Nomophobia is, “the state of stress caused by having no access to or being unable to use one’s mobile phone,” according to the Collins English Dictionary (“Nomophobia”). On a cell phone the world lies in our fingertips, and fascination and attachment have taken over today’s society. Cell phones allow us to connect with family members and friends from all over the world, stay updated on the latest information, document our lives, and pass the time. and they are becoming an etiquette problem. Cell phones posses our lives. As of 2012, 82% of American teens, ages 16-17, own a cell phone (“DWI: Driving While Intexticated”). This statistic does not include the 90% of American adults (“Mobile Technology Fact Sheet”), and the 56% of children ages …show more content…
While driving down the street, I can turn to my left or my right and discover someone texting while driving. One would think it is not a smart decision to take his or her eyes off of the road and hands off of the wheel to answer a phone, but a person does it anyway. Our hands, glue themselves to cell phones and the social media they possess, and they can’t rest them in the cup holder for a quick ten minute drive across town. --Oh, hang on one second; I need to reply to a Snapchat.-- It is noticeable when the person ahead begins to text and drive because their vehicle begins to gradually coast to the left or right, and normally, the vehicle slows down to turtle speed. They may even run a stop sign or disregard a red stoplight! For example, One time I drove to Cedar Rapids, and the stoplight I was sitting at, turned green. I lifted my foot off of the break, and just as I pulled forward a white car zooms through the intersection. As she passes she looks in my direction with the expression of, oh crap. Yeah, lady! You’re lucky I paid attention because your eyes glued themselves to your stupid cell phone! Thank you ma’am for risking everyone’s life, including …show more content…
The ones guilty of texting and driving attempt to justify their behavior by indicating they only text at a red light or stop sign, they hold the phone closer to the windshield for better visibility, and they increase following distance (“DWI: Texting While Intexticated”)-- What? No matter the circumstance our eyes diverge from the road when we receive a Snapchat or text message, and those few seconds is all it takes to wind-up in a ditch or smashed against another vehicle or object because texting while driving makes a car crash twenty-three times more likely (“11 Facts about Texting and Driving). For some odd reason our hands still find their way to our
Phones use while driving is one of the worst habits to have. Drivers who text while driving are twice as likely to crash than some who is drinking and driving (New Approaches to End Texting While Driving). Teenagers believe they are the best drivers and can multitask while driving. In order to text while driving you have to be looking at your phone. If you are looking phone you are not taking precaution to what in front of you. People think looking down for one second will not hurt. In one second anything could happen such as hitting someone or even running off the road. Other people ar...
Texting and Driving has been a huge factor in accidents. More and more cities are starting to make cell phone use illegal to prevent many life threatening accidents. A phone call and text message can wait. You never know as drivers what the people are doing around you are doing unless you are watching your surroundings. The driver might be a really good driver and might be paying some attention to the road while you are on your phone but the road needs all of the drivers attention so that prevention of accidents is at its
As Americans have seen an increase in the amount of texting and driving, there have been several of the 50 states that have put laws in place to help try and put a reduction on the amount of fatalities. The devastating part about this kind of distraction is that nearly every person that owns a cell phone has picked it up at some point while they are driving to make a phone call or send a quick text. They have seen the commercials and they know the hurt that it has caused many families losing someone they love, but we still do it anyways. It’s so easy to tell yourself “It’s just one quick text, I will be fine.” At some point we need to realize this is not ok.
One day Chandler Gerber 23, of Bluffton collided with an Amish buggy back in April of 2012. A three year old boy and a five year old girl were killed. A 17 year old boy who was in critical condition died several days later. Chandler was sending a text that said “ I love you” to his wife when he caused the accident. Drivers who were texting were 23.2 times more likely to crash to those who weren’t texting (Cell Phones and Texting). The increasing amount of crashes caused from texting and driving and growing and becoming more of a problem. Distracted driving is an increasing problem in the United States resulting in many accidents, but a solution to the problem would be banning cellphones while driving.
When people hear their phone ding, they immediately have the urge to see what is going on. “Seventy-seven percent of teens say they are more than confident”, and they think they are able to safely text while driving. “Fifty-five percent of young adult drivers say it is really easy to text and drive”(stoptextsstopwrecks.org), and they do not understand why it is such a big problem to do so. Teenagers are not the only ones who take part in the act of texting and driving, many teens have said they see their parents do it. Studies show that “5 seconds is the minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road when you 're texting and driving”(DWI:Driving While Intexticated). Say a person is traveling at fifty-five miles per hour, the five seconds they take to look at their phone is equal to driving the length of a football field without looking at the road. If the driver in front of the texter comes to an emergency stop, and they are not paying attention, he or she will have caused an accident because they were paying attention to a phone. Texting while driving causes about 1,600,000 accidents and 330,000 injuries per year. The accidents, injuries, and deaths are all a result of someone feeling the need to take their focus off the road, and place it on seeing what their friend texted
Texting while driving makes a crash twenty three times more likely to happen (Texting While Driving Statistics). At any given moment, 660,000 drivers are using electronic devices while driving (Brooks). Most people say they would not drive while blindfolded, but when they text and drive it is the same thing. Someone going at sixty five miles per hour for only four to five seconds while driving is equivalent to covering the length of a football field, blindfolded (Brooks). But the problem is not only found in automobile drivers. Train engineers, bus drivers, and truck drivers are also part of the problem. There has been an incident where a train driver sent a dozen or so text messages while driving a train with passengers. He sent a text
Across the globe family and friends are losing their loved ones to fatal texting and driving accidents. These days, many strive to be connected with the world and their friends by using mobile devices. The problem is that numerous people tend to do so at bad times. For example, while one is driving, it is common to look down at the cell phone to send a short text message that could put their lives in harm. Across the nation, numerous advertising and support groups are spreading the word to encourage society to put phones down and focus on driving instead of texting. However, it really hasn’t stopped. There needs to be a significant change and with the way technology is advancing, there is an immediate, attainable action that can be accomplished.
