The Negative Effects Of Texting And Driving

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.

I have been the single most wanted electronic device since 1986. I make it easy to stay connected at all times with friends, news, and entertainment. I also cause 1.6 million automobile crashes each year. I am the number one gateway to porn, cyberbullying, and social misconduct. I am a phone. Cellular phones can be either distracting or essential. While driving, they could be deadly or navigational; in class, they could be distractions or educational tools; and behaviorally speaking, cell phones have negative impacts on young children.

magine being at an intersection, and just when you think no one is there, you proceed to step on the gas, and you get text from your friend saying “ Where you at bro?” thinking since it’s your friend you look down at your phone for a split second, but then you lose focus and let go of the wheel slightly and end up turning onto the other lane which put in a dangerous situation, luckily there wasn 't any cars coming. These are the type of disasters that texting while driving can cause.

Nowadays, it is a common occurrence to see people messaging from their cellular devices in the midst of driving. Many drivers, across the globe, engage in the practice without contemplating about the potential detrimental effects of their actions. Notably, researches have depicted that texting while driving is one of the major causes of road accidents. As a matter of fact, accidents caused due to messaging while driving has superseded those, which are instigated by drunk drivers. Drivers are inclined to the belief that they can send some messages without negatively impacting on their driving abilities. However, studies have revealed that drivers are not as capable of multi-tasking as they believe they are. Researchers have discovered that drivers who text while driving look at the road 400 times less compared to those who do not message. After all the research it shows that texting and driving increases the risks of accidents and could even be deadly. Texting and Driving is a widespread problem that is killing Americans across the country. Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is dangerous. Most people do it anyway. Texting and driving falls under a category of safety risks called distracted driving. Distracted driving covers any non-driving act that keeps drivers from safely operating their vehicles. Texting and driving is particularly hazardous because it takes the driver’s attention away from driving more frequently and for longer periods of time. Texting and

Is it really important to send that text or check that email while you are driving? Since 2013, texting while driving has been a threat to every driver on the road through the United States. Charles Moore says in “Texting While Driving Is More Dangerous than Driving under the Influence” that texters’ reaction times deteriorate by 35%, and their steering ability decreases by 91%. In 2010, about 4,000 people died from cell phone distraction related crashes. Most of these crashes were related to teens. In 2009 American Life Project published a report that focused on teens and distracted driving. This report showed that 75% of teens own a cell phone, and of those, 34% admit to texting while driving, 48% say they were a passenger of a car when a driver was texting.

The danger of texting and driving by teens as well as adults is very disturbing. As we do our investigation, both groups know they should not text and drive, however overwhelmingly they do so anyway, despite the danger it seems as if they cannot resist. We now know that texting while driving is not just a teenage problem it is a World Wide problem. Each day, an average of more than nine people is killed and more than 1,060 injured in crashes caused by distracted driving, according to the CDC. In 2011, 3,331 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver, up from 3,267 in 2010, according to the Department of Transportation.

This data backs up the claim of Dragutinovic that there are cognitive repercussions from cell phone use that can contribute to lack of focus being displayed by drivers who had used their cell phones. The findings in the study that was done by Redelmeir and Tibshirani have been corroborated by many other studies that have been done in recent years. One study that corroborated these findings was a study done by the National Safety Council in 2010. This study estimated that “28% of all incidents and fatalities on U.S. highways were caused by drivers using cell phones” (Teens Aware of Texting Dangers, Yet Carry On, 2011). Because of my research on this topic, this estimate does not surprise me. According to the Official U.S. Government Website on Distracted Driving, sending a text message can cause a driver to be distracted from the road for 4.6 seconds (www.distraction.gov, 2012). During these 4.6 seconds, a car can travel the length of a football field. With the driver being distracted for such a long length of time, it is no wonder that so many accidents happen because of this distracted driving.

It has been well established that human attention does not accommodate multitasking. The “cocktail party effect” described by Dr. Adam Gazzaley shows that true multitasking is impossible: during a cocktail party, someone can listen to a conversation while shifting their attention to look at another individual having a different conversation but can only notice minor details about the other conversation, such as the sound of their name (Richtel, 62). In addition, the possibility that a person can focus on two different things at once is further diminished by how the two main forms of human attention, bottom-up and top-down, function. Top-down attention is involved in focusing on goals and tasks like writing a paper, making a meal, or driving; on the other hand, bottom-up attention is what causes someone’s attention to focus on something instantly, such as the sounding of a fire alarm or a sound from a cell phone (Richtel, 105-6). This means that a driver’s focus (top-down attention) can be taken completely off the road by a vibration or noise that comes from their cell phone’s capturing their bottom-up attention.

Of greater concern is the issue of texting while driving as it causes much more distraction on the part of the driver than talking on the cell phone while driving. It is noteworthy that the higher the distractions, the higher the chances of the driver causing accidents, or even, causing fellow drivers to cause accidents.

In my opinion, texting while driving can end very badly. When you drive, nothing should be in the vehicle that can distract you from the road. In today’s society everyone owns a cell phone. In fact, at any given time throughout the day, approximately 660,000 drivers attempt to use their cell phone behind the wheel. Phones make it easy for us to stay connected with the media. But this is an issue if someone

As indicated by Jonathon Burkett, there is a difference between texting and driving. When driving, your eyes have to be open while looking at the road ahead of you. You need to be watching the cars around you and looking at streetlights and road signs. When you are texting, you are focused on the texting device and what you are going to type next. How can you do both (driving and texting)? You can’t; therefore, stop before you take the life of someone else or even your own.

This topic has many effects and texting while driving can have a negative impact on driving skills. It is one of the minor causes of traffic accidents and it can kill thousands of people in vehicles.

One thing to consider is the correlation between texting while driving and safe- driving practices. Can texting and driving be treacherous? In “Cellphones and driving: As dangerous as we think?” They state that “despite calls for cellphone bans, there’s no conclusive data on handheld devices and safe driving.” Furthermore in paragraph ten of “Cellphones and driving”, It concludes on a study made in an University of Utah about drivers texting while driving, and although texting while driving does increase the likelihood of a crash, the article

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.)

Does it seem like everywhere you go people are preoccupied with texting? Often people are seen with the cell phone in one hand and texting while walking, in a restaurant eating with friends, working or shopping. It has become a part of everyday life. The convenience and the need to stay connected has made texting a useful method of communicating, that has increased dramatically with teenagers. According to Dr. Delgado, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Perelman School of Medicine, “Adolescents report that texting is the most common way that they stay in contact with friends, sending an average of a hundred texts per day” (para. 1). This includes texting while driving. The effects of distracted driving from texting include legal penalties, increase in insurance premiums, motor vehicle crashes, and even death. Texting while driving has become a major problem in the United State and a simple LOL can have serious consequences.