Distracted Driving: A Solvable Problem

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,

Through the improvement and enactment of primary vs secondary laws and the enforcement of the former, would help minimize the number of accidents and fatalities. Ferdinand et al (2014) concluded, “Our analyses indicate that primarily enforced texting laws are associated with fatality reductions among younger individuals, both drivers and nondrivers [sic]” (p. 1375). By enabling law enforcement to better enforce a primary law that bans the act of texting while driving, the high number of fatal accidents would decline. But, some, if not most people nowadays, particularly the younger generation, would not respond as well to heavily enforced laws with accompanying fines. So, there must be a more attractive, extralegal option to discourage those who continue to tempt fate and drive distracted.

Texting and driving is being blamed for most teen accidents in recent years when in fact there are many other reasons for these accidents that have been around for decades. Instead of addressing this problem as “distracted driving” and covering many of the reasons for these teen accidents it is being pin pointed on one activity, but by doing this, it is ignoring other issues that need to be considered. Pinpointing texting as the cause of more teen accidents is easier to do because the other driving issues are not as easily controlled, for example, radios, DVD players, GPS systems, food, and people. Texting and driving is not safe, but should we focus on it as a campaign when there are clearly other factors to consider such as vehicle components,

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

It was a fine night in 2007 after one teenager was driving five others home from prom when the car just immediately stopped with a huge crash. It was 2 a.m. in the morning while one distracted driver and five teens sitting in the back seat. Whatever it may have been, “the crash was caused by drowsiness or distraction, or both” (Copeland). The driver may have been using their phone to get home without any knowledge of what they were doing. All five of the teenagers were ejected out of the car and one female, Lacey, who was not driving, was killed. Even after the death of Lacey, her parents regret not giving her the information about road rules and distractions. This is many of the stories that may not catch anyone's eye even though it is one of the most commons ways for injuries and deaths.

Distracted Driving ranks at the forefront of many drivers thinking for traffic safety. 80% of drivers at the AAA foundation say that distracted driving is a serious problem, and a behavior that makes them feel less safe on the road. 50% of the people say that they feel less safe this year than they did 5 years ago because distracted driving has increased. Federal estimates say that 16% of the fatal crashes are due to distracted driving, leading to around 5,000 deaths each year. Research has concluded that distraction lasts about 27 seconds longer, which means even after a driver puts down their phone, they aren’t fully engaged in their driving tasks. AAA believes that by educating the public on how mental and physical distractions can impair

In my opinion our state does do enough to prevent distracted driving. They do this by haveing multiple billboards and sings around the state. one of the slogans used is "stay alive, dont text and drive. Also they publish many comercails about distractive driving. They take past drivers that have had accidents and use there stories to warn others. in our drivers edd class we had to watch multiple videos about distractive drin=ving and how it can be extreally dangureous.

“In a split second, you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you.” -Sharon Heit, mother of the victim of distracted driver. (https://www.pinterest.com) Texting while driving increases the risk of crashes and reduces one’s awareness and performance, also causing diversion of attention and decreases the ability to focus. As the use of devices while driving can be severely dangerous, there are countless ways to discourage this practice. For instance, being educated on the importance of safety, stricter laws and or punishments, or furthermore, using handheld free technology. By these taking place, texting and driving would become an important priority preventing drivers from causing

Distracted driving is one of our main problems when people get into car accidents. This why some people want stricter laws on this topic. Everyone can change distracted driving by simply activating a driving mode on their cell phones, so when they are driving they cannot use their phones to text or call. The online article “All cell phones Should have a Driving Mode feature” states “It would eliminate the most common sources of distraction: phone calls, text messages, games and social media. It would disable all communication between the phone and the outside world, with the exceptions of GPS, navigation apps and emergency notification.” This article makes a good point by saying it could save many lives on the road ways because they are paying

Whether it is a five minute trip to the store, or it is a ten day trek across the country, there is nothing more important than your own life or the lives of anyone else in your vehicle. The highest cause of car accidents in the United States is distracted driving. The most dangerous form of distracted driving is texting while driving. That is why people should take action to prevent more casualties from occurring. Many things can be done to prevent people from texting while driving, such as installing devices in your vehicle that prevents text messages from being sent or received, or simply turning the phone off when you get in the car, along with many more effective and safe ways to save lives.

A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute estimates that texting and driving takes away from the road for 4.6 seconds, the same amount of time it takes for a car to travel across a football field at 55 miles per hour. Since there are both positive and negative factors in driving, we are starting to realize more that driving can be extremely dangerous. This here shows that there are multiple issues and causes as to why driving is becoming such a problem. Imagine if this was your family member being at stake for someone else’s distractions.(Hypothetical).

The best way to help others to fight against distracted driving is to be completely up front about it; your life, the lives of the passengers and the other drivers on the road are all in your hands when you make the decision to get behind the wheel. It is basic psychology when it comes to the “Cause and Effect” method. When you touch fire, you get burned. The same thing is applied while driving; when you are driving distracted, accidents will happen and people get hurt. This shows how essential it is to get the message of how dangerous distracted driving can be, should be taught everywhere. If we start to live by this lesson earlier in life than the world and the streets we drive on will significantly safer than they are

Texting and driving is a choice, and a huge responsibility. Not only for the passengers but, to the stand by people and other drivers on the road. Adults and teenegers while driving seem to not be able to resist the urge to pick up their cell phone and respond or text a message. When the driver is aware of the vibration or a cell phone ring, nothing can stop them from checking the notification on their phone. Especially teenagers, since they are constantly feeling the need to be available and responsive to their social life and media. When the driver’s eyes focus of the device their ability to engage in their driving task is drawn away, and the higher the risk to get into an accident. The most common cases are among teenagers, “11 teens die every day as a result of texting while driving. According to a AAA poll, 94 percent of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway.”(2) Teens distracted driving is a serious problem in today's society. About 82 precent of driving teenagers 16 to 18 own a cell phone, which makes it more common and accessible to do so. 34 percent of them admit to texting and driving while 52 percent admit to talking on the phone while driving.