Distracted Driving Essay

Distracted driving is very dangerous to everyone on the road ways.  Distracted driving is engaging in non-driving activities that distracts the driver from the primary task of driving (SIRS).  In 2015, 3,477 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver (CDC).  Each year about 421,000 people are injured in crashes involving a distracted driver (Edgar Snyder).   Drivers would not be texting if their message was not very important.   Distracted driving should be illegal and security devices in vehicles should be implemented in order to save lives.

In the scholarly journal “Distracted Driving: Prevalence, Problems, and Prevention”, Tiffany Overton, who has an MA and MPH degree, wrote a research report with her colleagues that clearly stated the impact cell phones have on drivers and provided potential solutions to the issue. They begin their report with a short introduction that briefs the acknowledgment on the negative impacts of distracted driving. Continuing on, Overton and her associates outline the topics their research report covers in means of identifying distracted driving and ways to reduce the issue in the United States. They define distracted driving as “eating, applying makeup, reading, smoking, and talking” (Overton), however, “the most prominent activity fuelling research

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.

Prior to researching my topic, I knew that distracted driving was a serious matter, but I never thought too much of it. As a passenger in the car with adults and friends, I always saw them changing the radio station, talking on the phone, or texting, but never saw it as that big of a deal. As I watched the news, I used to see inventions and software come up all the time that is supposed to prevent drivers from driving distracted. Things such as cars with Bluetooth connectivity, and voice enable calling or texting were recently put into cars, and at first I felt it made sense. After I conducted my research, I

„„ In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving (FARS and GES). „„ Of those people killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). „„ Of those injured in distracted-driving-related crashes, 24,000 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (5% of injured people in distraction-related crashes). „„ Sixteen percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. „„ Twenty

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

In 2016, 3,450 people were killed due to distracted driving accidents. Along with that, in 2015, over 391,000 people were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Distracted Driving). Distracted driving is classified in three ways. Visual, which involves doing anything that is taking your eyes off the road. Manual, which is caused by taking your hands off the steering wheel. Lastly, cognitive, when your mind is distracted from your main task of driving and you are not giving your full attention to the road. Due to the increasing technology in our day to day lives, it is more common to find drivers distracted by cell phones rather than anything else. This is why it is critical that more laws are implemented to

Distracted driving is an issue everywhere. The number one form of distracted driving is using a phone, and it is becoming more of an issue everyday. According to an article “driver distractions” 80% of crashes and 65% of near crashes involve some form of driver distraction that occurred three seconds before the vehicle crash. The main causes that lead to the crashes are reaching for moving objects inside the vehicle, looking at an object or event outside the vehicle, reading, or cell phone use. Cell phone use is the number one reason for distracted driver crashes so, it is the topic that will be covered.

“ Distracted driving kills” ( Distracted driving7). Distracted driving affects people of all ages but, “ our youngest and most inexperienced drivers are most at risk” ( Distracted driving7). This happens as soon as a person enters their vehicle and start to drive. Their eyes begin to go off the road which soon causes a head to head collision. Later on as technology improves and advances, cell phones have become the most common type of distracted driving such as eating or drinking or watching videos on their phone for an example, “ because text messaging requires visual, manual and conductive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarm distraction” (Distracted driving 5). This shows that many are risking their life and others around

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

The United States is looking for ways to keep traffic safety in order. Distracted driving takes a big chunk in all fatal crashes, at sixteen percent. That is estimated to be five-thousand deaths each year. A study found that people are not fully focused with the task of driving even after they put down their phone. On average, it takes about twenty-seven seconds for someone to have or regain all focus on the road. Teenagers were the main reason the average was high, because they are most affected by distractions. A quarter of the time teenagers are behind the wheels, they are distracted. (https://www.aaafoundation.org/distracted-driving)

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.

Distracted driving occurs when car drivers lose their attention and focus from the road by eating, texting, talking on the phone, doing their makeup, etc. This can be very easy to do in the busy world that we live in today. When a driver’s attention is taken from the road, they can easily get in an accident or cause others to get in serious accidents. These accidents often lead to injury or death. However, even if everyone survives or remains unharmed, it can cause a significant financial burden for car and road repairs. If this continues, the

Studies conducted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that using a cell phone while driving significantly impairs a driver’s reaction time and triples the risk of being involved in a crash or near-crash, and text messaging increases crash risk by a multiple of 8 for all ages (NHTSA, 2009). Situational awareness is significantly decreased while engaging in distracted driving, and in turn inattention blindness is increased drastically creating a potentially deadly situation on the roads. A driver who is multitasking has less brain function available and thus literally fails to see or pay attention to things that are squarely in the field of vision (Texting and Driving, 2010). On the other hand there are those that may be able to multitask successfully though the challenge is

Long before the rise of the tech revolution there were distractions that occurred while driving from one point to another: from applying makeup, eating, fiddling with the radio station or CD player, or talking to other occupants in the car, these were normal activities while driving that were likely the cause of accidents resulting in injury or death. Distracted driving is not a new phenomenon however, the tech revolution has ushered in a host of new distractions. Add these new distractions to the previous ones, and a simple errand or running to the grocery store for example, is exponentially more dangerous than ever before. In 2015 alone, 3,477 people’s lives were