Distracted Driving And Texting Accidents

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

Texting and driving was and continues to be one of the major factors of car accidents in America’s population. In the following advertisement named, “Phone in one hand, Ticket in the other” it is noted that texting and driving are frowned upon in our society, and the authorities are giving citizens tickets for texting and driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had created and promoted this ad to help decrease car accidents involving texting and driving, by informing the reader, you will be ticketed if you are caught being on your phone while driving a vehicle. The ad was first campaigned April 2015 by NHTSA. There are two messages being portrayed in this advertisement. First, the text of the ad, gets the audience thinking about two possible consequences of texting and driving. Secondly, the images demonstrate what may take place if you are using a cell phone while on the road. Lastly, both the text and images work together to get the message across that if you are caught texting and driving, you will be ticketed, and the use of a cellular device while driving can lead to a car accident. The, “Phone in one hand, Ticket in the other” ad successfully portrays its reasoning for being invented, and I believe the presence of this ad will decrease the amounts of accidents in America.

“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:

During 2012-2015, more than 13,000 traffic deaths nationwide were due to distracted driving. It is believed that distracted drivers are 23 times more likely to get into a traffic accident as compared to those who are completely focused on the road.

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

Have you ever lost a close friend or family member from them texting and driving or someone else texting and driving? I am sure you have been one to text and drive also as much as we hate to admit it. Would you want to be the one who killed yourself or someone just because of that one text? I have personally known two young girls who have been killed from texting and driving. Both were on the same road exactly five months apart. Here is why I believe every state needs a no texting and driving law to ensure that our roads are safe from those individuals who insist on texting while driving.

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.

Living in a world full of new technology being made and thought of is starting to be the main cause of why the universe is losing so many of our teens and young adults to texting and driving Technology is also improving in different ways that people can not keep up with it. In 2013 about 3,154 people died in an accident with a distracted driver(CDC Prevention). Many laws have been issued to decrease the amount of deaths by distracted drivers. On September 30, 2009 President Barack Obama made an executive order banning federal employees to not text and drive on government business or equipment (CDC Prevention). States are trying to create laws to ban inexperienced drivers and adults from being distracted while driving to lower the amount of

Since the beginning of the smart phone era, humanity has come to build relationships with not only people, but their electronic devices. From talking on their phones and exploring apps, to texting while driving, people cannot seem to put down their smart-devices. According to the passage Introduction to Cell Phones and Driving: At Issue, the average amount of texts people send daily runs from around 40 – 110 (2015). It may not seem like the highest number, but knowing that more than half of those messages are sent while driving makes the matter of texting a lot worse. At this point in time, there have been laws prohibiting texting and driving as well as talking on the phone. Yet, to this day, those laws are null and void; regardless, the talking and texting while driving never stops. Although this phenomenon happens daily and causes many minor and major accidents, the probability of seizing this behavior is little to none.

No matter how much effort state governments try to make to avoid people texting while driving, only so much can be done on the government’s and law enforcement’s side of the matter. Different states have different rules. Some outlaw texting while driving when under the age of 21 or 18. Other states have hand-held bans on cell phones while some states have an all-phone ban. Law enforcement officers who regulate and enforce traffic matters have to catch the person in the act of texting while driving. Catching a person in the act is not an easy task to accomplish as an officer of the law. Even a consistent and national law against texting while driving would plausibly not solve the calamities. I think the true issue of driving and texting is contingent with the drivers. Drivers should take heed to statistics, priorities, and lives involved regarding the issue of texting and driving.

Is it really important to send that text or check that email while you are driving? Since 2013, texting while driving has been a threat to every driver on the road through the United States. Charles Moore says in “Texting While Driving Is More Dangerous than Driving under the Influence” that texters’ reaction times deteriorate by 35%, and their steering ability decreases by 91%. In 2010, about 4,000 people died from cell phone distraction related crashes. Most of these crashes were related to teens. In 2009 American Life Project published a report that focused on teens and distracted driving. This report showed that 75% of teens own a cell phone, and of those, 34% admit to texting while driving, 48% say they were a passenger of a car when a driver was texting.

Cell phone use while driving is a terrible distraction. When driving a motor vehicle, you are supposed to be 100% focused on what’s going on around you. There are many crashes because of people using their cell phones while driving. People that cause the crash are severely injured, and so are the victims of the crash. The law should be enforced over the issue of texting and driving; it would save more lives.

In 2015, 9,967 people were killed. Nearly 290,000 were or have been injured. Each crash, each death, each injury impacts not only the person in the crash, but family, friends, classmates, coworkers and more. Even those who have not been directly touched help pay the 132 billion dollars yearly on the price tag of drunk driving. But together we can eliminate drunk driving.

I believe that the driving while texting should be not only treated as not only reckless driving, but also as an addiction. Yes, I said addiction, because the matter just gets worst when driving while texting, but even the idea of not being aware of your surroundings can be just as hazardous as one is driving while texting. Only difference is that a person operating a vehicle presents danger to the road and other people and a person even walking while texting also puts one’s self in danger in public places.

If you text and drive , you are ready to take a life. I am against texting and driving because it is irresponsible, you are risking others , and driving while texting is closely similar to driving buzzed.