Have you ever been on a cell phone while driving or seen someone on his or her cell phone while driving? This is distracted driving at its finest. Whether you are looking at a text, changing radio stations, applying makeup, or anything else that takes your mind or eyes off the road is distracted driving. Distracted driving killed around 3,000 people in 2011 (Bauers). Car crashes are the leading cause of teenagers in the United States. If you don’t think you are distracted behind the wheel think again, many people think they aren’t distracted till something bad happens to them, like a crash, driving into a ditch, or running a red light and get a ticket for it. Distracted driving is a major problem and most people don’t know their distracted or what is a distraction to him or her. There are many different distractions that can occur in the car while driving. All of the distractions are put into three classes of distractions; they are visual, manual, and cognitive. “Visual distractions cause you to take your eyes off the road, manual distractions cause you to take your hands off the wheel and cognitive distractions, such as listening to a talk radio show, cause you to take your mind off what you are doing” (Johnson). That means that texting, applying make-up, checking e-mail, and many other things apply to all three of these classes of distractions. Some distractions like listening to music, talking with other passengers, or talking on the phone fall under one or two of the classes. It doesn’t matter what type of class the distraction falls under people should not do things that cause them to be distracted. They should learn to put the phone down, turn down the music down, or put away what ever else distracts them to stay focu... ... middle of paper ... ...law or disobeying their parents. Works Cited Bauers, Sandy. "Study: Music Can Distract Teen Drivers." Philadelphia Inquirer. 08 Sep 2013: G.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 02 Dec 2013. "Distracted Driving Facts." Professional Safety 56.1 (2011): 12. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. "Distracted Driving Problem Extends Beyond Texting." Professional Safety 57.2 (2012): 24. MasterFILE Premier. Web.15 Dec. 2013. Johnson, Teddi Dineley. "Distracted Driving: Stay Focused When On The Road." Nation's Health 42.1 (2012): 28.Corporate ResourceNet. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. Lee, John D., Michael A. Regan, and Kristie L. Young, eds. Driver Distraction Theory, Effects, and Mitigation. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2009. Print. Lowy, Joan. "AAA: Public Less Worried About Dangerous Driving." Spartanburg Herald-Journal. 22 Aug 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 02 Dec 2013.
Distracted driving refers to a wide range of conditions involving the driver of the vehicle not being alert and attentive to the task of driving. These distractions can mean anything from texting and making phone calls to eating and other activities. Driving a motor vehicle while simultaneously being engaged in a different task can and is a fatal mistake that
The term “distracted driving” may be hard to define, but, simply, it is the act of driving while being engaged in any activity. Stephanie Hanes describes in her article, how texting is a deadly epidemic. The distractions occurring while we drive on the road endangers the lives of drivers and passengers around us. Andrew Lavallee explains in his article “Companies build Services to End Texting and Driving,” how texting is wildly popular these days. David Andreatta points out some activities which drivers are engaged in while on road, in his article “Texting and Driving Can Spell Disaster.”
Texting and driving involves all three types so you can predict the outcome isn’t too much in our favor (Distracted Driving, 2015). According to the National Safety Council (NDC), the big myth today is that people are capable of multitasking, and even worse multitask while driving, but in fact, the human brain cannot do such a thing. People may be walking and chewing gum at the same time, but that is because those actions involve both a thinking task, and a non-thinking task. Driving and talking on the phone at the same time is risky though because it requires both to be used. Instead of attending to both actions simultaneously, the brain quickly shifts between two cognitive activities (The Great Multitasking, 2010). Taken from a new report from the NSC ,drivers that tend to talk on cell phones often enter a state of what is called “inattention blindness” and when this occurs, they may fail to see up to 50 percent of what is ahead of them (NSC Looks Inside, 2010). The United States Department of Transportation says, "text messaging while driving creates a crash risk 23 times higher than driving while not distracted,” (Distracted Driving, 2015). That makes driving
David Hosansky states that the use of cell phones and texting should not be allowed while driving. The increased uses of cell phones and texting while driving has become the center of safety conversations. In fact, there are more than 5,000 deaths related to the use of cell phones and texting while driving over the last decade. Even if laws were put in place it is believed that motorists would still find it hard to put down their phones down. Hosansky also gave an example on the hazards of texting while driving, especially among young drivers. There are very few states that have implemented laws restricting the use of cell phones or texting while driving. David Hosansky is a freelance writer in the Denver area. This article seems to have been written for the general public and thought to be informative. I found this especially helpful and informative in finding this is not just a local problem.
Each day in the United States, over 8 people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (Distracted Driving). There are a few different
A. People are constantly fixated on their phones, checking Twitter, Facebook, and text messages. The use of a cell phones while driving is extremely distracting and dangerous to the person behind the wheel, and everyone else on the road as well.
Messaging or utilizing a mobile phone while driving is extremely unsafe to yourself and the general population encompassing you. One reason the greater part of individuals are against this activity is on the grounds that it causes an incredible measure of auto crashes each year. (Copeland) While driving, grown-ups and young people can't fight the temptation to get their phone and send a content or react to one. At the point when the driver hears the vibrate or ring, nothing can prevent them from checking the warning on their telephone. When the driver's eyes meet their cell gadget, their emphasis out and about is drawn away.
