Essay On Texting And Driving

Statistics show that texting while driving is on the rise. In a published article, “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States”, from National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2005 to 2008 car accidents involving a use of a cellular device increased by 28 percent, while drunk driving fatalities declined by 35 percent. In today’s world, many people are becoming attached to their phone, and they cannot put it down for 30 minutes. A study completed by Pew Research Center showed that 59 percent of young adults ranging from 18 to 34 years old are the most likely to text and

Cell phones have become an essential part of many peoples’ lives as they are one of the main sources of communication. People are able to complete many tasks using their phones, such as making phone calls, sending and receiving e-mails, text messaging, and even snapping photos. Cell phones are not only beneficial, but they are impactful in many ways. As many positive uses there are for cell phones, cell phone usage can be undoubtedly precarious while driving. Cell phone usage while driving is many times done irresponsibly and can put the driver at risk of getting injured. In addition to the driver getting injured, innocent pedestrians could also potentially lose their lives or be crippled due to a texting person who was driving at the same time. According to The Federal Communications Commission, “over 8 people are killed and approximately 1,161 are injured daily in incidents reported as distraction-affected crashes in the United States.” Texting while driving has become the number one distraction of drivers and main cause of car crashes. These crashes could result in hundreds of thousands of people either losing their lives or experiencing life-changing injuries. Although cell phone usage is an effective way to communicate with others and to complete certain tasks, it has become problematic for drivers in recent years as it increased the risk of injury and death while driving. For these reasons, texting while driving should be illegal and punishable by law.

Wouldn’t you agree that texting and driving is a big issue nowadays? Many drivers are so caught up in their phones that they risk their lives and the lives of others just so that they could answer a simple text message. Now that this problem is becoming so big, it should have severe consequences. People who text and drive should get license suspension for six months and get $500 for the first violation and $1000 for the second violation.

Furthermore, ‘texting in cars and trucks causes over 3,000 deaths and 330,000 injuries per year as stated by a Harvard Center for risk study’ (Hanson n.p.). Just imagine all the lives that could be saved from deaths or injuries if people stop texting while driving because it is a major distraction for them. There belief is that they can multitask, but the sad reality is that the brain cannot do that. The brain has to focus in a particular task at a time. In order to do things right or correctly. Pennings a highway patrol helped demonstrate teens that texting while driving is a dangerous action. He made several so called “ Professional Texters” pass several obstacles while answering text messages and the results were not pleasing at all, cones were flying. The questions asked were not hard, yet they still manage to make the driver lose focus from driving. This is why implementing a rigorous law would come in handy. People will reconsider the thought of many things while being in their vehicles such as texting,eating and drinking, watching videos, putting makeup or grooming, etc. The states have not yet implemented a good law they only prohibit it during school zones or if a police officer sees you, but that is not enough.

First of all texting while driving is a dangerous and risky thing to do in our society. Texting while driving is illegal in almost all states. People are realizing how dangerous it can be and making it illegal. In an article called distracted driving only two states, Arizona and Montana had no bans on cell phones while driving and only one state had a partial ban which was Missouri. Everybody else had a full ban on texting and driving. In an article called 10 Programmatic Reasons that will make you stop texting and driving today, it said “As the correlation between auto accidents and texting while driving escalates, many municipalities and states are passing legislation making it illegal to text and drive.” This basically is explaining how texting while driving is becoming illegal in almost every state. The punishment for the first couple of times will just be a $100 fine but will increase if you're a repeat offender.. But do you really want to spend $100 on a fine when you could spend it on a new pair of shoes or your kid? Texting while driving is illegal and you can be fined.

Through the improvement and enactment of primary vs secondary laws and the enforcement of the former, would help minimize the number of accidents and fatalities. Ferdinand et al (2014) concluded, “Our analyses indicate that primarily enforced texting laws are associated with fatality reductions among younger individuals, both drivers and nondrivers [sic]” (p. 1375). By enabling law enforcement to better enforce a primary law that bans the act of texting while driving, the high number of fatal accidents would decline. But, some, if not most people nowadays, particularly the younger generation, would not respond as well to heavily enforced laws with accompanying fines. So, there must be a more attractive, extralegal option to discourage those who continue to tempt fate and drive distracted.

Texting while driving is an epidemic that has taken our nation by surprise. Over the last decade analysts have seen an increase in the number of accidents relating to texting and driving. Today many people think that they can type on their phones or while driving, without thinking that there is any real danger in the act of doing so. Something must be done to stop texting while driving. But what can be done though? How do we control this deadly action that many people do behind the wheel? The answer to this is that our government must take action by adding conformity to the laws and punishments rendered to the offenders. It is also important that the government give enough awareness and educational programs in order to spread the message about the dangers of texting and driving while behind the wheel.

