The Use Of Driving And The Dangers Of Texting And Driving

Have you ever been in a car while someone was texting on their phone? It has been proven that 3,000 annual teens die nationwide and have more than 300,000 injuries from texting. This paper will inform you about how driving and texting is more dangerous that it looks. Please be aware most of these accidents are really hectic. Many people lose their lives every day from cellular devices.

The scary thing is that 77% of young adults are either a little or extremely confident that they can safely text and drive, while another 50% claim it’s easy to do. Last year, 1.3 million accidents were a result of texting while driving. There are way too many risks that come along with it. According to Mary Madden and Amanda Lenhart (2009), “ forty percent of teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that had put themselves or others in danger ” Texting is one of the most distracting things that can be done while driving. When texting, most people have their eyes off the road for at least five seconds.

Did you know that most wrecks today are caused by distracted drivers? Although, using cell phones are banned while driving, people still use them illegally, causing many wrecks. There are many ways to be considered as a distracted driver, such as texting, using a cell phone, talking to others in the car, grooming, watching a video, adjusting car settings, eating and/or drinking, and reading maps or books. How has texting impacted the number of wrecks in the United States? “The government says that 3,092 people died in one year in “distractions- affected” crashes, a newly refined measurement meant to tally effect of texting, phoning or simply answering a cell while driving.

There have been to many drivers who die while texting or using a cell phone. Most car accidents happen because of the 5 seconds the driver takes their eyes of the road. If it only takes five seconds for something terrible to happen then people should not be spending their time texting or talking. Texting or talking on a handheld device makes a driver twenty three times more likely to have an accident. This means that texting is extremely dangerous for a driver and puts them at risk for injury.

Whether its texting, talking on the phone, sending emails, or surfing the web. Cell phone use is associated with higher rates of fatal car crashes. Accidents involving drivers using their cell phones are avoidable but many people put everyone’s safety at risk by ignoring laws against distracted driving.” (Edgar Snyder & Associates .2002-2014) This is why so many people get killed by texting and driving! “Texting while driving makes a driver 23 xs more likely to crash. Drivers talking on a cell phone are 4 xs more likely to have a car accident.

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).

Texting and Driving Teenagers and adults day after day suffer from the wrath of texting and driving. The National Highway Traffic Administration reported that in “2010, texting and driving was the cause of eighteen percent of all fatal crashes with 3,092 people killed. Texting and driving also resulted in crashes that cause 416,000 people being wounded” (Par. 6). Cell phone use in cars starts to become an issue when the number one driving distraction reported by teen and young adult drivers is texting and driving.

That means that at least 3,331 people lost a loved one in accident involving someone who chose to drive distracted. In 2011, statistics showed that an estimated 1.6 million car accidents involved drivers using cell phones while driving (National Safety Council). Of course there are other forms of distracted driving other than using a cell phone. Another common form of distracted driving is driving while intoxicated. Some may believe that driving while intoxicated is more dangerous than using a cell phone while driving.

Dangers of Driving While Texting At any given moment, one in five drivers around are texting on their phone while driving(Scholastic Action 2010). Cell phones have created a huge problem in America. Nearly 100 percent of vehicles have a cell phone in the car while driving, often times in arms reach. Crashes caused by distracted drives kill thousands of innocent people every year. In todays society Americans cannot go without a cell phone for several minutes.

“BREAKING NEWS, yet another driver dies from the distraction of texting while driving”. These stories are constantly on the news and seem to be inevitable. Car accidents are the leading cause of teen deaths in the United States combining with inexperience and distractions, such as texting while driving. No state bans all cell phone use for all drivers. Driving and the technology we have today are not a good combination, and there are phone applications and devices to prevent this conflict.