A word has started to appear in discussions of driving. The word is "distracted." It refers to drivers who pay more attention to their cell phones, or their text messages, than they do to driving. The results can be fatal. One of the most common distractions today is texting. Each day in the United States, 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (Center). A couple of months ago, I and a friend were sitting at a red light waiting on green. We were talking about making plans for later that evening. We decided what to do as soon as the light turned green, we waited on the car in front of us to ease off the line. Then we were hit. This turned into a five car pileup. The driver of the fifth car back was texting at the red light; he hit the gas too quick and ended up hitting the next car, pushing them into the next, and so on. When the officer got there he questioned the man. The man admitted to texting behind the wheel, said he thought the light was green, and hit the gas. Three people were critically injured due to texting. “Texting is a very dangerous distraction, it is now more common than drinking and driving” (Gozzi). We all know drinking and driving is a very serious thing, but so is texting while driving. As a society, we just don’t see it that way.
Distracted driving is most commonly known to happen when someone is talking or texting on their phone whilst driving. This is dangerous in the fact that there are many new drivers on the road every year. When glancing down at something while driving 55 miles per hour the amount of ground covered by the car equates to a football field. In the five seconds it takes for someone to text, call, or update social media; a child could have run out in front of the car and be dead. According to the NHTSA "cellphones were a factor in about 13% of fatal
We as a society need to all take responsibility when we are on the road and avoid the many temptations and distractions surrounding us. Distracted driving is dangerous plain and simple. Some may be willing to take the risk because they have never had an accident while behind the wheel. But it’s
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
One of the dangers of texting while driving at the same time is the attention it takes away from the road. A driver, who is focused on looking at their phone, is not paying enough attention to other cars or what is happening around them. Something as simple as a car stopping in front of them can cause serious damage to the driver and to the other car. “Texting” while driving is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the internet on a mobile device while operating a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, truck, or train (Reuters). Many people and authorities have viewed it as a dangerous practice. It is on occasion like this, where familiarity with the road and surrounding will not make it easier for the driver to look at their cell phone. The probabilities of drivers texting on the cell phone and getting into accidents are only getting higher. Cell phone use while driving accounts for a major cause of
I, as a driver, too, think that cell phone use while driving is a distraction. Even though I personally don’t own a phone, I have used one. I noticed that talking on the cellular phone and driving doesn’t make it hard to focus on the road. But it is difficult and a major distraction to dial-up a number without losing focus on the road. Dialing a number is the main distraction about cel...
One distraction that has stirred up a lot of controversy recently is texting while driving, the bottom line is you should never text and drive, try not to even have the phone in the car with you so you do not become tempted to use it. Even though that would be ideal, we all know people are glued to their phone 24/7, so if you are in dire need of using the phone behind the wheel try and keep the texts short so you can keep full concentration on driving and getting to your destination safe, also if you have a newer model car you can try and sync your phone up to the bluetooth so you are able to call and text hands free (edmunds.com,para1). "Any parent of an American teenager can tell you how hard it can be to pry their child 's attention away from a smartphone screen. But it turns out that mobile devices can be a big distraction for grownups, too." - Christian Science Monitor. (sirs.com,para.11).People believe we should try and ban cell phones from behind the wheel but that simply would never be able to happen, the generation that is getting their licenses now has grown up in the “digital age”, they are constantly connected to their phones (some people say kids have their phones glued to their hands) and for some that cannot put it down they will have to be ok with paying for using it in the car. Another major distraction that could easily affect you or your fellow drivers is road rage. Road rage is a serious issue if encountered on the road and can lead to death if it is serious enough, if you are to encounter someone on the road with rage try and stay calm and do not use any gestures that would anger the driver more, if you are in a multi lane highway try and move to an open lane so they are able to pass you and not get any more infuriated, and lastly if the rage occurs over taking somebody 's spot in the parking lot just left them have the
The main distraction of driving is cell phones. Most adults and teens will engage in texting and driving. Due to the major issue of texting and driving many campaigns have been launched, one being launched by AT&T “when it comes to texting and driving, it can wait.” This campaign has many drivers take the pledge to no longer use their phone when driving, there is an available app that will send out automatic messages to anybody that sends a while the individual is driving. When someone is driving at the rate of 55 miles per hour for only 4.6 seconds, it will equal the length of a football field, 100 yards. So, even stopping full vision from the road for a few seconds will still risk serious danger. Another cause of distracted driving is being exhausted or tired, doing so will cause a much slower reaction time. The slower reaction time causes many of the accidents that happen when people are tired. Another possibility is falling asleep behind the wheel even for a few seconds you could drift, or swerv into another lane and hit another car causing a major or fatal car accident. When taking driving classes, the students within the class will hear the saying “stay alert, stay alive.” The final major distraction of driving is eating and drinking. One of the problems of eating and drinking while driving is that it causes both a visual and manual distraction. When removing your eyes from the road many dangers will be