Pros And Cons Of Texting And Driving

Texting while driving puts everyone in danger because it takes your attention away from the task of driving. According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in 2015 there were 3,477 deaths and another 391,000 injuries caused by distracted driving in the United States, and that’s just in one year. While this

Texting and driving was banned in 2011 in Indiana because of the overabundance of car accidents that involved cell phones and distracted driving. With this law in place, people thought that it would work and that people would stop using them while driving. This was not the case, however. In Indiana with the texting and driving ban there have only been, “fewer than 400 tickets written as of mid-2014” (Gormley 89). This is not surprising because cell phones are so modest that they are easily missed when police drive by cars. Texting and driving bans are used to better driving accidents, but are not always used to their full extent. On page 89 of "Indiana's Texting-While-Driving Ban: Why Is It Not Working and How Could It Be Better?", Gormley stated, “As it stands today, Indiana’s texting while driving statute contains gaping loopholes, which leave drivers free to engage in risky behaviors with little fear of legal repercussions” (Gormley 89). A loophole they have to get around are actually being able to see the driver texting while driving. Texting and driving bans are newer and do not have all the kinks worked out, but if more states begin using them they will become better used. Putting more of these bans into use will be able to work on all the kinks and better them to use to be more effective and save more lives.

According to Distracted Driving.gov, The Official US Government Website for Distracted Driving, 3,179 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2014. AT&T's Teen Driver Survey states that 97% of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43% do it anyway, as posted on DoSomething.org

Texting and Driving is very dangerous many people die because of being distracted while driving. “Texting demographics” topics facts that the average teen male sends about 20 text a day. Texting and driving has received much attention people are dying everyday due to distracted drivers. This will be avoided if people pay more attention and just stay off their phone while on the road.

Texting while driving is the most dangerous form of distracted driving because it requires the driver to take their eyes and attention off the road and their hands off the wheel. According to the CDC, 3,154 people were killed by distracted driving in the U.S. in 2013. What the CDC doesn’t report on, however, is the number of friends and family members who were left to grieve their losses.

Teen’s text. But you’re looking at around ten million teen drivers, but around about 180 million other adult drivers.” Texting while driving is considered the most dangerous form of distraction because it engages the eyes, the hands, and the mind. Also, receiving or sending a text message takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of four point six seconds- which is about as long as it takes to drive the length of a football field going fifty-five miles per hour. Not to mention, texting while driving makes a crash risk twenty-three times worse than driving while not distracted. (Copel, Larry, and Robert W. Ahrens) Texting is not the only form of distraction; web browsing, video watching, picture taking, and gaming can distract a driver as well. (Madden, Mary, and Lee

Many people depend on cellphones for their communication need. Cellphones have many benefits for communication but can also be very dangerous if not used properly. One of improper use of cellphone is texting while driving. A study has shown that it is more dangerous than drunk driving.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distractions while driving were the cause of 3,328 deaths in 2012. An estimated 421,000 people were injured in car crashes due to a distracted driver. Texting while driving causes traffic ticket , increase in car insurance rate, and emotional distress.

Imagine you have one hand on the steering wheel and the other pinning your phone to the wheel trying to see your phone and the road at the same time. Many people are guilty of trying to multitask like this on a daily basis. Imagine yourself as the driver of this vehicle. You merge onto another freeway, and your phone buzzes alerting you of a text message. You glance down for what seems like ½ a second and before you can swerve away from the truck pulled over on the side of the freeway BOOM you have hit the man standing outside of his truck killing him on impact. Was that text more important than a life? Could that text have waited until you’ve reached your destination? According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, texting or reading a text typically takes about 4.6 seconds. If you’re driving 65 mph that equates to driving the length of a football field blindfolded. The previous scenario has happened on multiple occasions in different cities and states of America claiming lives. Now more than ever, texting while driving is a serious problem however, there are laws to prevent texting and driving. In addition, there are alternatives that may help save a life and ultimately make us think twice before texting and driving.

Texting requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention, which heavily increases the chances to be involved in an accident when taken away from the focusing on the road. In 2014, 3,179 lives were taken because of distracted driving and 431,000 were injured. Many lives are claimed or injured due to careless awareness of surroundings. Not only do drivers who text while driving on a normal basis are put themselves in an extremely threatening situation but possibly breaking the law depending on their place of residence. 43 states have chosen to ban this practice along with Washington DC.

Bling…”who’s texting me?” Jane: “Hey, what are you doing?” Brian: “I’m in the car going… oh no!” It’s quite simple for anyone to get into a car accident. Due to the fact that more people are getting phones and behind the wheel. Millions are killed due to distracted drivers. That’s outrageous, seems that a high number of people being killed I believe that no texting while should be a law.

2. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. This causes a driver to crash 23x the normal rate. Over 10,000 injuries nationwide due to texting while driving have been reported between 2007-2009. (http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html)

In 2015, my parents were in their first ever big car crash. My mother suffered injuries to her neck although my father did not really suffer any big injuries aside from the biggest scare of his life. The driver was texting while driving which is not a shock due to the amount of people who do it every day because they think it is okay to do so. There are too many people who disregard the gravity of texting while driving simply because there isn’t anything serious from preventing them from doing it until it is too late.

Today, texting while driving out numbers the amount of drunk driving according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause a wreck than drunk driving. You are 23 times more likely to wreck if you are texting. Texting while driving is equal to driving bind for 5 seconds each text. Out of the worlds’ population of over 7 billion, at any given moment all over the world, over 800,000 drivers are texting. Drivers think they can handle looking away for a second to reply, or read a message. By doing this you are decreasing your break reaction time by 18% (national). “The concentration needed for safe driving makes texting safely at the same time impossible” (Bratsis 70). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (C.D.C.)

Throughout history we have had several forms of writing like speech, texting, posting on social media, and written documents, but the most controversial and most dangerous form of writing in today’s world is texting. This controversy is because of all the accidents that occur throughout this technological era due to the distraction of the phone while driving. According the recent statistics “each day in the United States, approximately 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver” (CDC). Most of these distracted driving accidents occur because of texting while driving. These accidents could all be prevented by stopping texting while driving all together. We can do this by implementing a program into our cars that prevents us from using our phones while driving.

Have you ever been in a car in which the driver is distracted looking at his or her phone or have your ever been this distracted driver? Well, if you answered yes to any of this two questions, I am glad that you are still here and reading this. As stated by Aristotle in one of his books about politics and philosophy, he gives this definition of human being: “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human…” ("Politics Quotes," n.d.). By that he means that we have the constant need to communicate and thanks to the new technologies and advances, this is becoming easier, faster, and dangerous. Texting is probably the easiest way to communicate now but also the deadliest one. By mixing driving and texting you can put not only your life but someone else’s life in danger therefore you should avoid this under any circumstance.