The Pros And Cons Of Texting While Driving

Each day in the US, over 8 people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2015). As the world becomes more connected electronically; visual, manual, as well as cognitive distractions can endanger a driver and others. Texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distractions (US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014). While most of the texting while driving decreases as Americans grow older, literature on the subject suggests that there are substantive differences in the reason and behaviors of those who use mobile devices while operating a vehicle. The articles

GDL programs allow young drivers to safely gain driving experience before obtaining full driving privileges. Highlights of some of the restrictions in the GDL system are cell phone/texting, nighttime driving, passenger restrictions, even possible novice driver decals. As of March 2016, no state had completely banned all forms of cell phone use by drivers. However, forty-six states have banned text messaging for all drivers. In forty-one of those states, texting laws are a primary enforcement and the others involve secondary enforcement. Of the four states without all-driver texting bans, two prohibit text messaging by novice drivers and one restricts school bus drivers from texting (NHTSA, 2016a). Additionally, the federal government had issued an executive order in 2009 prohibiting federal employees from texting while driving on government business or with government equipment (Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving,

For example, people are socialized into such behaviors through observing others texting while driving and using a mobile recklessly while driving. As such behaviors become normalized within everyday experience, people are likely to feel texting, albeit potentially risky, is simply a normative feature for driving (Seiler, 2015). Steven J. Seiler, PhD, mentions in an academic journal that those who use the internet on their mobiles are more likely to text while driving, along with those who text during inappropriate non-driving environments, than those who do not. The findings provide substantial evidence that a variety of complex social factors impact the likelihood of texting while driving (Seiler, 2015). However, future research will be necessary to understand the qualitative dimensions of mobile