Persuasive Essay On Distracted Driving

What is the first thing you do when you start the car? Do you put on your seatbelt, or how about plug your phone into the radio to listen to music? Or maybe you turn on Maps and get direction to where you are going. Do you ever get a notification, text or call when you are driving and just instinctively pick up your phone and before you know it you are looking at it. This is really common and everyone has done it at least once, I know I have many times. It is hard to completely ignore your phone when driving and everyone has felt this pain. This is why distracted driving is rising. We are constantly on our phone to the point of when we are not supposed to be on it, we still find a way. The state of Wisconsin actually does quite a bit to try and prevent distracted driving from happening, but can we really put the blame on their shoulders when an accident happens? The state does not

hold the responsibility to regulate safe driving, as the individual is responsible for their own actions and consequences, though it is double edge sword because if the state does not do anything the blame is instantly put on them. The state does not hold the responsibility to regulate safe driving but they try to regulate it anyway. What the state does is enough, they do what they can to try and stop it even if they do not have to.
One common argument against the state is simply: if you don’t pass laws or regulate distracted driving it’s not going to stop. Although this is a good point there are a few flaws in it. First, laws do not equal no-one will do it. The average person breaks at least three laws per day, unknowingly. The point is people do not really pay attention or listen to laws. Making laws against texting and driving or eating while driving is not going to stop it from happening. Second, regulating distracted driving is hard. It is not like catching a drunk driver; in order to see a distracted driver you have to see what they are doing in car, while they are driving it. Most of the times the people caught for distracted driving are pulled over for another reason entirely. The best way the government has halted distracted driving is awareness. On November 18, 2015 the state of Wisconsin created a free mandatory class, held during Drivers Ed., in schools. It worked to help educate students on the dangers of distracted driving and had them take a pledge to keep their eyes on the road, not on their phone. Though this has not stopped distracted driving it lowered it considerably more than passing laws or by trying to have the police pull over people that are on their phone.
Another common argument is: if the punishment for distracted driving was more severe less people would do it.

So first the punishment for distracted driving: “Fines for distractive driving violations range from $20 to $400. For texting or doing something while driving that interferes with the person’s ability to drive safely, a judge can fine the driver anywhere from $20 to $400. For all other violations, the fine can range between $10 and $40 for a first violation and $50 to $100 for a second violation within a year.” (Wisconsin's Text-Messaging and Cellphone-Use-Driving Laws Paragraph 7). This does not seem that severe, but this is actually the minimum offence you can get. Punishment piles if you caused destruction while distracted driving all the responsibility goes to you. If you damaged anything you have to pay for it. If you injured or killed someone you could go to jail for murder or attempted murder. If you crash it could cost your life. The punishment for distracted driving itself is not that bad but the punishment for anything you cause during that time is the severe

part.
It might seem simple to tell people “just don’t do it”, but that is the actual hard part. People and teenagers in general have tendency to think, “That’s not going to happen to me.” We have all thought that at least once. The real effective solution to distracted driving is awareness. It is to make the people who believe that it will not happen to them realize that it can and it will. The majority do not think about this. They think we just need to tighten laws or increase the police that watch the roads. Which the state in turn does to please the citizens demanding it, you can see this in the Wisconsin Strategic Highway Safety Plan for 2017-2020. They have a plan to please citizens and plan for prevention. The state government has realized that it is not about laws and about awareness. Ten pages out of sixty six are about laws and how please citizens and the rest are about teaching students and setting up mandatory classes for offenders. They plan to raise the awareness of drivers and soon to be drivers. Wisconsin has the lowest amount of distracted driving insistences in the United States; they are taking responsibility and trying to fix the actual problem.
So the question remains has Wisconsin done enough to prevent distracted driving? Yes, it has, it has done more than enough. Even though the state does not have to take responsibility for distracted driving it is, and it is trying to fix the root of the problem. Instead of focusing on laws and police force it is focusing on prevention. Wisconsin is trying its hardest to stop distracted driving and it is doing a pretty good job, but despite all this, some people still blame the state government for the accidents that happen. Wisconsin has done a lot and it has a lot of plans. The state is going above and beyond and setting an example for all other states to follow.