Of the many effects that texting while driving has on an individual, the most profound impact is death and the toll it takes on close relatives.In Virginia, “a five month old baby,Tristan Schulz, was killed because of a driver that had his phone in his hand and got distracted” (A Baby Is Dead in Virginia. Now Will the State Do Something about Texting While Driving?” TWP).Avoidable deaths like this happen constantly due to the careless use of cellular devices on much traveled highways/roads.So many more lives could have been spared if only that one driver had simply chosen to wait until they were no longer driving.Another tragedy that resulted from texting while driving was the loss of Stephanie Phills,37,and 26, Heather Hurd’s life when a truck driver “reaching for his hand-held device to text his office,rammed into traffic at a stop light” (Bridget, and Lebovich N.p., n.d. Web)The truck driver stop to consider the
Cell phones are just one of the many distractions in everyday lives of all Americans. Many people know that texting while driving can be a very dangerous thing to do, and unfortunately it claims several lives every single day. Yet people still do it. Statistics show “even as deaths from roadway accidents are in statistical decline, America wrestles with the epidemic of cell-phone-distracted drivers,” (Stuller Para 1). Police have been cracking down on drivers that use their cells phones during driving. Studies show that it only takes about four to six seconds for someone not to be paying close attention to their surroundings on the road to cause an accident. Studies show “In 2008, nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, while more than a half million others were injured.” (Stuller Para 22). People die in crashes every single day because of distracted
In the past ten years, texting and driving has become a major issue on U.S. roads. The problem has increased as smartphones have become more affordable and accessible (Full Coverage Auto Insurances). Even though 95% of drivers would agree that texting and driving is wrong, 71% of people admit to texting and driving (It Can Wait). Distracted driving is driving a vehicle while engaging in an activity that has the potential to distract the driver from the task of driving (Dictionary.com). Distracted driving is detrimental in today’s society; therefore, we need to apply some safety features that will keep everyone protected at all times. There are many helpful solutions to this problem like apps and features for
We all are probably aware that texting and talking on the phone is a distraction to all drivers and can be very dangerous. Also, we all know there are many other distractions besides texting and driving, and any type of technology can cause a driver to be distracted. Forty-one percent of all drivers use their hands to text in the car while driving, according to Greg Gardner (52). It can cause people to forget about pedestrians or their surrounding areas. People who are distracted often aren’t focused and don’t have both hands on the wheel. According to Bryan Wilson, people may say that cell phones are easy to be pointed out as a problem, but statistics show the damage cell phones can do to a person while they are driving (6). According to Simon Usborne, time spent not looking at the road while talking on the phone is 15% of the time (68). Also, while texting and driving the time spent not looking at the road is 30% of the time (Usborne 69). As technology improves more and more people may feel the need to use their cell phones while driving. According to Melissa Healy, cell phone use can be as dangerous as drunk driving (42). Tests should be done to compare the various ways of sober people under the influence driving also to compare the impact of texting and driving. This would give us a better understanding of just how dangerous driving and being on our phone really is.
According to texting and driving statistics, every year, around 330,000 people die every year from texting and driving. This is around half of all the people who pick up their phones in the first place. Being on your phone draws your attention from the road, to your phone. Doisomething.org states, “When you text and drive you are 23 times more likely to get into a crash.” All it takes is a simple act of not watching the road. Being unaware while driving can put you, and other's lives at risk or injury or even death. This can affect your future, others around you, your friends, and your family. Texting and driving is a very big deal. Don't Text Drive states “5 seconds is the minimal amount of time a driver takes their eyes off the road. If you are traveling at 55 miles an hour, this would equal the length of a football field of not
One sunny day on a Houston road, the driver of a pickup truck collided with a church minibus. 13 people died, and the driver admitted he was texting and driving. Yet this happens very often. Over 330,000 car accidents happened from texting while driving in 2015. Distracted driving is very risky, because attention is drawn away from the road,
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 a split second, you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you.” -Sharon Heit, mother of the victim of distracted driver. (https://www.pinterest.com) Texting while driving increases the risk of crashes and reduces one’s awareness and performance, also causing diversion of attention and decreases the ability to focus. As the use of devices while driving can be severely dangerous, there are countless ways to discourage this practice. For instance, being educated on the importance of safety, stricter laws and or punishments, or furthermore, using handheld free technology. By these taking place, texting and driving would become an important priority preventing drivers from causing
Every day in the United States around one out of ten people are killed by distracted drivers, and around 1500 are injured in some way in crashes by these irresponsible, distracted drivers. One of the most dangerous, distracting activities that many people do is texting while driving. It is extremely dangerous because people who do this are putting more attention in texting, and they take their eyes off the road while they are driving, which increases the chance that the driver can lose the control of the vehicle, and could cause a crash or even in a worst case could kill other people. When a person is texting, she/he is thinking about other things besides concentrating on driving. This is very dangerous because it could make the driver lose
The journal article elaborates on the major distraction technology presents to drivers. I understand the impact of texting while driving. I work for a large telecommunications company that invests a lot of money into don’t text and drive campaigns. The journal influenced my understanding of the issue by using statistics to show me the large impact that texting and using cell phones while driving have in the United States.
In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that “8 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily in the United States” (CDC). At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010 (DMV). Further supporting the fact that cell phones have become such a precious commodity that it is hard to imagine everyday life without them. Cell phones alone aren’t the problem, but when you add the cell phone plus a vehicle into the mix it’s just not possible to safely reach your destination. When you are operating a motor vehicle the task requires a person’s full mental capacity, so when a person is using their phone and driving they’re splitting their focus onto two separate task. “Among the various forms of distracted driving, texting stands out as particularly dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction, requiring the driver to take his eyes off the road, remove at least one hand from the steering wheel and take his mind off the task of driving” (Gormley 91).
and driving causes many accidents and deaths every day. Costs a lot of money to fix wreckage.Causes deaths Can also cost a lot of money for injuries.Texting and driving should be illegal in every state.Approximately one out of every four cars will get into a car accident, because of this a lot of people get injured and have to pay medical bills and some people don’t have insurance Usually the average costs of a car wreckage costs $7,500,and there are about 1,000 injuries per day that costs about 7,500,000 dollars per day! Some people may not be able to afford this cost and may go bankrupt and possibly go homeless. Studies also show that people how text and drive are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash Most of the times when texting and driving incidents happen the age range is 18-33 years old, this can be prevented by silencing
In a 2009 study, VTTI found that, “Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field…blindfolded” (Data). Drivers may encounter any number of unexpected hazards in those five seconds, resulting in a car accident, serious injury, or death, but still people use their phones dangerously. Distracted driving due to cell phone use is widely practiced by all ages of drivers, many of whom do not take warnings seriously. Automakers are teaming up with cell phone companies to address the problem, but aren’t seeing much success. There are three strategies that should be used to minimize the habit of texting
Texting while Driving causes many accidents per year, thus causing people to think about what to do with this major controversy. Many people think that ads and announcements help to let people know about the problem, but they end up not working out. Organizations like the Obama Administration (Texting While Driving) are trying to implement laws that focus on people who text and drive, which seem to work. Texting while Driving should be monitored by laws to help with the safety of people, to create a better infrastructure, and to save people money.
There has been a rising concern in the last few years about the potential dangers accompanying texting while driving associated largely with the increasing number of highway fatalities. Significant efforts have been made by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for curtailing distracted driving including texting while driving along with public service information and announcements. As per NHTSA, driving distractions are of three different forms like manual, visual and cognitive. Manual driving distractions take off the driver’s hands off from the steering wheel (Kirszner & Mandell, 2010).