Being able to drive may be a dream for some, but it can easily be turned into a nightmare that you cannot wake up from. With the ever-increasing use of technology, DWI’s are not the only dangerous driving conditions on the road. Distracted drivers are putting themselves, other people on the road and their passengers at risk. According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) over 3,331 people were killed and over 387,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents connected to distracted driving (Learn The Facts About Distracted Driving). The National Safety Council disputes these findings, and says that at least 28 percent of vehicle crashes are caused by texting and cell phone use alone. A survey by AT&T found many motorists …show more content…
Weber has also been sentenced to 300 hours of community service and plans to speak about his crime as part of his sentence. On Monday June 30th, 2014 Christopher Weber, distracted by his phone making a bank transaction while driving in Rock County, Minneapolis, Crashed into Andrea Boeve who was bicycling with her two preschool aged daughters, Claire and Mallory. This accident resulted in Andrea Boeve dying, but her daughters survived. One of the daughters, Claire suffered from five broken ribs, while the other, Mallary suffered from minor injuries. One year later, Christopher Weber came to St. Paul as part of the Minnesota State Patrol's widening campaign against distracted driving, Weber tells his story in a 10-minute video produced by the State Patrol and came to St. Paul to show it for the first time. Weber explains he had been calling his bank to make a loan payment and only looked at his phone for a split second. He said he didn't see the woman riding her bike alongside Rock County Highway 270, with her two children. "I was working. I was an electrician. I was going from one jobsite to the next. I thought, 'What better time; I've done it before. Why not do it now?' So I picked that phone up and made that call,"
Over the past two decades the use of cell phones has grown significantly and statistic from the past two years have proven that driving while on the phone or texting is becoming one of the leading causes of traffic accidents today. In 2011, a survey of more than 2800 American adults revealed that even thought they know that using a cell phone or texting while driving is distracting, they do it anyway, and teens surveyed admit that texting while driving is their number one distraction. "Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% ...
Star Tribune mentions that according to the Department of Public Safety, "distracted driving causes on in four Minnesota car crashes and results in at least 70 deaths and 305 serious injuries a year." This statistic appeals to logos by explaining how distracted driving is a serious matter. The statistic conveys an informative tone. Star Tribune incorporates the statistic to build their ethos. The statistic makes car accidents seem more realistic to their audience. This causes the audience to get alarmed about car accidents as well. Then, Star Tribune writes that the U.S. Department of Transportation reports, "Nationally, highway deaths spiked to 35,092 in 2015, the highest one-year increase since 1966." Star Tribune includes this statistic to explain how deadly car crashes are. This establishes a fretful tone. The statistic appeals to the audience's logical reasoning about how car accidents need to stop. The statistic also builds Star Tribune's ethos by quoting the U.S Department of Transportation: A trusted source. Star Tribune also adds that the U.S. Department of Transportation blamed the 7.2 percent of deaths per miles traveled on drunken driving, speeding, distracted driving from a phone or other hand held device. The data concluded "that about 10 percent of fatal crashes in 2015 involved at least one distracted driver." The statistic means that for every 3,509 car accident death, at least one death was from
Every person who has gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle will be involved in some sort of automobile collision at some point in his or her lifetime. Traffic accidents account for over twenty thousand deaths each year and more than ten times as many injuries. There are a number of factors that contribute to these types of collisions, however, new and evolving laws can account for a large portion of successful preventable measures. In order for laws to be changed or added for the purpose of safer roads and highways, lawmakers have to first look at what factors contribute to such unsafe conditions. The top five causes of automobile accidents that cause injury are distracted drivers, driver fatigue, drunk driving, speeding, and aggressive driving. Laws can be proposed to reduce and even eliminate each of these risks.
According to Stephanie Hanes in the essay “Texting While Driving Is as Dangerous as Drunk Driving,” a driver on a phone and those talking on a phone are four times likely to crash. This statistic shows how dangerous using the phone or even texting is while driving. As technology has increased, so has the use of cellphone. Distracted driving has caused an increase in car fatalities and disasters. However, distracted driving can be prevented if drivers take precautions, but no matter what we do, trouble will always be spelling on the road.
Distracted driving something that is known too well, and can been seen on a day to day basis on the road. But what is the underlining cause, and biggest reason for the negative impact of distracted driving. The conversation addresses the issue of DD (distracted driving), convey that adults and teens need to educate themselves about distracted driving. To inform adults and teens, 3 main points will be addressed in this paper, what is counts as distracted driving, what is the culture of entitlement, and lastly address some data.
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
Over the years, there has been much controversy as to how the national problem of distracted driving can be resolved. Distracted driving is quickly emerging as a major cause of death. Contrary to belief, by 2030, road traffic injuries are projected to be the fifth leading cause of death worldwide surpassing HIV, aids, cancer, violence, and diabetes (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2014). However, in Canada distracted driving laws are fragmented by provincial and territorial policies and should be implemented into the Criminal Code of Canada, due to the fact that major efforts to enforce and increase penalties have not changed the troubling distracted driving rates.
I rear ended a car due to the action of distracted driving. Distractions while driving can include anything from the use of social media on a cellular phone, messing with a navigation system, brushing one's hair, speaking to the passengers, or eating a big mac. In my situation, I was toying with the music in my car. I was dissatisfied with the current song so I decided to switch it up. I was at a stoplight so at the time I thought it would be okay for me to change the song. But within the timespan of a blink of an eye, my foot went off the brake and I rear-ended the car in front of me. I was following the car way too closely so by the time I realized my foot had wavered I already made a mark on the car ahead of me. I wanted to fist bump to
Most of the drivers are likely to mix up driving and messaging from their cell phones while driving regardless of the laws standing on the issues, and danger posed to them. A majority of those drivers engaging in this act do not contemplate the possible detrimental effects from their actions. Research has indicated that texting while driving contributes to road accidents significantly. This situation is sufficiently bad to the extent that there are more accidents caused by messaging while driving than those caused by drunken driving (Fumento n.p.). From the foregoing statements, this essay seeks to support the laws, which outlaws texting while driving by highlighting how dangerous it is for drivers to massage while driving.
Cheng, Cheng. "Do Cell Phone Bans Change Driver Behavior?." Economic Inquiry 53.3 (2015): 1420-1436. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
I did it. I finished the last item. “Hooray!” I exclaimed. “Ben, I’m done. Are we ready to head home soon?” I asked.
Distracted driving: the practice of driving a motor vehicle while engaged in another activity. Anything besides focusing on the road can be considered distracted driving. Most people would think that the only real distraction while driving is the use of a cell phone, however, that is entirely untrue. There are people that give the term, distracted driving, a whole new meaning. People do everything from fixing their makeup to shaving while driving in their cars. Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car crashes in the United States.
You get a phone call from the Police Department. You can get a call from anyone or your there to experience it. You get dreadful news. Your child or loved one was a victim of distracted while driving. What if you’re also in a car finding out this dreadful news.
According to the U.S Department of Transportation, ten percent of all drivers from ages fifteen to nineteen that were involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. Therefore, it can be seen that distracted driving is a major issue among many drivers in this generation. Unfortunately, many times distracted driving can end up in horrid tragedy almost as fast as the time it takes for someone to look down at their phone and get distracted. Many organizations have created advertisements, and public service announcements that help shine the light on these serious issues, and help educate people. Videos, and photos depicting the dangers and consequences of distracted driving can be seen throughout many platforms.
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).