With the increase in use and the constant advancement of features and interactive applications on phones, there is a growing addiction to using cell phones at all times – even when it can be dangerous. The greatest danger is using a cell phone to text while driving. The statistics are frightening. The United States Department of Transportation notes, “Cell phones are involved in 1.6 million auto crashes each year that cause a half million injuries and take 6,000 lives.” A simple three word text and those couple seconds to type it is not worth losing your whole life. Laws have been passed to address these statistics, but the habits of constantly updating and looking at information on phones increases. There is no text message or snapchat photo that can’t wait until you are safely at your
Not only does it put the driver of the car in danger, but it also puts the passengers and the surrounding cars at risk. Using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be just as dangerous as driving under the influence. At any given moment during the day, around 800,000 people are driving cars while using a hand-held device, which unfortunately puts everyone else at risk of a car crash. In the recent year, 21% of fatal car crashes involved the use of a cellular device (Prof. David J. Hanson, 1997-2015). Unfortunately, humans, especially teenagers, cannot put down their cell phones while they drive due to the many notifications they receive. They are addicted. This points back to how the cell phones are affecting the mental health of humans. In 2007, Bailey Goodman, a seventeen-year-old, was killed along with four of her friends in a car accident. Goodman
Now a days everyone is glued to their phones, constantly checking their emails, facebooking, snapchatting and texting. With all the devices people have and interact with on a day to day basis, there seems to be a lack of knowledge on how dangerous these devices really are. A report done by the AAA traffic safety foundation showed that “Each year, more than 80% of drivers in the annual AAA Foundation Traffic Safety Culture Index cite distraction as a serious problem and a behavior that makes them feel less safe on the road.” With the limited hours of free time during the day, people are using driving time to check emails and make phone calls which is inflicting on the safety of everyone around them. Texting and driving needs to be a thing of
Texting while driving is referred to as distracted driving. "Distracted driving continues to be the number one leading cause of car accidents in America. Talking on the phone, texting, eating, reading, grooming, and talking are just some of the ways drivers get distracted behind the wheel. Drivers who use a hand-held device are 4 times more likely to get into a car accident than drivers that pay attention to the road ahead. Individuals who text message while driving are 23 times more likely to get into an accident. Do not risk your safety or your life. Put everything down and pay attention to the road ahead. It is the single most important thing you can do today to reduce your risk of getting into a
Texting while driving is a widespread epidemic in the United States that has unfavorable effects on our society.“Driving while texting is the standard wording used for traffic violations” (Bernstein). It causes many people to be distracted which can lead to accidents. “Eighty-nine percent of people own a cell phone” (Gardner). That is a plethora of people that are at risk of texting while driving. Also, texting has increased by ten times in three years(Bernstein). “The risk of a crash for those who are texting is twenty-three point two times greater than those who are not” (Gardner).Driving drunk only makes a person seven times more likely to be in a crash (Bernstein). This means texting while driving is three times more dangerous than driving intoxicated. One in five drivers admits to texting while driving(Gardner). This shows that that texting while driving is a widespread epidemic. When a survey asked teenagers whether they text and drive,“seventy five percent of teens admitted to texting while driving” (7).Distracted driving causes seventy-eight percent of car crashes(Bernstein). “No distraction causes as high of a risk of an accident as texting while driving” (Gardner). Also with these statistics, it is not hard to understand why accidents in teenagers that are driving have risen. The Bluetooth capability in cars gives a driver a hands-free way to talk on the phone, but is still not completely safe (8). Also, only 1 out of 3 US cars sold in 2009 had this feature. New systems are being developed that will use Bluetooth as well a global positioning technology to allow parents to monitor cell phone use and texting while driving (10).
In today’s society, texting and driving have become an issue. Many teens and adults, have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving. Texting while driving can be very distracting, which can cause many accidents to happen. In trying to prevent this, new laws have been passed, making the use of cell phones while operating a car, illegal. However, too many people do not respect this law. People should stop getting distracted while driving because texting while driving is taking people’s attention on the road, accidents are getting higher and is comparable to drunk driving.
As time progresses, many changes develop in society. For instance, fashions change, tastes change, habits change, and norms change as well. One of the biggest changes that has taken place over the years is the increase in dependency on technology and cell phones. According to an article, dated from from 2000 to 2004, there has been a 50% increase in the use of cell phones, ranging from 40 million to 60 million (Shuvra Mahmud). That was ten years ago, so the changes now must have increased even more. Similar to the increase in cell phone usage, there has also been an increase in the belief and diagnosis of nomophobia, the fear of being without a person’s cell phone. Although some scholars have argued that nomophobia is merely a high engagement of cell phone usage, various studies suggests that nomophobia is an actual phobia and that company advertisements are a probable cause for it.
Cell phones are used for games, calculators, texting, calendars, social sites, and pictures. In addition, there are many apps that one can download on a phone. Mobile phones help us keep track of our lives. Addiction to cell phones has become so widespread that scientists have come up with a name for it. Nomophobia (an abbreviation for no-mobile-phone phobia) is being afraid of being out of mobile contact.