Although the title of the essay is In Defense of Distraction, Sam Anderson is attacking the culture of distraction. We are living in a culture where everyone is glued to technology and wants everything to come in a single instant. He mentions that humanity suffers from a serious poverty, a dearth of focus and attention. Distractions consume us, devouring our concentration, alleviating our boredom, and constantly pestering us. We cannot help the fact that we are so easily distracted; everywhere we go there, are bright neon advertisements, constant phone buzzes, and loud car horns blaring. We all will succumb to these inevitable distractions of society, Anderson states “We are, in short, terminally distracted” (Anderson 2). In Defense of Distraction
Nearly 6,000 people are killed connecting to the outcome of cell phone use while driving, according to Edmunds.com (7). Texting and talking on the phone throughout the time that a person is driving can have deadly consequences, but people still don’t seem to want to give up risking their life. There are many issues that can happen while on the road related to the usage of cell phones. It is important to stop people from looking at their phones while driving, because it is extremely distracting and not safe. Even hands free devices are not as safe as they seem to be. There have to be consequences for people using their cell phones while driving in order to improve the people’s safety. According to Edmunds.com, cell phones are known as distractions everywhere in the world and have created several concerns to several countries (9).
Changing the radio station as well as dealing with children may be a distraction for the older age groups but texting while driving is one of the primary sources of accidents involving teens. Studies show that texting while driving takes your attention from the road for approximately five seconds at a time. Unfortunately, that is all the time needed to run a stop sign and collide into oncoming traffic. The problem that lies in most of these cases is that the person has been texting and driving for multiple months or years and believes they have “mastered” it, so to speak. They don’t believe this type of thing could happen to them. Alas, many people have that mindset, resulting in 1.6 million deaths and 330,000 injuries annually. They don’t find out that they were sadly mistaken until it is too
There are too many distractions in life as it is, are we so arrogant to think that we are such amazing drivers that we can do several things at once? Most accidents involving cell phones wouldn 't have happened if the driver wasn 't distracted. When we drive that should be the only activity we are doing.
“A distracted driver may fail to see up to 50% of the available information in the driving environment. You may look but not actually “see” what is happening. Focus of the driver is not on the road or traffic and it becomes difficult to handle phone and vehicle at one time. Cell phones during driving also reduce the mental capacity of drivers as they fail to concentrate on minor or major activities happening around them. Cell phones distract drivers' attention resulting in comparatively slow response to traffic signals and other related traffic events. Studies have shown the fact that breaking reaction time is also slower while talking on a cell phone during driving. The perception, vision, general awareness, and concentration of the driver are impacted while communicating on a cell phone during driving. Especially during bad weather or driving on slippery roads, drivers engaging in conversation pay less attention to these areas increasing risks of fatal accidents.
Manual distractions are when the driver takes their hands off the wheel to do something other than driving. Manual distractions are the easiest to avoid, because the driver can make the choice to not do something. People do not think that messing with an iPod can cause dangers. Although, if the driver thinks about it, it is just the same as messing with a cell phone which is the same distraction. According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. This is the equivalent to driving at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field blind” (para. 8). There are so many distractions out there that people do them everyday without even thinking that they are endangering themselves and innocent bystanders.
For many years, new teen drivers and adults have been told to not use their cell phones while driving because it can be a distraction. In Oregon it is illegal to text and drive, for it has been seen as reckless driving, but what about all the other distractions? Can they be just as catastrophic too? Simple everyday tasks can actually be very detrimental to our focus while driving. Activities such as applying makeup, clipping your nails, singing and moving to a song, messing with the radio, or even grabbing an object in the vehicle. Multitasking while driving is a serious problem.
