Texting and Driving Imagine running three football fields with your eyes closed. Now imagine driving 75 miles per hour on the interstate and closing your eyes for the length of approximately three football fields, or 4.6 seconds. This is effectively what happens when people text and drive. Texting and driving is a serious problem in the US and is resulting in too many deaths and accidents. There are some startling statistics about texting and driving. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) stated that in 2008, 16% of all fatal crashes and 21% of all crashes were caused by texting and driving (Chordas; Hartwell). Over 50% of teens admit to using cell phones while driving (Hart; Paterson). That was over five years ago and even more people are texting and driving today. This shows that this problem is not going to go away. The United States is falling behind when it comes to texting and driving laws. In Japan is illegal to text and drive with penalties up to three months in prison. In Great Britain, it is a criminal offense to text and drive. On a global scale...
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality states that texting while driving causes nearly eleven teen deaths every day and 330,000 injuries per year. Almost 25 percent of all car accidents involve someone who was texting as they were driving; that is 1.3 million crashes. Texting while driving is the number one distraction for majority of drivers. Five seconds is the minimal amount of time a driver’s attention is taken from the road while using a cell phone. With that being said, if one is traveling at 55mph, five seconds is equal to driving the length of a football field without paying attention to the road.
SMS texting began in 1985 and started to gain popularity in 1990, as soon as society was captivated by this new technology, texting and driving became an issue along with the lack of legislation and ability to control it. Law makers and law enforcement are re...
The ability to drive is one of the greatest privileges anyone is allowed to receive, and should not be taken for granted. Many people though do not take this into consideration, and will often fail to realize that their doing something wrong when they are driving. Texting while driving is one of the most common mistakes people do while driving, and is most responsible for many car collisions, and deaths. Over the years many people are now using their phones while driving, and many of those people are teenagers, that are just starting off driving.
This is also why I think they should just ban all use of cell phones. “13% of drivers age 18-20 involved in car wrecks admitted to texting or talking on the phone at the time of the crash. 34% of teens say they have texted while behind the wheel of the car, 82% of Americans age 16-17 own a cell phone. 52% say they have talked on the phone while driving.” (Texting ad driving Blog) These numbers could be reduced if we applied the changes I have stated to the
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.
In 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions involved cell phones--that’s 1.3 million crashes total. The minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road while texting and driving is 5 seconds. This means if you’re traveling at 55 miles per hour, that equals driving the length of a football field without even looking at the road.
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...
Eleven percent of all drivers under the age of 20 are involved in fatal crashes every year (Dr. Williams, 2010). All of those accidents have been reported as being distracted at the time of the crash. Admit it some people cannot resist those text messaged that’s coming to their phone. I would totally encourage people to stop texting while driving.
Therefore there are many reasons as to why people shouldn’t text and drive. Taking your eyes off the road even just for a few seconds can be really risky. Washington state became the first to pass a law prohibiting drivers from texting behind the wheel. Studies have proven that typing on a cell phone or handheld device triples the risk of a crash. “Is it worth a life, or even an accident?” (Roux, 2). A lot of people may believe taking their eyes off the road for a few seconds to answer a text is not dangerous at all. When in reality it is the most dangerous thing a person could do behind the
Ever since cellphones grew in existence and intelligence, people have become more engaged in texting. This is not adding the use of social media, which is also a means to deviate our attention off the road. It is a grave situation in which people can put themselves and others in danger. Texting and driving affects our reaction time, and it increases our insurance costs unbearably. For this reason, each state should pass texting-while-driving bans that apply to everyone, in order to deter reckless accidents and/or fatalities in the United States.
A group of friends drive around town and the driver receives a text. The driver decides to answer the text,veers into the other lane and hits an oncoming car. In the last seven years, the number of teens texting while driving has risen . Researchers at Cohen Children's Medical Center New Hyde Park estimated 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries (Ricks). This is more than the number of teens who drink and drive. In comparison, 2,700 teens die from drinking and driving. Because of texting and driving, there has been an increase car crashes, teen injuries and teen deaths.
Texting while driving makes a crash twenty three times more likely to happen (Texting While Driving Statistics). At any given moment, 660,000 drivers are using electronic devices while driving (Brooks). Most people say they would not drive while blindfolded, but when they text and drive it is the same thing. Someone going at sixty five miles per hour for only four to five seconds while driving is equivalent to covering the length of a football field, blindfolded (Brooks). But the problem is not only found in automobile drivers. Train engineers, bus drivers, and truck drivers are also part of the problem. There has been an incident where a train driver sent a dozen or so text messages while driving a train with passengers. He sent a text
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
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).
In 2015 alone, 218 of our fellow citizens died in car crashes (“Texting while driving is costing us all”). Car crashes have become part of our reality. Majority of our car crashes comes from being on a phone, tablet, or even an iPad or being distracted in some sort of way while driving, most likely texting. Texting and driving increases the risk of killing people and can cause insurance rates to increase significantly.