I would first like to thank the Law Offices of L. Clayton Burgess for giving me the opportunity to apply for this scholarship to help me pay for my education at Arizona State University. With that being said, I think that drivers distracted by smartphones should have the same penalties as a drunk driver. The injuries associated with drunk driving and being on a smartphone while driving are very similar. Both cause distraction and impaired driving and can potentially kill someone. In my opinion, if you have to take your eyes off the road to do something on your smartphone than you have no right being behind the wheel of a vehicle. Similarly, if you take one sip of alcohol, you also have no right being behind the wheel of a vehicle. Both of these …show more content…
I may still be upset, but the penalties that this guy has to live with are fair. I find this argument to be very interesting because I have experienced both circumstances. Last year my friend and I were biking to school and a car crossed over into the bike lane and hit her. That was the most horrific accident to see. It takes one second for someone to look down at their phone, swerve into a different lane and injure someone. Let me ask you something – how many times have you looked down at your phone to check a text or maybe look at your GPS then look back at the road and have to slam on your brakes or quickly jerk the wheel to get you back into your own lane? I bet thinking back on you think to yourself that that is either just as bad or maybe even worse than drinking and driving. Going back to my story, that woman did not get charged with as much as she should have nor did she get sent to prison. However, she was just as distracted as a drunk driver would be. She might not have killed my friend but she sure did hurt her. Therefore, yes, in my opinion drunk drivers and drivers distracted by smartphones should most definitely have the same
You are always in control of your own actions. You have a choice to drink then drive, then you have a choice to stay were you are at. Just make sure you can handle the consequences, because you bring
In today’s day and age there are so many excuses for distracted driving. Lives are put at risk every time a distracted motorist is on the road, and deaths have increased by a substantial amount in the last ten years. On Thursday, April 26th, 2014 one woman’s bad judgement cost her life (Hastings, 1). Not only was she effected, but her friends and family assuredly felt a pain in their hearts. In the few seconds it took Courtney Ann Sanford to post a few words on Facebook, it was enough to distract her from the road and to drive across another lane and through a median straight into a Truck (Hastings, 1). She was immediately killed. Shortly before her Facebook post, she was sending selfies to her friends (Hastings, 3). This just goes to show
Car crashes are no laughing matter. Being in a car crash and seeing a family suffer because of the crash is devastating. The only thing being more horrific than witnessing the crash is being the reason it started. There is no need to be on your phone while driving. Emails, texts, and social media can wait. In their editorial, Editorial Board, Star Tribune explains why a bipartisan plan to restrict cellphone use while driving should get approved this session in Minnesota. First, Star Tribune incorporates specific details to emphasize the significance of this bill getting put in place. Then, Star Tribune appeals to your logos by adding statistics into their editorial to express the injury and death
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
Approximately one million people are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes every year, and young people, ages 16 to 24 are involved in 28% of those alcohol-related driving accidents. Drunk driving not only puts yourself in danger, but those around you. Drunk driving in Wisconsin doesn’t have strict laws. The fine for drunk driving in Wisconsin on the first offense ranges from 150-300 dollars. You could’ve killed someone. A life doesn’t cost 300 dollars. Life is priceless. Drunk driving in America is a large reason for injuries or deaths of young adults and teens.
While driving down the turnpike do you ever see an auto before you that is swerving or accelerating and backing off? At that point you think to yourself, "I would prefer not to take after behind or be in the path right alongside them." So you accelerate, and beyond any doubt enough the driver is utilizing their mobile phone. Actually, I am certain you have. Mobile phone utilization while driving is not just disappointing for different drivers; it is exceptionally perilous to all drivers who are on the road. At the point when a driver is utilizing a mobile phone, it doesn 't make a difference what sort of individual they are, or what their age is, or their sexual orientation, accidents don 't demonstrate any
According to Levinthal (2011), alcohol is called the hidden drug because an alcoholic does not need to find a drug dealer on the street; instead it is legally available and has no criminal sanctions attached to its use; alcoholism is therefore easily hidden from friends and family. Unfortunately, drunk driving is the leading cause of deaths on roadways, and in addition causes hundreds of boating accidents as well. Fortunately, with the legal drinking age set at twenty one and the reduction in the BAC level of intoxication set to 0.08, there have been positive results in minimizing alcohol related deaths annually.
There is knocking at a door late at night, and there a policeman standing at the door with information that a family member was in an accident that involved a drunk driver. This is one of those things people hear and believe that it will not happen, but it happens every day. Every 40 minutes, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver and in 2008, in Montana, 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involved DUIs (“Drunk Driving” 1). Drunk Driving affects everyone and people in Montana should look at what other states do to find ways to make the laws tougher and more enforced.
