The Pros And Cons Of Texting While Driving

Being able to drive is a dream come true, that can easily become a nightmare that you are never wake up from. The state of Florida is trying to make drivers aware of the dangers that come with distracted driving. Texting and driving is one of the biggest problems America is facing at the moment. Many people, especially teenagers, are dying from distractive driving. The state of Florida decided that they wanted to help with this problem and made it illegal to text and drive. They have also put up billboards all over the state to remind drivers about the law and the consequences of distractive driving. Not only could you be harming yourself but you could also harm others if you decide to text and drive. Do us all a favor and put your

Every day there are many that are killed from texting and driving. So many people get injured or even killed because of texting and driving. Several people are addicted to their phones, especially teens. Teens are obsessed with their phones, they are always waiting for some to text them back. Texting and driving is a distraction that everyone should avoid because it can result in injury or death to oneself or others. This may result in property damage, and the probability for one to receive legal consequences.

Get rid of the distraction. Sometimes this is possible to get rid of distractions, but the law can’t stop someone from talking to a passenger in the car or eating and drinking. Schools and training can only do so much to prevent distracted driving and almost half of those drivers ignored what is being told to them about the facts and warnings about the dangers of texting and driving. Nationwide only 44 states have banned drivers from texting and driving. These states are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado. Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, MIchigan, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These states also have penalties and the maximum goes from a low 25 dollars to a high 10,000 dollars.

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.

Drivers can now be cited if they are found to be using electronic devices that result in the driver diverting their eyes off the road or becoming distracted to an extent that they put other people 's safety at risk. Talking on the phone may not fulfill this criterion but texting or using a mapping app could certainly qualify. When one is texting, one is actually doing all three activities that are considered distracted driving - their eyes are off the road, they are paying attention to something else and their hands are off the steering wheel. This is an open violation of the law and demonstrates a complete disregard for the safety of others on the road. It has also been observed that drivers who have a tendency to text while driving are also more prone to commit other offenses such as weaving through lanes.

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.

Texting and driving is illegal for all drivers in 46 states and in the District of Columbia There are only two states that do not have texting bans, Montana and Arizona. Texas and Missouri have partial texting laws for drivers

Safe driving is really important in the world today. Texting while driving can lead to a lot of things. First, if a person drive while texting they could run over someone and possibly kill them because their eyes wasn’t on the road. The person could go to jail for years just because they wasn’t paying attention to the road. Second, if a person drive while texting they can hit someone car

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

In conclusion, the state of Florida does not do enough to prevent distracted driving. Looking at a text while driving is legal. Although distracted driving has the potential to kill, it is a secondary offense. According to statistical data texting while driving has caused more than 200 teen fatalities. Cost is a factor used by those who oppose changing the law. The real cost of not changing the law maybe the loss of life of a driver, passenger, or innocent bystander. Distracted driving is unsafe, irresponsible, and

As of June 2017, 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands banned texting and driving (CDC). According to Knowledge Center, Washington was the first state to put a ban on texting and driving in 2007. Four states (Arizona, Montana, Texas and Missouri) are without bans on texting and driving. Texas and Missouri have a ban on texting and driving for novice drivers. Arizona and Montana currently have no ban at all. However, Arizona’s ban on texting and driving will go into effect on July 1, 2018 (Knowledge Center.org).

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”

While Kelley was driving on I-4, a friend texted her. Kelley picked up her phone and read the text. While she began to laugh, she looked up and started to realize that she was too close to the truck in front of her which started to brake. Kelley was too late to react on time and got into a bad accident. Luckily she made it out alive, but she could have ended up losing her life. Although a lot of people text while driving, they never admit that they do so. As illustrated in the real life example before, texting while driving is very dangerous and distractive and that is why it should be made illegal.

Driving while driving has become a major problem across the country. We are losing too many mothers, fathers, son, and daughters due to drivers being distracted with their cells texting. Nineteen states including the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) have banned it. The Transportation

Texting and driving is against the law because “In 2012 Alabama became the 38th state to ban texting while driving.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) also “Novice drivers in Alabama- drivers aged 16 or 17 with an intermediate license less than 6 months- are banned from from using cell-phones (both handheld and hands-free) and, like all drivers, banned from texting. Even the bus drivers are banned from texting while driving.”(http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) Not only that but there are also fines you can get for texting and driving and those penalties are “Fines for texting and driving are $25 (first offense) then $50 and $75. A driver will also be penalized with two points against the driver’s license. Alabama’s cell phone and texting laws are considered “primary” laws. A primary law means that an officer can pull a novice driver for texting without having to witness some other violation. That is, the officer sees the novice driver texting and simply issues a citation.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php)