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Essay about The Rise of Distracted Driving in the United States

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Introduction One of the biggest rites of passages in the United States at the age of 16 is obtaining a driver’s license. The freedom to roam the open road and explore the world around you in most cases is a joyous occasion. At 16, a young inexperienced driver is constantly conveyed that driving is a privilege and one must use caution or that privilege will be taken away. However, over the past few years one of the growing problems in United States not only affects young drivers but drivers of all ages. Distracted driving is a growing problem in the United States that affects not only people of all ages but race, and gender as well. In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes due to distracted driving (National Highway Traffic Safety …show more content…

Literature Review 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. Risk factors One of the reasons why distracted driving is so important is the ability to identify risk factors that are associated with it. According to the CDC high school students who participate in distractions like texting while driving will be twice as likely to get in the car with a drunk driver and five times more likely themselves to drive drunk (Distracted Driving, 2013). The belief is that if the student participates in one unsafe practice that it opens the door to other unsafe habits (Distracted Driving, 2013) Many authors have investigated the risk

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