Texting and Driving

Texting and driving was and continues to be one of the major factors of car accidents in America’s population. In the following advertisement named, “Phone in one hand, Ticket in the other” it is noted that texting and driving are frowned upon in our society, and the authorities are giving citizens tickets for texting and driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had created and promoted this ad to help decrease car accidents involving texting and driving, by informing the reader, you will be ticketed if you are caught being on your phone while driving a vehicle. The ad was first campaigned April 2015 by NHTSA. There are two messages being portrayed in this advertisement. First, the text of the ad, gets the audience thinking about two possible consequences of texting and driving. Secondly, the images demonstrate what may take place if you are using a cell phone while on the road. Lastly, both the text and images work together to get the message across that if you are caught texting and driving, you will be ticketed, and the use of a cellular device while driving can lead to a car accident. The, “Phone in one hand, Ticket in the other” ad successfully portrays its reasoning for being invented, and I believe the presence of this ad will decrease the amounts of accidents in America.

“Text messaging … had the longest duration of eyes-off-road time of 4.6 seconds at a six second interval. This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 miles per hour without looking at the roadway.” This statement was made by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute when they did a texting while driving study (“Skip Menu”). Texting while driving has become a large problem in the United States and it is growing. There are about 1,600,000 accidents per year as a result of texting while driving. Texting while driving has become a bigger problem for teenagers than drinking while intoxicated. In an article Delthia Ricks wrote for Newsday, she says:

In this age of multitasking, the use of cell phones is combined with assignments like cooking, driving, babysitting, walking, doing college assignments and even eating. Whereas the use of cell phones while doing some chores might be simply annoying, the consequence of using cell phone with driving can be fatal. Recent polls by the Pew Research Center and other researchers show that about fifty to ninety percent young Americans admit using their cell phone while driving. This includes about thirty six percent who said they texted or typed something whiles driving. (Lopresti-Goodman, Rivera, & Dressel, 2012). The practice of using phone particularly texting while driving has increased the number of distracted driving accidents. When the cell phone records of people involved

Ever wonder how your life would be if you killed someone while driving and texting? Think of it this way, it could be your friend, your child, someone you love with all of your heart or even you. How would this affect you, your family or the family of someone else you could easily hurt? During this essay I will persuade you why Idaho should enact Legislation which prohibits texting while driving with statistics, facts and my own personal experience.

Have you ever lost a close friend or family member from them texting and driving or someone else texting and driving? I am sure you have been one to text and drive also as much as we hate to admit it. Would you want to be the one who killed yourself or someone just because of that one text? I have personally known two young girls who have been killed from texting and driving. Both were on the same road exactly five months apart. Here is why I believe every state needs a no texting and driving law to ensure that our roads are safe from those individuals who insist on texting while driving.

Texting and driving is the cause many accidents, in 2016 there were nearly 123,131 car crashes with 37,461 of them causing fatality. People need to understand the dangers of texting while driving. Texting and driving is dangerous to all motorists.

Since the beginning of the smart phone era, humanity has come to build relationships with not only people, but their electronic devices. From talking on their phones and exploring apps, to texting while driving, people cannot seem to put down their smart-devices. According to the passage Introduction to Cell Phones and Driving: At Issue, the average amount of texts people send daily runs from around 40 – 110 (2015). It may not seem like the highest number, but knowing that more than half of those messages are sent while driving makes the matter of texting a lot worse. At this point in time, there have been laws prohibiting texting and driving as well as talking on the phone. Yet, to this day, those laws are null and void; regardless, the talking and texting while driving never stops. Although this phenomenon happens daily and causes many minor and major accidents, the probability of seizing this behavior is little to none.

People should be cited for texting while driving because not only are drivers putting themselves in danger but also everyone else around them. Statistics have indicated that over 6,000 deaths and well over half a million injuries have occurred due to drivers using cell phones in 2011 alone. Drivers sending or receiving test messages take their eyes off of the road for at least five seconds which is enough time to cover an entire football field. One could only imagine the tremendous amount of damage that can be done driving across a football field with unopened eyes. “The more cognitive workload capacity that you consume, the less likely it is that you’re going to scan the road”

Currently, there is a law regarding the use of devices while driving in the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to the state agency, Department of Motor Vehicles drivers under the age of 18 years old are outright banned from using cell phones or any sort of personal communication devices while driving. In fact texting is banned for all drivers. In Virginia, it is considered a primary offense, meaning the police can pull you over if they suspect you of texting while driving. The first time this happens the fine is $125 and $250 for offenses thereafter. A website titled “Virginia Decoded” shows the use of devices while driving specifically defined as:

Texting while driving has become a persistent issue in society because of new technologies that make picking up a phone convenient, but also dangerous. Many teens as well as adults have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving their vehicles. The act of composing, sending or reading a text message interrupts a person’s attention while driving which causes visual, cognitive, and manual distractions. Texting while driving may seem harmless, however it is responsible for serious injuries and even fatalities. Because texting while driving has become an epidemic, society has been forced to come up with solutions which could correct this issue.

Today’s generation has become extremely dependent of their cell phones to a point where they are willing to risk their lives and those close to them. Texting while driving has become an extreme issue in modern society even though it has been present ever since the introduction of cellphones. Problems arising from the usage of cellphones while driving have raised awareness among the nations because the casualties resulting from accidents in which people were using their cellphones have reached extraordinary numbers in the past decades. My goal in this research paper is to alert my audience about the dangers that this act consists of and inform them about the current laws regarding this subject as well as numbers and statistics

There are many dangers when both drinking while driving and texting while driving. In this essay the two will be compared and contrasted to find why people do them even with the dangerous consequences. Drivers think they can text while driving and also drink while driving because they think they can get away with it because nothing has affected them in the past while doing it. Michael Austin states, “Texting, also known as SMS (for short message service), is on the rise, up from 9.8 billion messages a month in December ’05 to 110.4 billion in December ’08”. What does it mean to all drivers to text and drive,

Texting while driving has become a recent issue in today's society. Many teens, as well as adults, has formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving and this tend to cause car accidents. This canbgfgrtte be a distraction and the probabilities of causing a car wreck are higher. The government has noticed an increase in this so they passed a law making it illegal to be on your phone while driving. The National Safety Council estimates, “38,300 people were killed and 4.4 million injured on U.S roads in 2015.”

Texting while driving has been a serious problem for the past decade, and because of it many people, especially young adults and teens are losing their lives. Texting while driving can be composing, sending, reading or sending text messages and emails via the web or on a mobile phone. Texting while driving can put the driver in risk of danger, also it can increase car accidents and possibly hurt others around them.

Cell phone use while driving is a terrible distraction. When driving a motor vehicle, you are supposed to be 100% focused on what’s going on around you. There are many crashes because of people using their cell phones while driving. People that cause the crash are severely injured, and so are the victims of the crash. The law should be enforced over the issue of texting and driving; it would save more lives.