Impaired driving is a very significant problem within our society. Impaired driving is defined in Canada as operating a vehicle (including cars, trucks, boats, snowmobiles and off-road vehicles) while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is recognized as a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada. Despite a sizeable drop in the impaired driving rate since the mid-1980s, impaired driving is the leading cause of criminal death in Canada. It is a major issue that is taken very lenient but is far more dangerous than people actually consider it to truly be. Driving under the influence does not only put the person operating the vehicle in potential danger and harm, but also has the potential to do harm towards innocent others. With this being said, the punishments regarding the accused’s conviction of crimes related to impaired driving should be far stricter than the current punishments in order to stop impaired driving within our flawed society. This stated, these are my following reasons as to why I believe that the punishments of impaired driving should be stricter.
Over the last several years the dangers of driving while intoxicated have increased and have become a serious threat to this nation. Although, men are considered the main perpetrators of DUIs recently women, young adults, and even teenagers have been pulled over and arrested for being intoxicated while operating a vehicle. Many groups and organizations have been formed in an attempt to keep drunk drivers off the roads. Laws have been passed and are constantly changing in an attempt to cut down the number of DUIs and deaths. With new technology in production and automakers adding more safety features to their cars the war against drunken driving is still going on. Therefore, as a result of the increase due to drinking and driving, it is essential that tougher laws are enacted.
Distracted driving is an issue that needs to be addressed. “When drivers who had an accident or near-accident due to distracted driving were asked, many said they would repeat the hazardous behavior” (Brody). Many states have enacted texting bans, but that does not seem to be enough. In survey conducted by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 67 percent of drivers surveyed admitted to talking on the phone while driving and 21 percent had been texted (Richtel). One solution might be to require drivers to stow devices such as cell phones. If driver seen with access to a distracting device a citation should be issue. When people are reprimanded with monetary losses, they tend to change their behavior. Multiple offenders should be subject to the loss of their driving privileges similar speeders. Common sense, with distraction laws, should come into play. It would seem arbitrary to give drivers tickets if their passengers were using any such devices like cell phones. If distracted driving laws existed, insurance compa...
“An estimated 4 million U.S. adults reported driving under the influence of alcohol at least once in 2010 yielding an estimated 112 million alcohol-impaired driving episodes” (Chambers, M., Liu, M., & Moore, C.). Driving while under the influence over the legal limit is illegal, therefore should be strongly enforced. “Here are 10 things that happen when you’re stopped for driving under the influence (DUI): You will get arrested, you will go to court, your driver’s license will be suspended, you will pay fines, you may go to jail, you may receive probation, you may need to attend DUI school, you could be asked to attend an alcohol evaluation, and you may have to pay higher auto insurance” (Wutke, S.). Most first time DUI cases will be dismissed with a warning or small fine. Offenders with their first, second, and even third offense still may only get a warning or fine causing them to believe that drinking and driving isn’t a serious offense.
The use of mobile phones while driving are a major destruction to the drivers, it is definitely no different from a mother trying to nurse a baby at the back sit. A good percentage of road accidents has been attributed to driver destruction. (David and William, 2001) There are evidence of cell phone related road carnages and this remains to be a concern. In 1999 a girl was killed by a driver when he got destructed by a phone, same case reported last year and even the death of a state corrections officer on North Carolina. However much drivers say they have a right to use their mobile phones, they should know of the destructions it causes when
Drunk driving is extremely impactful on the lives of you and others. While drinking and driving, you are not just endangering yourself, you are also endangering the lives of others. The driver of the car does not just control the car with their hands and feet. They need their brain to function properly so that you are able to react to objects on the road quicker and control the car. If you drink then drive/ drink while driving. Alcohol affects your brain in many ways that inhibit your ability to drive. Alcohol will affect your reaction time, it slows your reflexes which decrease your ability to react to objects on the road. It affects your vision, in can impair your color perception, and night vision. It slows down the movement in the muscles in your eye causing your visual perception to change. Alcohol affects your ability to track. You will not be able to judge the position of cars ahead of you, you won’t be able to judge the
The offence of driving carelessly is judged to an objective standard, the standard of a reasonable man and his driving skills. This poses a number of issues as firstly, what is the reasonable standard and when does the defendant fall under that standard. It is part of human nature to make errors from time to time, whether they are minor or major. Every driver at some point through their driving history has made some error. So when the mistake is a lapse in concentration and they were just under the standard of a careful driver but an unlikely outcome of death occurs, it undoubtedly cannot be justified to convict that person.