Distracted Drivers (Rough Draft) “Don’t tempt fate that text can wait” (Gaille). On October 8th, 2016 it is three o’clock in the afternoon, and I am on 59 heading back to school from a long workday. As I am driving a see a young girl driving next to me. She does not look a day over eighteen. I keep seeing her glancing down at her cell phone. When I noticed she was texting I calmly passed her up as I am approaching my exit. I slow down and get over to my far right lane. When she realized she was about to miss her exit, she speeds up and past me, then out of nowhere she cuts me off. Thank God I just recently got a new car, because my old car (Betsey) had terrible breaks, and I most likely would have it her little volvo. Texting and driving is very dangerous with …show more content…
According to Why so Many people text and drive, Knowing the Dangers, “Forty-three percent of the texting drivers said they want to "stay connected" to friends, family and work. Nearly a third did it out of habit.” Houston drivers are truly addicted to their phones. “Greenfield, who studies the effects of digital technology on the brain, likes to call smartphones "the world 's smallest slot machines" because they affect the brain in similar ways that gambling or drugs can” (Why). I can even admit with I first became a licensed driver I would text and drive frequently. I realized that it was a problem when I arrived upon my destination and could not remember how I got there. Texting and driving is a serious thing that people neglect to take the dangers into consideration before doing it. Houston people are addicted to their phones, because in this digital age there is not any screen time restrictions. Some never stop with their screen time, due to the fact that there are so many jobs out there that require a person to use
Over the past two decades the use of cell phones has grown significantly and statistic from the past two years have proven that driving while on the phone or texting is becoming one of the leading causes of traffic accidents today. In 2011, a survey of more than 2800 American adults revealed that even thought they know that using a cell phone or texting while driving is distracting, they do it anyway, and teens surveyed admit that texting while driving is their number one distraction. "Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% ...
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 while driving is a lot more dangerous than drinking while driving. Talking on the phone or texting while driving delays reactions. “Talking on the cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as a seventy year old. Texting on a phone while driving is 48 times more likely to have a car accident (“Statistics”).” According to a study done by Rossi crashes happen every fifty five seconds all over this world. In ten years time it is estimated that there will be 16,000,000 car wrecks worldwide. Taking your eyes off the road for that short amount of times, it only takes just five seconds to check that one text message is twenty three times more dangerous.
Studies also show drunk driving is actually statistically safer than texting and driving. In my observation as my family was traveling to Wisconsin, I put tallies on my notebook to record the results of passing drivers. The results were surprising in that 1 out of 8 kids and 1 out of 5 adults in passing cars were distracted while driving. These statistics are actually scary to me because I will never know which one will make a mistake when I am around them on the road. The negative effects this problem causes death and serious injury to themselves and others. It also effects the distracted drivers by placing others around them in harm. As more people text on the roads the drivers will get too familiar texting and driving. According to most statistics, that’s when most mistakes happen. Phone and car companies allow this behavior to happen simultaneously. Phone companies are making their product easier to be distracted, as the technology is addicting to use for the consumers. The notifications from the phone distract most humans from accomplishing their tasks. The phone pings or sounds and the driver looks down. Car companies are now installing Wi-Fi in the newest cars of our generation. The WI-FI is active for all passengers. The distraction element is also active for
The several effects of distracted driving are deadly. Andrew Lavallee points out that “texting while driving is unsafe. Not only are a driver’s eyes off the road, one or both hands are off the wheel.” “We think it is incompatible with safe driving” (qtd. in Lavallee). “Study upon study showed that talking on a cellphone was far more dangerous than she’d realized – that a driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash” (qtd. in Hanes). Stephanie Hanes also mentions that, “Unlike a conversation with a passenger, the electronic conversation takes a driver into a virtual space away from the road.” Subsequently, this causes severe problems and deadly
