The Consequences of Driving and Distraction Essay

This includes the House Bill 1013 which went into effect back in October. It bans any driver of a motor vehicle to engage in text messaging. A few other states that ban the use of a cell phone while driving are Illinois, California, New York, and Indiana has a ban on any one under the age of 18.

People who text and drive can hit or even kill pedestrians because of being distracted by their phones and not paying attention to the road. In the course of five years, the national number of pedestrians who were killed or hit by distracted drivers increased from 344 to 500 people. If you think about it, many of those people who died could have been young children or elderly people who didn’t have a fault, but because of someone being so inconsiderate using their phone, they killed these people. In 2015, 5,376 pedestrians were killed because of drivers who were too busy texting. All those pedestrians who were killed did not think that because of walking somewhere they would be killed by someone so distracted who didn’t have the capacity to make sure that the road was clear for them to keep driving. If this problem had further consequences, then many of the people who died wouldn’t be dead right now.

Texting and driving should be banned in all fifty states because texting is a distraction that keeps drivers away from the road. According to the book Brain Rules, while multitasking, research shows your error rate goes up 50 percent and it takes you twice as long to do things. (Cooper) Texting someone is nearly the same as talking on the phone, therefore, it’s an ongoing conversation. But driving is an ongoing action, excluding stop signs and stoplights as well. As a driver the main focus is the road. In order to send a text, the cell phone has to be the main focus. For example, if a driver is at a stop sign, receives a text, and decides to look down at the phone. The driver’s eyes, hands, and focus completely move toward the phone and not the road anymore, which is the main focus. With this situation, there are a number of things that can go wrong. Someone can switch lanes really quickly, a baby can walk out the street, a car could suddenly stop, etc. So any drivers, who plan on “multitasking” while driving, think twice before making that decision.

Distracted driving is very dangerous to everyone on the road ways.  Distracted driving is engaging in non-driving activities that distracts the driver from the primary task of driving (SIRS).  In 2015, 3,477 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver (CDC).  Each year about 421,000 people are injured in crashes involving a distracted driver (Edgar Snyder).   Drivers would not be texting if their message was not very important.   Distracted driving should be illegal and security devices in vehicles should be implemented in order to save lives.

Many people have lost their lives on the road and caused other’s deaths because they were distracted with doing something while driving. In 2012, 3,328 people were killed in distraction-related crashes (“Statistics on Texting & Cell Phone Use While Driving” n.d.). Distractions while driving that result in these accidents include texting/making a call or becoming intoxicated and having high blood alcohol concentration. Many laws have been brought forth to help regulate the amount of people drinking while driving and using a cell phone while driving. Not only do people put their own lives in danger, they are also putting other’s lives in danger. People who take part in these distractions are not being responsible when making these rash decisions while driving and creating a hazardous environment for those around them.

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

Things are not all bad, though. Laws concerning the use of phones in cars, and more specifically texting while driving are finally starting to see the light of day. According to Anne McCartt, the senior vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a ban on hand-held phones in New York reduced use of such devices by about fifty percent. That was until use was re-measured the next year, finding that the “decline had dissipated substantially” (Politico). McCartt speculates this is due to poor enforcement, as a similar ban in Washington D.C. resulted in another fifty percent decline, only this one was sustained for more than a year after the law was put in place. Clearly strong enforcement is important, and well worth it; a fifty percent reduction in use of cell phones while driving is

The Crashworthiness Data System is a random sample of collected data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of reported crashes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The collection of data identifies how an accident took place, the age of the person involved, variables of attentiveness, ethnicity, and gender. The data summarizes distracted driving into three main types visual, manual, and cognitive (Distracted Driving, 2013). Visual distraction is when a driver takes his or her eyes off the road (Distracted Driving, 2013). Manual distraction is defined as taking your hands off the wheel, while cognitive is taking your mind off the road (Distracted Driving, 2013). As previously, stated, distracted driving is becoming an increased problem in the United States year after year.

Distracted driving is an issue among many age groups, although the problem is mostly seen with teens. Texting isn’t the only distraction that is seen while driving, but it is one of the immense ones. Crying children, trying to fix a radio station and alcohol are also factors that could affect you attention on the road and lead to an accident. Texting while driving takes your eyes and hand off of the road for approximately five seconds to read and reply to a text, making it easy to lose control of your car. Florida does have a cell phone and texting driving law, but most of the time it isn’t evident that texting while driving was a distraction until it is too late. A driver can only be charged if they are arrested for another motor violation. The best way to prevent an accident due to texting and driving is to not do it.

A simple glance of a text on a cell phone can cause dangerous circumstances to oneself and to others. During this circumstance, a person’s mental state is changed. “The average text takes about five second to send. Traveling at 55 mph, that’s like going the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed,” (Held). The mindset of a person who is texting while driving are not realizing that they are driving but are just thinking about that text that they’ve received. They’re eyes are off the road and on their phone which automatically causes immediate situations. Along with their eyes not on the road, their hands are no longer on the wheel but on the keypad of their device. In the fact of these mental states of a driver, consequences are quickly met. Consequences include jail time, fines and fees similar to drinking and driving. “The severity of punishments increases

Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing problems in the United States.   It is starting to be considered as serious as drunk driving based on the dangerous outcomes.  According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “distracted driving was a cause of roughly 450,000 accident-related injuries and nearly 5,500 fatalities in 2009 alone” (para. 1). Drivers who allow themselves to become distracted while driving are not only endangering themselves, but other innocent bystanders.

Not only is cell phone use while driving unsafe and risky, it is also illegal. Talking on a hand held phone is illegal in 10 states , the use of cell phones by novice drivers are restricted by 32 states, and text messaging is banned for all drivers in39 states. All of these actions are illegal in New York. These actions result in a $150 ticket and 2 points on your license…However, this only applies to you if youre caught before an accident. But what happens if you kill a passenger due to texting? Depending on the amount of people and damage, the convictions can vary. They can range from motor vehicle homicide to negligent operation of a motor vehicle while causing serious accident while texting to having your license suspended for 15 years. Still not convinced? Lets take a gander into 18 year old Aaron Deaveau’s case.

When it comes to someone getting behind a wheel it’s a big responsibility, you are not a passenger that could be doing different stuff you are now carrying with several lives and people are waiting for you at home. Many things cross our minds exactly when we are about to drive, but we need to learn how to ignore them and worry about getting where we supposed to be. Nowadays many accidents that occur on roads are caused by distracting driving and it seems easy to choose to do something such as: texting, eating or drinking, talking to passenger’s etcetera. “The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses” Not everyone realizes the danger it is being distracted while driving, but every distraction cause at least once to take our eyes off the road.

Today in our world, technology is running our generation. People are using their phones in the wrong areas, they were not made to be distractions and cause wrecks to be taken. A lot of people today do not realize is about 40 percent of the wrecks that occur in the world have to do with taking their eyes off of the road for too long. Measures need to be taken to decrease the number of wrecks per year. Although people believe texting and driving should not be finable, people do not realize the injuries/ deaths involved, what the distraction on the road can cause, and enforcement also includes a behavior change.

A word has started to appear in discussions of driving. The word is "distracted." It refers to drivers who pay more attention to their cell phones, or their text messages, than they do to driving. The results can be fatal. One of the most common distractions today is texting. Each day in the United States, 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (Center). A couple of months ago, I and a friend were sitting at a red light waiting on green. We were talking about making plans for later that evening. We decided what to do as soon as the light turned green, we waited on the car in front of us to ease off the line. Then we were hit. This turned into a five car pileup.