Amy Norton’s 2015 article, states that enforcing texting while driving laws saw a decline in auto related hospitalizations by seven percent. This difference in hospital visits was especially seen in states that made texting while driving a primary offense. If texting while driving is simply kept as a secondary offense, many people will continue to do it at the expense of other’s lives. If texting while driving laws become a primary offense everywhere, police officers can stop accidents before they even start. This alone would save countless lives. Since studies involving strict cell phone laws have already been conducted and proven successful, there would be no drawbacks to enforcing these strict laws everywhere in the United States. In fact, once strict and consistent cell phone usage laws are enforced everywhere, the benefits will surely be even

All throughout the world, texting and driving has been happening for many years but there is a way of fixing it. There hasn’t been any national ban against texting and driving for years (“The Dangers of Distracted Driving”). Having no national ban has caused many problems. This problem can be solved by making new laws and higher fees against distracted driving. First, you would need to get the public involved in the change and getting a new law. Second, persuade people to make a new law. Then, you would have to decide the fee amount. Finally, catch the people who are texting and driving. Some people who can help pursue this solution is the government officials and the

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of death. “Every year, about 421,000 people are injured in crashes that have involved a driver who was distracted in some way,” (Hopkins). Even though this is true, people who use a cell phone while driving are not punished as harshly as drunk drivers. A DUI, driving while intoxicated, is a misdemeanor and could result in a few months in jail, as well as a fine. The punishments for a DUI get more severe each time someone is charged. While, the punishment for texting and driving are only monetary fines. So, why is texting and driving considered a less punishable offense? A major reason is because of the length of time both have been a problem. The first law against drinking and driving was in 1910 and cell phones weren 't popular until 80 years after in the 1990s. Because of the long time period of drunk driving being a problem, there is more attention towards the crime. There also wasn’t a long enough time to get the same tangible statistics to compare using a phone to drinking and driving. However, now, cell phones have been around for years and the awareness of using them while driving is high but the awareness of the actual danger is low. People who text while driving should face harsher punishments because texting while driving is just as dangerous as driving intoxicated; this is evident through the number of car crashes and fatalities caused by this issue every year, emotional effects texting has on a driver, and the

Many states pass laws indicating that texting and driving is illegal or banned for say. For example in the article “Why Florida’s Texting and Driving Law Might Be Ineffective” published by WUFT sates that the bill SB 52 was signed by Rick Scott may 23 of 2013. This bill stated that texting and driving is banned and if you were pulled over for “distracted driving” then you would get points taken from the license of the driver. These punishments are

While those who think that the law that bans texting while driving will solve the problem, I believe that it will only worsen the problem. The people who choose to follow the law most likely don’t care about texting and driving. So they probably wouldn’t text and drive even if it isn’t a law. However, those who are addicted to texting and driving will not stop just because a law is passed. In past events where similar situations have occurred, it has only backfired on our government and society. This situation I’m talking about is making certain drugs illegal. The government made drugs illegal believing it was going to help solve the crime rate, solve social problems, health, and hygiene. This clearly did not go as planned. It ended up creating gangs, private selling of different types of drugs, and crime rates increasing. I do agree that texting and driving is dangerous. However, I believe that texting and driving laws make the problem worse. People who still text and drive have to hide their phones lower on their laps than they normally would because it is illegal to text and drive. Since they have to put their phones lower on their lap, their reaction time increases. In some cases passing a law solves the problem, but in other cases , like texting while driving and making certain drugs illegal, the problem can possibly become worse.

Getting caught for texting and driving by the police starts with a lecture and ends with a fine or some other form of punishment. Not getting caught for texting and driving can cost one’s life. If someone who is texting and driving gets into a wreck and survives, it can also be very expensive for that person. Medical bills are expensive, the ticket is expensive, and in some cases one may have destroyed their entire car. On top of the driver’s personal costs they will also have to pay the medical, and car bills for any of the people they impacted. Not only will insurance rates increase and deductibles need to be paid; but also added quirks for never being in a crash will be lost. For example, some insurance companies offer textbook scholarships if you stay accident free. Texting while driving is irrational but people still do it. Texting and driving does not cost anything for some people because they have not been caught or suffered consequences for it; because of this, among other reason, people continue to text and

In the United States, there are established laws in place to aid the suppression of texting and driving acts. To go along with these laws, there are also enforcement tactics used against anyone who may be defying them. Though texting and driving is not only dangerous, but irresponsible, the United States government has deemed this action as such a threat to the public that laws falling into two separate categories have been applied in an effort to limit this

Some argue that tough enforcement will not do the job in stopping drivers who text and drive. For example some individuals believe that trying to create more laws is pointless. As Ashley Halsey, a staff writer for the Washington Post points out from surveys that show “… overwhelming support for a ban on text messaging, but the majority of drivers says they want to continue to use their cellphones behinds the wheel.” Even though people want to continue the use of cell phones in vehicles in spite of the laws, more laws could give officers the right to pull over drivers who use their cell phones while driving. In fact there are states where there’s bans on texting and driving and research shows that these bans actually did reduce the amount of