Driving takes a great amount of focus and concentration. When a driver gets behind the wheel of a car, they are expected to be law-abiding citizens and drive safely and undistracted. The use of a hand-held cell phone while driving is a dangerous distraction that should be made illegal. When a driver looks down at his or her phone to read a text or change the song playing they are taking their eyes off of the road. Although they are only looking away for a mere ten to fifteen seconds which may not seem like much, a lot can happen. In the time they look away from the road, a car in front of them could throw on their brakes randomly or a stoplight could flip to yellow. This is a major distraction because it takes away their focus from driving
While handling any vehicle it is important that all focus is solely on handling that vehicle. Previous studies accomplished by David Strayer, a partner with the American Automobile Association, revealed that while accessing other technical device while driving such, as listening to the radio or an audible book, that the threat it puts on the operator isn’t that strong. From a scale of 1, non distractive, to 5, very distractive, radio access scored 1.2 while the accused of an audible book received 1.75. Neither much of a threat but it is still not recommend to indulge in these activities while behind the while where not only your life but other lives are in danger. Another distractions are apps that read and announce call to the driver so the
Secondly, and probably the least surprising, is the overuse of cellphones while driving. While it is not the largest cause of accidents, it contributes to 12% of distracted accidents. Texting is the largest problem, as the risk of crashing is increased by 23 times. However, phone calls, notifications, alarms and social media also add to the danger, with cellphone addiction being on the rise among today’s teens. Having your phone in one hand and the steering wheel in the other is too much to do at once, especially when most of your attention is towards typing out text messages to friends. There are many simple fixes for this, as you can ask a passenger to type messages or complete phone calls. If you are alone, then pulling over is the simplest
We all have that friend or family member who rarely picks up their phone or returns a text. These are the people you probably don’t have to worry about on the road; however, most of us have a great sense of urgency overall during the day with places to go, so much to do, and often an overwhelming amount of communication interrupting our activities. This can lead to multi-tasking in the car while we are away from the office of home, even with all many warnings regarding the dangers of texting while behind the wheel. Over 1,000 people are hurt and 8 people killed each day because of distracted driving.
When writing an essay or any formal paper, finding an ideal place for writing can effect how the paper turns out. If someone is in a distracting environment and they are not as focused, it could harm their grade. An ideal space for writing a paper would be a library or somewhere quiet. Being alone while writing a paper is probably the smartest way to do it. Being in a neat and clean environment could help with the neatness of the paper. Also being in an organized place could help with the stress of the paper. When writing a paper, one should avoid as many distractions as possible. Cell phones are a big distraction, especially when writing a paper. Writing in a quiet, stress-free, and non-distracting place is very ideal to do essays.
One of the biggest distractions that I have is friends asking me to spend time with them. Whether they just want quality time or a chance to get something off of their chest and ask for advice, it can take up long periods of time. Reading a good book and watching a movie is one of my escapes and mental vacation, but once I start a book I won’t want to do anything else until I finish it. Another one of my significant distractions is texting, many of my closest friends and family members enjoy to text but, the problem is having to put what I am doing on my pause in order to respond. It takes me time to get my focus back onto task and all of those small pauses add up at the end of the day to a lot of time spent texting.
Driving in general can be hazardous. Driving and having such a distraction as a cell phone at ear, or ringing somewhere in a car, is ten times more dangerous. Not surprisingly, drivers who use a cell phone while driving perceive cell phone use by others as less of a threat to their safety as do non-users. A huge number of accidents caused by talking on a cell phone. During the last 5 years texting has become insanely popular. It’s a great and convenient tool because people don’t have to call person to just say ‘ok’ on that dinner invitation. The worst part is that many people still think that texting while driving just that ‘ok’ is ok. Unfortunately, even with traffic police enforcing those ‘no cellphone’ laws, individuals still neglect those simple safety concerns. People need to start understanding themselves how dangerous it is.
The use of cell phones and driving is an ongoing issue in today 's society. A large number of teens use cell phones while driving, and the number keeps going up every day. Whether it is texting, talking, or using their navigation, using a cell phone while operating a vehicle is considered very dangerous, and is the number one distraction in the US (FCC). In addition, in many states, it is illegal, and is followed by a hefty fine if caught. Trying to convince your teen against using their cell phone while driving is difficult because they never really seem to listen. The fact is there have been over 40,000 cell phone related injuries and deaths reported in the US, and the number continues to rise each year (FCC). Because our teens rely way too much on their cell phone, it is up to us as parents to inform them of how dangerous using cell phones while driving really is. Although our teens may not like it, we need to make them aware of the dangers of using cell phones while driving, and enforce a nationwide ban to eliminate distractions, and reduce the number of deaths on the road.