Dangers Of Distracted Driving

Texting while driving puts many driver’s lives in danger daily. Multiple people feel that staying connected to the outside world is more important than focusing on the road ahead, although it is not. It can harm others on the road who are doing nothing other than trying to make it to their destination safely. If people would open their eyes to the dangers of texting while driving, less car accidents would take place every year and the roads would be much safer. Distracted drivers need to know the position they put others in as well as themselves. While behind the wheel, drivers should never direct their attention to their cell phone, and should always keep their eyes on the road.

Distracted driving, the act of driving while engaged in other activities, has long been a dangerous epidemic on America’s roadways. While there’s a wide range of activities that distract American drivers, texting while driving has become increasingly prevalent, as the popularity of mobile devices has risen since the 1990s (Noder, 2009). In American culture, which has become ever more dependent on cellphones, many experience the desire to always be accessible – even while on the go (Noder, 2009). This desire, motivated by both social and business objectives, leads many to use their phones behind the wheel. Eighty-five percent of Americans, a number

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

We all are probably aware that texting and talking on the phone is a distraction to all drivers and can be very dangerous. Also, we all know there are many other distractions besides texting and driving, and any type of technology can cause a driver to be distracted. Forty-one percent of all drivers use their hands to text in the car while driving, according to Greg Gardner (52). It can cause people to forget about pedestrians or their surrounding areas. People who are distracted often aren’t focused and don’t have both hands on the wheel. According to Bryan Wilson, people may say that cell phones are easy to be pointed out as a problem, but statistics show the damage cell phones can do to a person while they are driving (6). According to Simon Usborne, time spent not looking at the road while talking on the phone is 15% of the time (68). Also, while texting and driving the time spent not looking at the road is 30% of the time (Usborne 69). As technology improves more and more people may feel the need to use their cell phones while driving. According to Melissa Healy, cell phone use can be as dangerous as drunk driving (42). Tests should be done to compare the various ways of sober people under the influence driving also to compare the impact of texting and driving. This would give us a better understanding of just how dangerous driving and being on our phone really is.

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.

The act of sending electronic messages or texting is easily accessible to anyone that owns a cell phone. Often people are seen with the cell phone in one hand and texting while walking, eating in a restaurant with friends, working or shopping. It has become a part of everyday life. The convenience and the need to stay connected has made texting a useful method of communicating, that has increased dramatically with teenagers. “Adolescents report that texting is the most common way that they stay in contact with friends, sending an average of a hundred texts per day” (Delgado para. 1). This includes texting while driving. The effects of distracted driving from texting include legal penalties, increase in insurance premiums, motor vehicle crashes, and even death. Texting while driving has become a major problem in the United State and a simple LOL can have serious consequences.

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

Plenty of people are losing their daughters, sons, or other family members because of either distracted driving or drinking and driving. Both are a big issue. Not only are people getting hurt, but parents also suffer when their children get into an accident. People do not think about the people they are hurting because of their actions. People need to take care and drive safely each time they are behind the wheel. Five seconds is the average time someone’s eyes are off the road while they are texting (“Facts and Statistics”). The majority of teens respond to a text message at least once or more every time they drive. Teens have the tendency of responding to a text message when they are driving or even when they are on their social media. Cell phone use while driving might be as or more dangerous than driving under the influence of

One sunny day on a Houston road, the driver of a pickup truck collided with a church minibus. 13 people died, and the driver admitted he was texting and driving. Yet this happens very often. Over 330,000 car accidents happened from texting while driving in 2015. Distracted driving is very risky, because attention is drawn away from the road,

In this age of multitasking, the use of cell phones is combined with assignments like cooking, driving, babysitting, walking, doing college assignments and even eating. Whereas the use of cell phones while doing some chores might be simply annoying, the consequence of using cell phone with driving can be fatal. Recent polls by the Pew Research Center and other researchers show that about fifty to ninety percent young Americans admit using their cell phone while driving. This includes about thirty six percent who said they texted or typed something whiles driving. (Lopresti-Goodman, Rivera, & Dressel, 2012). The practice of using phone particularly texting while driving has increased the number of distracted driving accidents. When the cell phone records of people involved

Some states do more than others. In October 2013, the state of Florida passed a law that banned texting and driving. To some, this may seem like a good law, however, if we take a look at it we can see that it is actually very weak. In his article, “Florida Cell Phone & Texting and Driving Laws”, Rich Stim tells us that this law does not allow anyone to type or read any kind of messages while they are driving. He also points out that this law can only be enforced if a police officer pulls the driver over for another moving violation, making this a secondary enforcement law (Stim). So we can see that you can not be pulled over just for texting and driving, you need tone doing something else illegal first, such as maybe speeding or running red light or stop sign. If you do get a ticket for texting and driving, it is a non moving violation and the penalty is $30 (“The 2014 Florida Statues”). The State of Florida could do more to help decrease distracted driving.. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, there are 14 states that have banned the use of hand held cell phones completely, while 38 states ban the use of cell phones by novice drivers (“Distracted Driving Laws”). There are 44 states that have banned texting while driving, and of those all but 5 are primary enforcement laws, which means that a police officer can pull you over and give you a ticket just for texting and driving (“Distracted Driving Laws”). Florida’s ban on texting could be stronger if it were made a primary enforcement law. The state could do more to prevent distracted driving if it would add a law that bans either all hand held cell phone use, or at lease put a ban on cell phone use for novice drivers as many of the other states have

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

They walk in front of cars and into street signs, falling off curbs and walking into tree limbs. They are distracted pedestrians who, while texting, talking on the phone, listening to music or even reading, have sustained serious injuries, some of which fatal.

In the District of Columbia, first time offenders have their fines suspended if they later prove they have acquired a hands free device, but the majority of states follow an increasing penalty system, where the number of offenses increase the penalty. For first time offenders, these fines can start as low as $20, or as high as $500. In Texas, fines of up to $4000 can be levied if an accident resulted from texting while driving, and Alaska will charge you with a felony if a fatality occurs. In Missouri, drivers under 21 and commercial vehicle operators are prohibited from texting. Instead of nationwide laws pertaining to distracted driving, we have a patchwork of state laws that vary widely in scope and

“Don’t do what I do” is something I began to hear a lot of when I learned how to drive. By the example my mother was setting, only one kind of mistake would warrant it. My mother would roll through stop signs and speed like it was nobody’s business. I wouldn’t hear a peep about it. Any time her phone came out on the road though, you could be sure there would be a “Don’t do what I do”. It wasn’t just my mother either. My father, and my grandparents constantly threw this line out. They knew that they shouldn’t do it, but they couldn’t help themselves, and that sends a worse message than condoning the use of a phone while driving. It was watching them make the same mistakes over and over again with little remorse that made me promise to never drive while distracted.