“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws. Many fatal accidents are caused by reckless driving. Reckless driving would be considered: …show more content…
The main form of reckless driving that a large amount of people are aware of is drinking and driving. When an individual is under the influence while driving, it can become detrimental in regards to other lives, not just to the individual behind the wheel because it impairs the driver 's ability to make quick and smart decisions. Within the last year there was a 15 year old boy who had lost his life due to driving under the influence. Somehow the boy had managed to veer off the road and wrap his car around a pole and into a Whataburger, not only taking his own life but also risking the lives of anyone who was inside the restaurant. The fact that he was drinking impaired his ability to drive, thus resulting in not having control of his vehicle. Another major issue of reckless driving is speeding. Many times drivers will reach dangerous speeds on the road as the result of racing. Once reaching the high speeds, the individual is risking the amount of control they have over the car. When lacking control of the vehicle the said person is …show more content…
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
Aggressive driving can also result from drunk or drug driving and distracted driving. It is hence densely woven into multiple road dangers.
Driving is a privilege Americans have been afforded since the invention of the automobile in the late 1800’s. Yet with great power comes great responsibility. One of the responsibilities associated with being able to drive several tons of metal at high speeds is the responsibility of doing so without any distractions or impairments. Choosing to drive drunk puts not only the driver in danger, but also everyone else in the car and on the road. Currently, the average drunk driver will drive eighty times before getting caught by the police (1). On average, one third of all people will be involved in a drunk driving accident during the course of their lifetimes (7). Whereas driving drunk once can be seen as a mistake and a one-time lapse in judgment, choosing to recklessly ignore the law and the safety of others is a serious offense against society. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that one in three persons arrested for drunk driving are repeat offenders (2).
Young, Kristie L., John D. Lee, and Michael A. Regan. Driver Distraction: Theory, Effects, and Mitigation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2009. EBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Ever since the invention of the automobile, numerous efforts have been employed to try and improve its safety features. Judging by the current statistics, one could argue that driving has so far turned out to be a risky business. In actual fact, people of all ages and social status are considered to be in control of lethal weapons whenever they have to drive. According to the National Safety Council, it is estimated that more than 41,000 people lose their lives in road accidents annually and no less than 2 million more suffer from serious life threatening injuries (2009). Furthermore, it is estimated that at least 50% of the people killed in road accidents is as a result of their failure to adhere to safety measures such as wearing seatbelts while driving, driving under the influence, or careless driving (Ingalls, “Defensive Driving Strategies”). As an effect, huge losses occur with respect to life, injuries sustained, and damage to property.
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.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated about 9 people die every day in the U.S. due to a distracted driver. A distracted driver is someone who while driving, is being engaged in other activities such as texting, eating, and talking to the passenger. There are three different types of distractions while driving; visual distractions, manual distractions, and cognitive distractions. These types of distractions are very dangerous while driving and there are many things that can be done to prevent or control these distractions.
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
When I was about seven years old, someone pulled right out in front of my parents. We missed hitting them. When I was nine, we almost backed into another car coming down the road. The lady was on her cell phone, not paying any attention to the road. When I was 13, we finally did hit someone. It was my brother’s fault. My brother should have been more focused. These are all things that happen to everyone at one point in their lives. It’s inevitable. I think if people were to pay more attention to the road, crashes would happen less often. Driving can be dangerous, and people can be even more dangerous if not focusing on the task at hand.
Today’s society appears to be constantly on the go. People seem to be pulled in multiple directions at once. Individuals never appear to have enough time to complete tasks that continually accumulate. It can be difficult to criticize someone that tries to make the most out every minute. Unfortunately, some of today’s drivers show a lack of judgment and trying to perform other tasks, while behind the wheel. People may feel this is best use time while getting to a destination. Occasionally, the small amount of time that people are trying to gain results in a time consuming accident. With modern conveniences that are geared toward an on the go public, individuals appear to be too preoccupied to driving safely.
High-risk driving behavior includes speeding, running a light, tailgating to make another driver move out of the way or passing on the right. Driving unsafely could cause you to get your license suspended or lose it altogether. In the worst cases, injuries or even death could occur. Drinking and driving is a high-risk behavior. I would tell them that impairment begins with the first drink and that what they are doing is unsafe not only for themselves but the people around them. There are severe punishments if you are caught drinking and driving.
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
The major cause of aggressive driving is the discourteous or inattentive driver. Driving behaviors include changing lanes to closely, tailgating and "the number one cause is the left lane hog." (Larson 1) These seemingly small errors infuriate the potentially aggressive driver and cause a transformation indescribable to man kind. Reduced law enforcement, highway traffic, the growing congestion is cities, and personal issues play a large role in the disposition of the aggressive driver. Then the angry driver may demonstrate his or her displeasure by speeding around the other vehicle, cutting the other car off, and or with a number of verbal and non-verbal messages. Though the driver may feel justified in his or her action, but the display in most times is very dangerous and often will result in damage to one or both cars involved.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” - Dave Berry
Reckless driving is extremely dangerous and is considered to be anyone who is driving with carelessness and/or who has no regard for the safety of others on the road. Reckless driving is considered to be a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is a criminal act that is less severe then receiving a felony. Your punishments are also not as severe as penalties. Penalties for reckless driving include fines of up to $1,000, jail time, getting your parole revoked, two points on your driving record, insurance rates to go up, insurance can be cancelled and/or license suspension. Reckless driving includes speeding, not using signals, not using your headlights, disregarding traffic signs and signals, distracted driving, drag racing, and using a cell/smartphone while driving. In some cases a DUI can be deemed a “dry reckless”, which means the person was driving with disregard for others on the road. This charge is less serious then a DUI charge. If you have been pulled over for DUI and believe that it could be reduced to a “dry reckless” you should contact an attorney right away. Drag racing or a speed co...
Drunk driving is a hot topic in today’s media, because it is very important not to drink and drive. Traffic accidents are mostly caused by people driving under the influence, between the age of 15 and 29, DUI is one of the main causes of death. Drinking has a bad side effect it could possible damage or even kill a liver The illegal crime may not involve actual driving of the vehicle, but rather may generally include being physically in control of a car while intoxicated even if the person charged is not driving. Alcohol affects you in a way that changes your decision, depth awareness as well as important motor skills required to drive safely. It’s easy for them to think that they are driving normal when truly they are not. When the police take sign you could be hit with a DUI/DWI. This is the best case situation. Getting into an accident your life could be lost as well as any others