Argumentative Essay On Texting While Driving

Texting While Driving
Distracted drivers should have to pay a fine for texting. Even though the exact definition of distracted driving has yet to be made know to the public by the government, the government itself has chosen to use texting on the phone as its poster child. It will be hard to reach people by just telling them it is dangerous, just put the phone down while driving. People are addicted to phones. They literally sleep with them (Moneo 5). One in three Americans use their phones everywhere they go: school, restaurants, movie theaters (Scherer). Carriers even make water proof phones so users can use them in the shower or while swimming. One article states that, “fines should start at one thousand dollars” (Moneo 5). Think of it this

Taking eyes off of the road for fifteen seconds going sixty miles per hour is the length of a football field (“Driving Smarter and Safer”). A driver who is focused on looking at their phone cannot pay enough attention to other cars or their surroundings. Something as simple as a deer running out in front of the car can do serious damage to the car, and cause the driver to swerve and hit another vehicle. The official definition of texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, or reading a text message or email while operating a moving motor vehicle (Scherer). Naturally, along with the standard cars, other such motor vehicles would include heavier duty autos such as trucks, semis and buses. Texting and driving is a dangerous practice. Yet so many people do

No matter how much experience a driver thinks they have, under no circumstance should they be texting while driving. Prevention plans are in place to avoid fatal crashes due to cell phone use while driving. New York has opened up texting zones where users have a designated spot to pull over and use their phones (“Driving Smarter and Safer”). If every state had texting zones on the interstates, this would stop the urge of looking at the phone every time the user gets a notification. All the applications that people have on their phones could get a notification every two seconds (Department of Transportation). It probably will not cause everybody to pull over when they get a notification but it will lower the numbers. Just getting people to pull over at a rest stop, not just for snacks and gas, but to use their phones would prevent deadly accidents. Maryland also has a law in place. It is called the “Jake Law.” The Jake Law fines people who have been involved in a fatal crash a five thousand dollar fine or up to a year in jail (“Driving Smarter and Safer”). The senate took things seriously and since the Jake law has been in tact death rates on the road have decreased. All states and cities need to pass and heavily enforce the “Jake Law.” It is one law that has proven itself by lowering the rate of fatal crashes. If users were to be