Distracted Driving Laws

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; most of us are guilty of it without even knowing it. Distracted driving is doing anything else unrelated to driving while behind the wheel. This could include: using a cell phone, changing the radio station, eating food, and even having a conversation. The most distracting of them all is using a cell phone because it requires the user to manually input information. The laws surrounding texting while driving are far too lenient when compared to laws on drunk driving, yet both can end in a car crash. People texting while driving should face steeper penalties than what is already in place because they are a danger to anyone around them. The small fines are not enough to deter people. While banning cell phones from being allowed in vehicles is not an effective approach to the problem, stricter laws should be put in place to make the roads a safer place. Texting while driving penalties should be treated with a similar severity that DUI charges are. The penalties for texting and driving need to be increased because it would make the roads safer, increase the government’s revenue, and help solve the problem of texting while driving.

I personally have never been a victim of distracted driving; however, I have witnessed many of my peers drive while distracted and the experience can be a frightening one. I was in the passenger seat of my friend’s car. As we were driving home, I noticed a car directly in front of us begin to sway left and right, dangerously crossing from one lane to the next. My friend clearly took notice of the reckless driving as well because he slowed down to gain some distance between us and the inattentive driver. After turning at an intersection, the car crossed into oncoming traffic, consequently crashing into another vehicle. We later discovered that the person irresponsibly driving the car was a student at our high school and that they were texting while driving. Furthermore, no person was fatally harmed

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.

First we need to start giving police officers more authority over distracted driving. The state of New Hampshire was alarmed by increasing numbers of distracted driving deaths and accidents.Therefore they passed a law in 2015 that if you are the age of 17 or younger than you can not be on your phone while driving (Altschiller). In Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York they increased high visibility police enforcements combined with more public services campaigns. These additions showed good results in those two states when it came to a decrease in distracted driving and accident due to

Being the cause of a cell phone related accident can leave a person unable to handle the consequences of their actions. There is great concern regarding the dangers of distracted driving. This is made evident by legislation that has been put in place in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (2011), nationwide, 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have enacted texting bans. Current data from the National Safety Council (2010) suggest that each year, at least 1.6 million traffic accidents (28% of all crashes) in the United States are caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting. The U.S. Department of Transportation (2011) states that nine states, the District of Columbia, and

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

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.

According to Ashley Gaddis from Counterpoint, “From 1999 to 2008, nearly fifty-two thousand people were killed in car crashes caused by distracted drivers” (n.pag.). Distracted driving started when technology became mobile and handheld. Many people have died and gotten injured from people not paying attention to the road. This problem has been growing as technology advances. Distracted driving is a big problem and there needs to be stronger penalties and laws in place to deter people from distracted driving.

Distracted driving is a major problem on the roads today. Not only is distracted driving dangerous for the driver himself but also for other people who happen to be on the same roads as them. The Annual AAA Foundation traffic safety culture index reports that 81.1% of drivers believe distraction is a serious problem and is a behavior that makes them feel unsafe

“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

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.

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.

1. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, distracted driving contributes to up to 8,000 crashes every single day.