Dangers of Texting While Driving Essay

While many people are good at multi-tasking, the road is not the place to put skill to use. Texting and driving not only requires keeping eyes on the road, nevertheless also a combination of motor skills, not to mention that there is already enough going on with traffic, therefore why add the additional distraction? Trying to do too many things at once confuses the brain and makes it difficult to focus on driving and reaction time. I witnessed this a few months

In order to text a person has to visually see the message that is sent. The driver has to physically respond to the message.It may be something in the messages that upset the drivers which effects their ability to drive.Its hard to drive when a person doesnt have a clear mind or having angry thoughts. Cell phones are not the only distractions their is when it comes to driving. When every there an accident people stop traffic just to be nosey and see what is going on. Stopping to watch other accidents can cause another accident because everyone's mind is not on the road its on the accident scene.A driver can still be focused on the road and get into a accident due to the others drives around them. Being distracted can cause someone their life just because another driver's attention was on something

In the article, “Dead Girl’s Parents Warn Students to Buckle Up and Stop Texting,” shows that texting while driving is hazardous and very real when Alex Brown, age 17, died due to result of texting while driving while not wearing a seatbelt. The parents of Alex Brown, Johhny Mac and Jeanne Brown, appeared in front of an audience of hundreds of Clyde middle and high school students, to educate young people about Alex’s accident and how easily it could have been prevented. Texting while driving impacts the lives of those around you. A single distraction while driving, as small and simple it may seem such as texting, can lead to the death of loved ones.

“Text messaging … had the longest duration of eyes-off-road time of 4.6 seconds at a six second interval. This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 miles per hour without looking at the roadway.” This statement was made by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute when they did a texting while driving study (“Skip Menu”). Texting while driving has become a large problem in the United States and it is growing. There are about 1,600,000 accidents per year as a result of texting while driving. Texting while driving has become a bigger problem for teenagers than drinking while intoxicated. In an article Delthia Ricks wrote for Newsday, she says:

Texting and driving has become a recent issue in today's society and is one of the largest epidemics to sweep our nation. The progression of text messaging, with more capable phones and larger numbers of people engaging than ever before, has turned into one of the largest distractions in our world. Many teens, as well as adults, have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving their cars. Several people do not think that a quick text or even a glance at a phone while they are driving will do any harm. A great bit of accidents has taken place due to a careless individual that decided to look at their phone while they were in the process of driving. These days, phones have gotten even more

Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving. According to Kiernan Hopkins, texting and driving is more likely to cause an accident than drunk driving. He also tells us that since the average speed in the US is 55 mph, taking 5 seconds to read a text in this time means that the driver travels the length of a football field without looking at the road. Officer Wil Sunderland from the Oklahoma City Police Department says the No Texting and Driving Law is working and 94% of people support and obey the law but 74% go against the law. People realize the outcome of texting and driving and know there can be punishment by law, which makes driver's put down their cell phones when the vehicle is in motion. Sunderland also informs us that with the help of Siri, drivers can keep their eyes on the road by using voice commands which can type and send messages, play music, make phone calls and more.

In today’s day and age, technology has drastically increased. People seem to rely on the use of their devices more than anything. Typically, whenever and wherever, everyone is engaged in some form of technology, cell phones in particular. From pagers, to car phones, to initial “flip-phones”, and now to smart-phones, people practically use up most of their daily time with these devices. Nowadays, a lot of people doesn’t even like to have phone conversations…they can deliver their entire thought through a simple text message. In some retrospect, that’s a very good thing; in others, it can be extremely crucial, especially when it comes to texting and driving. Texting and driving has been the leading cause of car accidents in the recent years,

Every time a person reads a text message their attention is taken off the road for about 5 seconds or longer.

magine being at an intersection, and just when you think no one is there, you proceed to step on the gas, and you get text from your friend saying “ Where you at bro?” thinking since it’s your friend you look down at your phone for a split second, but then you lose focus and let go of the wheel slightly and end up turning onto the other lane which put in a dangerous situation, luckily there wasn 't any cars coming. These are the type of disasters that texting while driving can cause.

Of the many effects that texting while driving has on an individual, the most profound impact is death and the toll it takes on close relatives.In Virginia, “a five month old baby,Tristan Schulz, was killed because of a driver that had his phone in his hand and got distracted” (A Baby Is Dead in Virginia. Now Will the State Do Something about Texting While Driving?” TWP).Avoidable deaths like this happen constantly due to the careless use of cellular devices on much traveled highways/roads.So many more lives could have been spared if only that one driver had simply chosen to wait until they were no longer driving.Another tragedy that resulted from texting while driving was the loss of Stephanie Phills,37,and 26, Heather Hurd’s life when a truck driver “reaching for his hand-held device to text his office,rammed into traffic at a stop light” (Bridget, and Lebovich N.p., n.d. Web)The truck driver stop to consider the

Pulling off to the road shoulder to send a text or make a call decreases the peril of crashing, according to Liz Soltan. “Texting while driving is the riskiest type of driver distraction, making drivers 23 times more likely of getting into a safety critical event.” (http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/digital-distraction) Ontario Education Driving School in Waterloo has educated young drivers on the dangers of texting and driving, and how to restrict the use of devices. “Cell phones are right up there with drugs and alcohol as far as causing crashes.” Steve Guarisco said Vice President of OEDS (Ontario Education Driving School). “If you're checking a text (while driving), or worse, writing a text, you might as well have had two or three beers at that moment.” (http://ontarioeducationdrivingschool.com) Looking down for 5 seconds while driving 55 mph to send one text is the length of a one football field without paying attention to the road. (http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/digital-distraction) The life of everyone associated in a texting and driving situation is at risk if the driver does not have the knowledge and understanding on safety. In addition, being able to recognize the smart decision, can decrease the mindset of using the device, and avoid putting people's live at

While Kelley was driving on I-4, a friend texted her. Kelley picked up her phone and read the text. While she began to laugh, she looked up and started to realize that she was too close to the truck in front of her which started to brake. Kelley was too late to react on time and got into a bad accident. Luckily she made it out alive, but she could have ended up losing her life. Although a lot of people text while driving, they never admit that they do so. As illustrated in the real life example before, texting while driving is very dangerous and distractive and that is why it should be made illegal.

Texting while driving takes away the one thing that absolutely everyone counts on while behind the wheel, vision. No matter where the phone is placed, whether it is on the dash board or on the steering wheel, one’s eyes are not where they need to be. People’s eyes are supposed to be on the road at all times. Texting takes that away and it doesn’t matter how quick someone thinks they are, there is always a possibility. Just for that split second of reading a message that is so important, a crash could happen. Eyes are the most important thing needed when driving and when not on the road a lot of harm can be caused.

2. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. This causes a driver to crash 23x the normal rate. Over 10,000 injuries nationwide due to texting while driving have been reported between 2007-2009. (http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html)

Today, texting while driving out numbers the amount of drunk driving according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause a wreck than drunk driving. You are 23 times more likely to wreck if you are texting. Texting while driving is equal to driving bind for 5 seconds each text. Out of the worlds’ population of over 7 billion, at any given moment all over the world, over 800,000 drivers are texting. Drivers think they can handle looking away for a second to reply, or read a message. By doing this you are decreasing your break reaction time by 18% (national). “The concentration needed for safe driving makes texting safely at the same time impossible” (Bratsis 70). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (C.D.C.)