7.08 Assignment – Argumentative Essay Final Draft
It's no secret that distracted driving is a huge issue in today's world. In 2015 alone, more than 3,400 deaths and 390,000 injuries occurred as a result of distracted driving, according to dmv.org. Most people are aware of this nationwide problem, and while some people have taken the pledge to stop distracted driving behavior, many people have chosen to simply ignore the issue. Those people are a danger to everyone else on the road, and because it is not easy or ethical to force them to stop their behavior, the easiest and most effective option is to convince them to stop. Trying to convince people of the dangers of distracted driving can come in several forms, but the most noticeable and arguably
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The NHTSA claims that they “Lead the fight nationally against distracted driving by educating Americans about its dangers and partnering with the States and local police to enforce laws against distracted driving that help keep us safe.” They have several public service announcements that they release to the public through TV commercials, and social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Because of that, many people end up watching these PSAs, even if they weren't trying to. These public service announcements are brief, but they often provide realistic footage, coupled with facts and statistics, which can make them very effective. Some of them often depict the consequences of distracted driving, and some can be very realistic, showing how a life can end very quickly if you are distracted while on the road. These types of PSAs use a technique that can be defined as the “scare method”, where a person views the PSA and decides to believe and obey it because it scares them with it's realistic view of the possible consequences that can happen. These are arguably more effective than a regular PSA, but the “scare method” does not work on everyone. Just using statistics in a quick PSA is another widely-used method, and likely the most popular. Road signs with a statistic on distracted driving deaths, or a 30-second advertisement about …show more content…
This method is using a personal experience of someone who was involved in a distracted driving incident in the PSA. This is a very clever way to make a PSA effective, because often times people can relate to other people who were involved in an incident. Whether they had a family member who was involved, or they were the driver who caused the incident, there are plenty of distracted driving stories out there that are waiting to be shared. Fox9.com shared a “heart-wrenching” story of a man who caused a distracted driving incident by looking at his phone for only a short time. By the time that dump truck driver Frank Rychtik looked at the road once again, it was too late. He had hit a car while he was distracted, and had unintentionally taken an innocent life, which he says he greatly regrets. When these sad and often emotional stories are shared with people via a public service announcement, more people begin to take notice. People tend to understand these stories, and seeing what happened to real people directly because of distracted driving can often make them want to stop doing it. Even the people who think “it won't happen to me” will hear an experience like Frank Rychtik's and learn that it really can happen to anyone. This is one of the main reasons that distracted driving PSAs can be very effective, contrary to
A Public Service Announcement (PSA) can help reduce the number of distracted driving accidents by explaining the horrible effects of distracted driving and the best ways to prevent distracted driving. Currently, the main source of distracted driving is cell phones. Cell phones cause a person to text, call, and use social media while driving; all factors that can be a deadly distraction while driving. A cell phone causes much distraction for the driver and may cause the driver to have a car crash that not only affects themselves, but also the surrounding people. As a community, we should be educating people about distracted driving in order to prevent the problem and decrease the number of accidents. Public Service Announcements are important as they provide people with evidence, resources to limit distraction while driving, and helpful/important information. Teenagers, children, and even adults will be able to be informed. Even though educating people through a Public Service Announcement is important, it might not be viewed by most people and will not be effective towards the younger viewers. Teenagers and even adults might dismiss a Public Service Announcement because the announcement does not grab their attention or because the person might not care.
In an attempt to bring awareness about distracted driving to viewers, AT&T has decided to show a different perspective about the issue. Drivers who chose to display reckless behavior while driving are often viewed as careless, and irresponsible. However, many times even a responsible, caring person can make a bad decision and become distracted. This moment of bad judgment can lead to a tragic accident that will affect all those involved. The commercial The Unseen by AT&T used in their It Can Wait campaign is effective in getting their message across. Through the use of scare tactics and people’s emotions AT&T’s commercial; The Unseen is effective because it gets drivers to think twice before becoming distracted behind the wheel.
There were no knowledgeable facts throughout the video expressing the real-world statistics of the death ratio due to texting and driving. Even though the video itself doesn’t provide facts, the description bar evaluates that “over 440,000 people are killed or injured every year by distracted drivers.” This would have been the perfect thing to add into the PSA to back up their reasonings for the production. After experiencing the pathos and ethos of it, seeing the facts in which the video was based off would’ve been helpful in the process of being persuaded not to text and drive. Public Service Announcements should always have reasoning in why they were made and this video did not provide that. The PSA left the viewers to look up the statistics rather than providing
In this article “Distracted Driving”, many distractions are mentioned other than just cell phone usage, such as changing the radio station or driving with kids in the back seat. It is stated that the dangers from distracted driving are because of the decrease in brain function and inability to pay full attention to the road. These practices lead to wrecks and in many cases death.