The top two age groups that are involved in car accidents due to distracted driving are is aged twenty and under with 16% and ages 20-29 with 13% (paragraph 4). Some people may ask how many people actually use their phones while behind the wheel between all drivers, and at any time of the day across America, approximately over six hundred thousand drivers use their cell phone while driving, and that number has been growing and growing since 2010. Teens are more involved in distracted driving accidents than older people aged thirty and up. A study about teens and adults involved in distracted driving accidents displayed that teen drivers are FOUR times more likely to get into a fatal car accident due to distracted driving than an adult (paragraph 11). But everyone is the same when it comes to distracted driving. Many young drivers know the dangers of texting and driving, but just can’t stop it because they are addicted to their cell phones. “Nor is it possible to overestimate how addicted Americans are to their cellphones. In a Transportation Department survey released this week, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said talking on a handheld phone was "very or somewhat unsafe." Yet 77% reported answering calls while driving, and 41% said they made calls.” Some helpful tips to help you stop texting and
Buzz; Buzz. *teen picks up phone* next thing you know the family is planning the teens funeral or trying to figure out they are going to pay for the hospital bills. Many people could argue that the texting and driving law should be for everyone, this includes adults and elderly people. I believe that the law should only include teenagers because it effects them at such a young age. It will train their brain not to pick up that phone every time it goes off. Almost every teen now and days grew up with a phone, thee adults however did not. Teens are so us to just picking up their phone whenever it goes off. Adults should know better not to text and drive, they shouldn’t need a law that states not to text and drive, teens however they need that
Texting and driving has become the new D.U.I meaning (driving under the influence) in society today is similar to driving under the influence. Both teenagers and adults have taken upon themselves to text while driving to possibly cause accidents and death. Prevention is a must texting and driving can cause death to society. Choosing to turn off your phone can prevent such tragedy. A study stated by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stated that ‘’currently there is no national ban on texting or using a wireless phone while driving, but a number of states have passed laws banning texting or wireless phones or requiring hands-free use of wireless phones while driving.’’ Meaning it may be allowed but it is being used as a law to prevent possible accidents.
So just how dangerous can texting while driving actually be? According to Monash University, “those drivers who use handheld devices while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves” (qtd. in Wilson 1). This is not good because there are thousands of divers that are on the road at any given time. University of Utah reports, “Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s handheld or hands-free, delays the driver’s reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of 0.08%” (qtd. in Wilson 1). With more drivers out there that lead to the possibility that a crash could happen “The time it takes to is an average of 4.6 seconds, would be equal to traveling the length of a football field at 55mph visionless.” (Wilson 1). Carnegie Mellon reports, “that with the use of a mobile cellphone reduces the amount of brain activity by associated with driving by 37%” (qtd. in Wilson 1). The Nation...
Even though texting and driving is against the law, men and women of all ages are doing it on a regular basis. Statistically speaking, 23% of car accidents, which was about 1.3 million, involved cell phones in 2011 (“Texting and Driving..”). According to Edgar Snyder and Associates Law Firm out of Western Pennsylvania, “In 2011, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 people were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver.” Along with those stats, and according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “texting and driving kills 11 teens each day” (“Texting and Cell Phone..”). These numbers show how fatally dangerous texting and driving can be. As mentioned earlier, it is illegal, so humans shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. However, if someone gets caught, they could be looking at a ticket costing about, 135 dollars, not including the additional base fine, surcharge and the law library fee (“Texting and Driving, Challenges..”). If a person chooses to text and drive and...
We live in a technology driven time when people multitask behind the wheel. The commute to and from work is a time many like to get caught up on emails or figure out plans for the day or weekend thought texting. The truth is that multitasking behind the wheel is very dangerous and could cost you your life. Text, emails, phone calls, makeup, breakfast; it all can wait! If you don’t make it home alive your weekend plans really won’t matter much anymore.
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 should be illegal in every state due to many reasons of safety. A person 's life is far more valuable than any text message ever will be, no text message is worth the cost of risking the life of yourself and the life of others while behind a motorized vehicle. Being on the phone and texting while driving becomes more and more common on a day to day basis. Safety, well-being, and protection are all ways you can simply take care of yourself, but if you won’t take the time to do it no one will. Only you can help yourself when it comes to your safety and well-being, taking your eyes off of the road to look down, around or anywhere other than watching the road is putting not only yourself but others well at risk of an accident. Texting while driving can border your senses as a driver to not be able to respond when a car comes out of no where, or is even near you.
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).
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