Distracted Driving In California

Distracted driving accounted for more than 3,100 deaths in 2013. The U.S. Department of Education has taken several steps to control the number of distracted driving incidents. The organization has held summits and pushed to enforce strict texting and driving laws. Technology manufacturers are starting to get involved in the nation’s effort to save lives. The ComSonics company is currently producing a device that can potentially track a person who is sending texts from a cell phone while driving.

Many accidents are blamed on distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage. However, some opponents feel that creating a law against cell phone use infringes their personal rights. Others think that banning someone from using their cell phones is equivalent to telling someone that they can't adjust their radio or chat with someone else in their car. However, using a cell phone, whether talking or texting, while driving can be extremely dangerous; it should be made illegal because it is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you, can lead to the death of loved ones, and it is even compared to the danger level of drunk driving. No matter what age the driver is, under no

An article found on EBSCO, written by John Callegari for Long Island Business News, unveiled the multitude of legislative action that has been taken by the nation as a whole. The article declares that Representative McCarthy introduced legislation to standardize laws regarding the use of handheld devices while driving, known as the Safe Drivers Act of 2011. Her evidence in success of the ban passed in her state of New York was that, “Laws do work. Immediately after New York banned cell phone use there was a 47 percent decline in cellphone activity while driving” (Callegari 1). As noted in the article, the only states that don’t offer regulations are: Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South

"Distracted Driving." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

Enforcement problems arise because the offense is hard to detect except through erratic driving behavior (Gardner, 2010). Traffic stops such as those used to check for seatbelt use may help enforce bans, as officers may ask to check cell phones for evidence of very recent texting activity (Gardner, 2010). Another difficulty in enforcing these laws involves the individual drivers themselves ---many of whom believe laws do not have an effect on them (Sherzan, 2010). Many drivers simply ignore the law because they think they are safe drivers and any possible punishment for a violation will be minimal (Sherzan, 2010). Another reason drivers continue to use cell phones while driving is because they do not fear being prosecuted or convicted of crimes if they are actually caught (Sherzan, 2010). In addition to enforcement issues, statistics seem to indicate there has not been a reduction in the number of crashes in states where such a ban is in place (Sherzan, 2010). The following section will illustrate how cell phone usage contributes to automobile

For my capstone project, I chose to focus on distracted driving. The reason I chose this topic is because I feel that this is a very well-known issue that people do not think about. Many people may look at their phone, change their radio station, or program GPS systems without thinking of the dangers of it. I chose this topic in order to try and make people think about what they are doing, and this may prevent accidents and fatalities in the future.

Arizona is one of four states that has yet to put a law against distracted driving into effect. The definition of distracted driving is defined as the practice of driving a motor vehicle while engaged in another activity. 21% of fatal accidents involving a teen driver were caused by distracted driving. Do these statistics confirm that a harsh distracted driving law need to be in effect or should it be a personal responsibility of oneself or the parents of young drivers. As more states create distracted driving laws the number of deaths each year are still rising meaning that these law that are being set are not fixing the issue and are seemingly making it worse. Distracted driving should be a personal responsibility and not a law that needs

In Canada there are several different ways civilians manage to harm themselves while driving vehicles. The occurrence of a vehicle disturbance not only causes harm to the drivers involved, but also puts the surrounding environment at further risk. Understanding the causes to distracted driving is crucial for the safety of Canadians, and can help prevent millions of dollars in damage. The invention of the car has increased in popularity within society, resulting in the creation of several different models of cars. Each new model has made attempts to address distracted driving. Through additional attention to case studies involving distracted driving, we can predict driving is caused from use of drugs and alcohol , use of technology/electronics,

Due to the many car crashes from driving while using electronic devices, Oregon issued the Oregon Distracted Driving Law, which took effect in the beginning of October. It prevents the use of electronic devices that require you to take your eyes or hands away from the wheel. However, why did this law have to be made? What events occurred to make the government to even think they need to regulate this?

In Nevada, there was a law that was created for drivers, which was no texting, and talking on the phone while driving. Texting or operating a handheld device while behind the wheel distracts driver’s attention off the road, the driver loses its focus and ends up getting a ticket or worse into a car accident.In Nevada, there was an estimate of about 3,500 distraction- related car crashes in Nevada annually, that's more than twenty percent of car accidents happening on the road each year.What it means that there are many ways a driver could be distracted for example it's not just texting that's distracting drivers, but going on the internet on the phone or even talking could make a driver be distracted at all time without paying attention to the road, resulting into crashing the car.

All over the United States people are driving while distracted by one thing or another.

A dangerous habit is developing here in Florida and its practicing is spreading rapidly. Florida is doing and practicing to prevent distraction driving. But, Florida is not doing enough to prevent the distraction driving accident’s. Distraction driving is affecting everyone and specially our young’s ones. So, in order to prevent distraction driving accident’s, is to in force the laws more and increased the paying fees more. That, at least will lower the distraction driving accident’s in our state of Florida. So, remember our state of Florida is already doing and practicing to prevent distracting driving, but Florida is not doing enough to prevent it.

Should Oregon’s distracted driving law be changed? The distracted driving law for Oregon is that a driver cannot use a hand-held device while driving. However a hands-free device may be used if you are over the age of eighteen. The law aims to reduce distractions for drivers. It specifically prohibits cell phones to talk or text. The brain can only handle one major task at a time. If there are more than one task the brain will have to divert the attention from one to the other causing them to not focus on the other task. In the case of driving while texting they will be paying more attention to their phone than the road and can cause serious accidents. Driving while using a cell phone reduces the brain activity focused on driving by 37%.

Distracted driving is obviously a big deal but some people don’t seem to think so. They see all the accidents that happen because of distracted driving but they continue to do it because they think “ oh it’ll never happen to me “ or “it doesn’t happen to anyone i know so why would it happen to me” well it can happen to anyone at anytime.While you may have your phone out because of an emergency going on, all distractions, including make up,food, and phones should be put up while driving and if there are passengers in the car they need to be quiet so that the driver can focus. If the driver has out a distraction while driving, they're going to try to pay attention to the road and the distraction, in other words they try to multitask. 31% of U.S drivers ages 18-64 admitted to sending or reading a text while driving , in 2012 3,328 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver. When you’re driving, be considerate.Put down your phone while you’re driving, if you know it’s not safe then why do it.Think about other drivers on the road, by texting and driving you’re not only putting yourself at risk you’re putting others lives at risk too. We need tougher laws on texting and driving just

The two new laws in California can be described as helpful and non-helpful. It can be helpful because it will keep drivers from being distracted when driving on the road. It is also non-helpful because if you need to make a business call and you have to reach far to get your hand-free machine. And you cant talk on your phone while driving or else youll get a ticket. It is good that we are helping the California community by banning people from talking on phones. But if you need to make an important call you cant. Because you will get a ticket if you do.