irresponsibly and can put the driver at risk of getting injured. In addition to the driver getting injured, innocent pedestrians could also potentially lose their lives or be crippled due to a texting person who was driving at the same time. According to The Federal Communications Commission, “over 8 people are killed and approximately 1,161 are injured daily in incidents reported as distraction-affected crashes in the United States.” Texting while driving has become the number one distraction of drivers and main cause of car crashes. These crashes could result in hundreds of thousands of people either losing their lives or experiencing life-changing injuries. Although cell phone usage is an effective way to communicate with others and to complete certain tasks, it has become problematic for drivers in recent years as it increased the risk of injury and death while driving. For these reasons, texting while driving should be illegal and punishable by law.

Copeland’s article about teen driving claims that teens know the consequences of distracted driving. However, they continue to use their phones and participate in such behaviors. Copeland states that most

Automobile crashes as a result of texting while driving is an epidemic that has taken over the nation in the past years. In today’s society, people have become more and more dependent on technology as everyday uses. How many can honestly say that they have text and driven? How many have had to swerve, stop on the brakes or almost gotten into an accident because of it? Texting while driving is the most common thing that almost everyone has done or seen. The main issue and threat is that people think they can safely type on their phone while driving; while others simply do not think there is any real danger with that act. Today, it is all about convenience; but the cost for this convenience can be very deadly. Studies show that any

Although distracted driving is a problem for all drivers, it specifically is a major problem for teenagers. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for American teens. When it comes to distracted driving, young people are the most likely to text and talk behind the wheel ("Distracted Driving Facts"). In Idaho between the years of 2010 and 2014, the age group 15-19 experienced the most crashes, with the age group 20-24 coming second. Teenagers also contributed to 10% of fatal car crashes and a little over 15% of serious injury car crashes ("Distracted Crash

Imagine being blindfolded for the length of a football field while driving. This would not feel very safe, right? Well, five second is the average time your eyes are off the road while sending or reading a text. When traveling at 55 mph, that is enough time to cover the length of a football field. Plus, the average amount of time it takes to get into a crash is only three seconds. 11% of all drivers under 20 that were involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted. This age group has the largest population of distracted drivers. It is not just teens, adults are also breaking the law while driving. 49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver was sending or reading texts on their cell phone. Reaching for a phone, dialing, texting and other uses of portable devices increases the risk of getting into a crash by three times. As of 2011, about 60% of drivers use cell phones while driving. There is obviously a huge chance of getting into a wreck, whether you are the one texting or not. It is not just the decision to not text and drive, but the decision to refuse to get in a car where the driver has their cell phone

The United States is looking for ways to keep traffic safety in order. Distracted driving takes a big chunk in all fatal crashes, at sixteen percent. That is estimated to be five-thousand deaths each year. A study found that people are not fully focused with the task of driving even after they put down their phone. On average, it takes about twenty-seven seconds for someone to have or regain all focus on the road. Teenagers were the main reason the average was high, because they are most affected by distractions. A quarter of the time teenagers are behind the wheels, they are distracted. (https://www.aaafoundation.org/distracted-driving)

391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2015.” TeenSafe also said that “teen drivers from ages 15 to 19 are in the age group most at risk to be involved in distracted driving accidents. Nine percent of these teens are involved in distracted driving fatalities.” With driving being a new experience to teens, not only to they face the risk crashing due to lack of time on the road but introducing a cell phone while in a car increases their risk of crashing by 400%. Many teens become a new mode of transportation for their friends who are unable to drive or don’t have a car. Though teens are most at risk, adults drive distracted as

Teen drivers are notoriously known to be more prone to accidents and crashes. The cause can come from a plethora of things, one the most recognized being, distracted driving. Studies have found that distracted driving has been the cause of nearly 58% of all teen crashes, and the CDC (Center of Disease Control and Prevention) stated that drivers under the age of 20 have the highest risk of distraction-related-fatal accidents.

This fact proves how teens are easily distracted when driving. More than 10,000 teenagers died in Tennessee from speeding in the years from 2005-2008. This proves that teens do have a tendency to speed while driving, let alone this is just one of the 50 states in the U.S (Teen Driver Safety, page 1”). There are many facts about teen driving and all of the facts I have collected just prove my reasons to be more correct than they already are.

Researchers state that the most common forms of distraction that lead to a crash by teen drivers include; interacting with friends, cell phone use, singing and moving to music (AAA: “Distraction a Factor in 6 of 10 Teen Driver Crashes."). Young drivers tend to travel with friends. Having one or more passengers in the car and chatting with them, is distracting. This situation can be very dangerous for the younger drivers because they are more likely to get distracted. Inexperienced teenagers are usually more distracted than other drivers and they are less likely to react quickly to the dangers on the road.

Driving in general can be hazardous. Driving and having such a distraction as a cell phone at ear, or ringing somewhere in a car, is ten times more dangerous. Not surprisingly, drivers who use a cell phone while driving perceive cell phone use by others as less of a threat to their safety as do non-users. A huge number of accidents caused by talking on a cell phone. During the last 5 years texting has become insanely popular. It’s a great and convenient tool because people don’t have to call person to just say ‘ok’ on that dinner invitation. The worst part is that many people still think that texting while driving just that ‘ok’ is ok. Unfortunately, even with traffic police enforcing those ‘no cellphone’ laws, individuals still neglect those simple safety concerns. People need to start understanding themselves how dangerous it is.

There are many problems that are involved with driving. But, in the past couple years, for teenagers, driving while using the cell phone has become a huge problem. Teenagers have a tendency to hold the phone while driving and this becomes an issue because while glancing at the phone students will not notice if the car in front of them is braking. Also they will not notice ahead of time when the traffic light changes, possibly causing an accident that can be fatal. The biggest issue with phone usage while driving is texting and checking social media. Both situation cause one to become distracted that can lead to an accident by either not paying attention to the cars around them, traffic lights or the speed they are driving on.