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Driving distractions and its effects essay
Driving distractions and its effects essay
Essays on causes and effects of distracted driving
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The causes of accidents among teenagers are distractions, driving under the influence of alcohol and inexperience. When teenagers allow themselves to be distracted from keeping their focus on the road it lessens their response time to actions that may need to be taken to avoid accidents. Alcohol is another cause of delayed reaction, which in turn can be the cause or reduce the ability to prevent an accident. . Approximately 2,000 underage drinkers die each year behind the wheel and alcohol is a factor in a third of all teenage auto fatalities (Driving Laws, n.d.). Not having the ability to quickly ascertain a situation and respond appropriately, due to lack of experience is another cause of accidents as well as speeding, which greatly reduces …show more content…
Alcohol-related traffic fatalities constituted almost 37 percent of all fatal youth traffic fatalities (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2002). If teenagers are educated on the risk involved in driving under the influence of alcohol, the chances that they would indulge in this activity would be greatly reduced. Clearly state your opposition and rules against driving under the influence followed by punishments associated with violating these rules. Building alliances with your teenagers parents to ensure the two families work together to reduce the possibility of the teenagers driving under the influence of alcohol. Implementing stricter laws on teenagers driving under the influence, in way of taking away their driving privileges or restricting their driving privileges. Stricter laws could also be implemented and enforced on adults who provide teenagers with alcohol and alcoholic beverages. There are times when teenagers find themselves with friends that choose to drink and drive or they find themselves being pressured into activities they wouldn’t ordinarily participate in. In this situation there needs to be a rule that teenagers can call home for a ride with no questions asked. This will allow the teenager to feel comfortable enough to have the parents as a safe alternative for a ride home opposed to getting in a vehicle with someone under the influence or getting behind the wheel while under the influence to try to make it home. Collaboration among parents, teenagers, other parents as well as law enforcement can reduce the fatalities associated with auto accidents associated with teenage
Drunk driving accidents are the number one killer of adolescents (Teenagers and peer pressures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). Mixing drinking while driving can be deadly. Teenage drunk driving accidents not only affect the person drinking while driving, but it also can kill or harm others (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) (Teen drinking and driving. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) . Every single accident provoked by drinking and driving could have been prevented. If underage drinking is illegal, why do young people do it ? Teenagers usually are influenced by their elders (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). In the United States, one out of ten 12 through 14 year olds have tried alcohol and continue to do so on a regular basis . There is a more than fifty percent of probability that young adults that have tried alcohol at a younger age may become alcoholics in the near future (Alcohol fatalities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). So, why do teenagers take so many risks with their health and behind the wheel? The answer is simple teen drivers tend to think they are invincible and more needs to be done to educate teens on the dangers of drinking and driving.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
The use of alcohol by adolescents is implicated in about one third of all fatal crashes involving teens.
Teenage alcohol abuse is one of the major problems that affect academic performance, cause health problems and is responsible for the death of teenage drivers and sometime their passengers. Many teens drink because they think it is cool and do not understand the dangers of drinking alcohol. In 2008 a survey on the students views on alcohol was conducted in the Atlanta Public School System of 4,241 students surveyed results showed 74% of sixth graders felt there was a health risk while 25% felt there was no health risk; 81% of eighth graders felt there was a health risk, while 19% felt there was none; 82% of tenth graders felt there was a health risk, while 18% felt there was none, and 84% of twelve graders felt there was a health risk, while 15% felt there was none. Given these results on average of all grades, 20% of the students surveyed were unaware of the dangers of alcohol use. If one calculates, using the formular of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2003), “three teens are killed each day when they drink alcohol and drive. At least six more die every day from other alcohol-related causes” (table 79). The impact of this student population’s lack of knowledge equates to 49 of those students per week who most likely will die because they do not understand the dangers of alcohol.2
Just like the teenage boy that died in the wreck, most young teen drivers think they are invincible and are owners of the road which is all due to lack of maturity. The mind set of young drivers now days is “I’m too young to die”, or “it wont happen to me” and they are so blinded by the immature thinking that it gets them in trouble. Some traits generally linked with the immaturity are: chance taking, testing limits, poor-decision making, overconfidence, speeding, following to closely, and dangerous passing (Williams). When you have youthful age and immature characteristics combined the crash possibility is enlarged. The 15-16 age groups are among the most accident prone of most groups (“Don’t”), so why then would we want them behind the wheel? “Most U.S. states license at age 16, but the minimum age for a regular license is 14 in South Dakota and 15 in five other states including: Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina”, stated Allan F. Williams. Youthful age and immature thinking is part of the reason wh...