Over the years we have come to be excited and weary for the new technological advances. However, the outcome of these advances is causing major controversial debates worldwide. A paramount complication with technology has been confronted such as; Distracted Driving and the effect on this based on PSA’s. One might say the public service announcements will affect the numbers of distracted driving, while others believe that public service announcements is doing nothing to diminish the numbers of distracted drivers. With more than a handful of public service announcements on distracted driving to give knowledge of the fatal consequences, it could be argued that PSA’s have been seen yet ignored.
When many think of distracted driving, they automatically recognize texting behind the wheel as the main factor, which is true. However, distracted driving comes in all kinds of forms such as talking on the phone, eating, and even grooming (like applying makeup) when driving. Doing such simple tasks can take away your focus from the road, which can lead to devasting consequences of being in an accident (that can even prove fatal to you or others). As according to the NHTSA, an estimate of 387,000 people were injured in accidents involving distracted drivers in 2011, and the number rose higher in 2012 by increasing by 34,000. Can the Public Service announcement prevent these numbers from rising any more? Launching awareness campaigns and educating
Distracted driving poses an immense problem across the United States, and the issue only seems to continue growing. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed” in cases involving distracted driving, and of those killed, “teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes” (“Distracted Driving”, n.d.). These terrifying statistics cannot be ignored. Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and unless society addresses the problem properly and efficiently, the risky driving behavior will continue to plague our streets, endangering peoples’ lives and leading to more fatalities.
Each day in the United States, 8 people on average are killed in a distracted driving related accident (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Distracted driving can constitute anything from talking on the phone to reaching for a fallen object while driving. One way people have been fighting to combat the deadliness of distracted driving is through PSAs. PSAs are Public Service Announcements, like commercials, that warn people of dangerous activities and heighten their awareness of a problem. Even if people think no one pays attention to PSAs, if even one person saw and understood a PSA, it would make a difference. PSAs are an important part of the prevention of distracted driving because it heightens peoples' awareness of the
Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing problems in the United States. It is starting to be considered as serious as drunk driving based on the dangerous outcomes. According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “distracted driving was a cause of roughly 450,000 accident-related injuries and nearly 5,500 fatalities in 2009 alone” (para. 1). Drivers who allow themselves to become distracted while driving are not only endangering themselves, but other innocent bystanders.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teen fatalities. Teens, mainly, don’t always see the risk of being distracted while driving, but can you imagine your world changing in a complete second due to someone being on their phone while driving? SummerBreak, a channel on YouTube sponsored by AT&T, brought in people to interview with the intent of talking about texting and driving, or distracted driving in general. Throughout the interview titled “Wait for it… this could save your life” the goal is to have the audience change the way they think about distracted driving, with the hope that it would prevent it from happening. The use of emotions, shift of the mood, as well as the
In America, the problem of distracted driving is causing many deaths everywhere across the country. Distracted driving is estimated to cause over 11,500 in the last two years ("What Is Being Done to Stop Distracted Driving?"). Also in 2008, the NHTSA reported that nearly 6,000 people lost their lives over distracted driving and more than half a million people were injured in crashes involved in distracted driving(“Leone”). Many lives are being lost because of distracted driving and it needs to be put to an end. Distracted Driving is not just a problem in one state it’s a problem that is all widespread throughout
“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,” (Heit). This specific quote shows how the results of distracted driving not only affects you, but also those around you. Distracted driving has been a serious concern for many years. This subject has been an issue because of the dangers it brings to the safety of others. One major type of distracted driving includes texting and driving. which is becoming more popular in today’s society because many have cell phones. Another type of distracted driving is drinking and driving, this continues to stay a topic for many years. Although drinking and driving and texting and driving carry many similarities with the
Shot to aim directly at people who tend to disregard warnings and are most like to be distracted drivers, texting and driving PSA’s bring awareness and self consciousness to the general public as they display from moderate to severe graphic scenes on what happens when you take your eyes off of the wheel. A distracted driving PSA ad is not only one of the best ways to alert people of the consequences of unfocused driving, but it can also reduce the number of distracted driving incidents, thus keeping families not only careful and alert, but alive and safe.
Advancing technology in wireless communications is presenting a growing concern for distracted driving due to using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving. Although distracted driving accidents and fatalities have risen in the last decade, placing a ban on the use of a cell phone or other electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle as some states have will not resolve the issue. In fact a ban on cell phones and driving may very well increase the accident and fatality rate because drivers are now more involved with concealing their illegal behaviors. More citizen participation and drivers safety management should be more carefully considered in a transpiring situation such as this. More Americans should be
When it comes to someone getting behind a wheel it’s a big responsibility, you are not a passenger that could be doing different stuff you are now carrying with several lives and people are waiting for you at home. Many things cross our minds exactly when we are about to drive, but we need to learn how to ignore them and worry about getting where we supposed to be. Nowadays many accidents that occur on roads are caused by distracting driving and it seems easy to choose to do something such as: texting, eating or drinking, talking to passenger’s etcetera. “The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses” Not everyone realizes the danger it is being distracted while driving, but every distraction cause at least once to take our eyes off the road.