Driving While Intexticated In the past ten years, texting and driving has become a major issue on U.S. roads. The problem has increased as smartphones have become more affordable and accessible (Full Coverage Auto Insurances). Even though 95% of drivers would agree that texting and driving is wrong, 71% of people admit to texting and driving (It Can Wait). Distracted driving is driving a vehicle while engaging in an activity that has the potential to distract the driver from the task of driving (Dictionary.com). Distracted driving is detrimental in today’s society; therefore, we need to apply some safety features that will keep everyone protected at all times. There are many helpful solutions to this problem like apps and features for
We all are probably aware that texting and talking on the phone is a distraction to all drivers and can be very dangerous. Also, we all know there are many other distractions besides texting and driving, and any type of technology can cause a driver to be distracted. Forty-one percent of all drivers use their hands to text in the car while driving, according to Greg Gardner (52). It can cause people to forget about pedestrians or their surrounding areas. People who are distracted often aren’t focused and don’t have both hands on the wheel. According to Bryan Wilson, people may say that cell phones are easy to be pointed out as a problem, but statistics show the damage cell phones can do to a person while they are driving (6). According to Simon Usborne, time spent not looking at the road while talking on the phone is 15% of the time (68). Also, while texting and driving the time spent not looking at the road is 30% of the time (Usborne 69). As technology improves more and more people may feel the need to use their cell phones while driving. According to Melissa Healy, cell phone use can be as dangerous as drunk driving (42). Tests should be done to compare the various ways of sober people under the influence driving also to compare the impact of texting and driving. This would give us a better understanding of just how dangerous driving and being on our phone really is.
Automobile crashes as a result of texting while driving is an epidemic that has taken over the nation in the past years. In today’s society, people have become more and more dependent on technology as everyday uses. How many can honestly say that they have text and driven? How many have had to swerve, stop on the brakes or almost gotten into an accident because of it? Texting while driving is the most common thing that almost everyone has done or seen. The main issue and threat is that people think they can safely type on their phone while driving; while others simply do not think there is any real danger with that act. Today, it is all about convenience; but the cost for this convenience can be very deadly. Studies show that any
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
Texting while Driving “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:
Due to the many car crashes from driving while using electronic devices, Oregon issued the Oregon Distracted Driving Law, which took effect in the beginning of October. It prevents the use of electronic devices that require you to take your eyes or hands away from the wheel. However, why did
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.
“In a split second, you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you.” -Sharon Heit, mother of the victim of distracted driver. (https://www.pinterest.com) Texting while driving increases the risk of crashes and reduces one’s awareness and performance, also causing diversion of attention and decreases the ability to focus. As the use of devices while driving can be severely dangerous, there are countless ways to discourage this practice. For instance, being educated on the importance of safety, stricter laws and or punishments, or furthermore, using handheld free technology. By these taking place, texting and driving would become an important priority preventing drivers from causing
Every day in the United States around one out of ten people are killed by distracted drivers, and around 1500 are injured in some way in crashes by these irresponsible, distracted drivers. One of the most dangerous, distracting activities that many people do is texting while driving. It is extremely dangerous because people who do this are putting more attention in texting, and they take their eyes off the road while they are driving, which increases the chance that the driver can lose the control of the vehicle, and could cause a crash or even in a worst case could kill other people. When a person is texting, she/he is thinking about other things besides concentrating on driving. This is very dangerous because it could make the driver lose
“In 2013, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.” If you are distracted while driving, death and injury may be very likely to occur. When you text and drive, you are not available to focus 100 percent on the task at hand. All it takes is once glace down at your ringing cell phone for an accident to occur. No one wants to get into a crash, it is not something on our radar. No one believes that if you look at your phone for 1.2 seconds, you could die. However, you could. 3,154 people lost their lives due to distracted driving. I do not believe all of those victims
Nearly 1.6 million car accidents are recorded each year, out of those accidents 330,000 result in injury or death (Edgar Snyder & Associates). Your life or someone else's life can change dramatically while driving just because someone was on their phone. Texting and driving is a real issue in our country and outside of spreading awareness or creating ineffective distracted driving laws. no one has really tried to solve this problem. Texting and driving is a problem because too many innocent lives are lost every day. The Government should implement an app that rewards people for not being on their phone while driving because so many people die every day from texting and driving.
Texting and Driving There has been a rising concern in the last few years about the potential dangers accompanying texting while driving associated largely with the increasing number of highway fatalities. Significant efforts have been made by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for curtailing distracted driving including texting while driving along with public service information and announcements. As per NHTSA, driving distractions are of three different forms like manual, visual and cognitive. Manual driving distractions take off the driver’s hands off from the steering wheel (Kirszner & Mandell, 2010).
Banning Texting and Driving Being capable to drive may be a dream, but can quickly turn into a nightmare that is never awoken from. An increasing amount of accidents are blamed on distracted driving, where cell phone usage is the top distraction. Many laws have been implemented to stop texting
Texting while driving injures people 1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed that 515,000 people were injured in various car crashes in the United States due to texting. Around 28 percent of all crashes in 2008 were caused by drivers in the age group of 18 and 29, who admitted to texting while driving. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/texting-while-driving-statistics.html)
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.)