According to national teen driving statistics, 16-year-olds, in particular, are 3 (three) times more likely to die in a crash than the average of all drivers, and they have higher crash rates than any other age group. In 2008; 81% of teenage crash deaths were passenger vehicle occupants, 31% of teenage drivers killed had been drinking alcohol, 55% were not buckled up, and 37% of male teenage drivers involved in fatalities were speeding. Teenagers who drink and drive have a greater risk of serious crashes than older drivers with equal blood alcohol concentrations. Teens do not wear seat/safety belts as much as adults. Teens tend to take more risks due to overconfidence in their abilities. These risks include: speeding, tailgating (driving too close to the vehicle in front), running red lights, violating traffic signals and signs, illegal turns, dangerous passing, and failure to yield to pedestrians.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and about one-third of those are alcohol related. Don’t be that person that lets a drunken driver on the streets; be the difference.
The increasing penalties for getting caught as a drunk driver have increased over the years. The government has taken measures to educate teenagers about the dangers of drinking and driving and the many lives that could be lost. Schools such as Los Amigos High School have taken the responsibility to educate these teens towards the dangers of drinking and driving with the assistance of The National Every 15 Minutes Organization (www.every15minutes.com). This organization seeks to give students the opportunity to feel first hand the effects of drinking and driving with out the risk. Measures such as the ones taken through the Every 15 Minutes Organization would not be taken if the institutions and people had not sought to end prohibition and still try to protect the lives of those that they care about.
Drunk driving is an issue that effects many people across our nation. People do not realize the affects alcohol can have on the body and mind that slow decision making while driving. This issue begins in the home. Children see their parents, or other adults figures, have a beer or a cocktail and get in the car. Thus, making it seem like it is acceptable to drink and drive. “One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime” (MADD).
Driving at the age of sixteen is perfectly okay with people who does not seem to care because he or she feels as if someone gets into a car they are automatically going to put all attention into driving the vehicle which is not true nowadays because teenage drivers feel the need to be on a cell phone or trying to control the radio and trying to get dressed or put on make up when he or she should only be focused on operating the car. As the CDC stated “High school students aged 16 years and older who, when surveyed, said they had driven a vehicle one or more times during the past 30 days when they had been drinking alcohol.” ("Teen Drinking and Driving"), high school students are actually drinking when they should not be anywhere neat alcohol beverages and be able to drive. Based on these facts “Teens are more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns, ride with an intoxicated driver, and drive after using alcohol or drugs.” (Only the Strong Survive "Teen Driving Crash and Fatality Stats"), teenagers are most likely to one ride with a intoxicated driver, and two driver after using alcohol or drugs which proves my point that teenagers should not be able to drive at such a young
· Complete behind-the-wheel training through an approved program to receive a valid permit for a minimum of 6 moths of supervised driving.
The biggest problem with drunk driving by young adults is the high rate of traffic accidents. Although young drivers ages 16 through 25 makeup only 15% of U.S. licensed drivers, they constitute 30 percent of all alcohol-related driving fatalities. This is double the amount of licensed drivers in that age group. Inexperience with both drinking and driving may contribute to this disproportionate rate. Nationwide in 1996, people ages 15 to 24 died in fatal motor vehicle crashes and 45 percent of those deaths were a result of alcohol (NHTSA 4). So it comes to no surprise that traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States for people younger than 25 (NCHS 98).
Young drivers usually lack the knowledge as well as the experience of both drinking and driving while being less cautious on the road. Among all ages, youths are more likely to die or be seriously injured than any other age group when driving impaired. In fact, adding impaired driving to inexperienced youth drivers will actually increase the likelihood of getting into accidents. Not only do teens drink and drive, but induce drugs, most young people see this far less dangerous than alcohol. They think driving under the influence of drugs is risk-free, despite the evidence of which it can shorten the attention span and slower reaction times – all of which can impair the driver’s ability to respond to sudden events in traffic. A 2012 study by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax found that smoking three hours before driving nearly doubled a driver’s risk of having a motor vehicle crash. Combining drugs with even small amounts of alcohol greatly increases the negative impact on driving
Teens only make up seventeen percent of the population today, but almost twenty percent of fatal crashes are due to teenagers behind the wheel. Growing numbers suggest to change the driving age to eighteen and some even believe that changing it to twenty-one may save even more lives. With a sixteen year old behind the wheel, accidents are even more likely to occur when compared to a seventeen year old (Boulard). With so much new technology in today’s society there are more distractions on the road than ever before; therefore the legal driving age should be raised to save more lives. If we do not act quickly then more lives will be lost.
Teenagers are getting back on the roads and behind the wheel, meaning the risk of accidents is higher. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year olds. Automakers are creating ways to make their automobiles safer in order to reduce these deaths. Teenage drivers are inexperienced and need the extra protection to keep them safe if an incident were to occur. Automobile safety features are necessary for the teenage driver to stay protected and alert.