Distracted driving is something myself, as a driver, encounters everyday. From resisting to look at my phone, to seeing other people on the road using their phone and putting my life in danger. When I see people swerving because they’re distracted, it puts an image into my mind that I’ve heard too many stories about. People are dying because of a text, or a phone call, not to mention the plethora of other distractions on the road. I am declaring my independence from distracted driving because I care about my community, it could put me in harms way, and a life is way more important than a simple message. Many drivers believe that there is only one way of being distracted on the road. However, there are many. Let me break it down into …show more content…
three main categories. There are visual distractions, cognitive distractions, and manual distractions. Visual distractions take your eyes away from the road. This could be something like an animal on the side of the road. Cognitive distractions are those that the mind is unfocused from driving. And manual is when your hands are off the wheel. Something as simple as reaching to grab a drink is a manual distraction from driving. With many diversions, all three types of distractions are included, and this is when it is the most dangerous. According to the CDC, “Each day in the United States, over 8 people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver.” This is a statistic that doesn’t have to be true for our community. By raising awareness to this issue, I believe I can inspire my peers to pledge to not use distractions while driving for reasons that aren’t nearly important as someone’s life. “At 55 mph, the average text takes your eyes off the road long enough to cover a football field,” as said by the CDC. Just a simple reply would be enough distance to cover a football field at 55 mph. I won’t be biased and say I’ve never been distracted while being in control of a vehicle.
And this is why my own life will be in danger if I don’t stop what triggers me to look down at my phone or any other distraction. “To change people’s behavior, we must change the trigger — in this case, the text or call notification — that causes the behavior in the first place,” as said by Sarah Doody. She suggests the app called “Lifesaver,” which is an app that locks the device after you begin driving. No notifications will go off which is what triggers people to look at or send a message from their phone. “Phones have such a profound psychological power on our actions that it's not realistic to rely on people to have the self control to stop using their devices while driving,” states Sarah Doody. Some researchers suggest that law enforcement can go through a driver’s phone after they’ve been in an automotive accident. However, this would only get them in trouble after the damage is done, instead of preventing the cause of it. With the LifeSaver app, there won’t be a desire to look down at a cell phone because no notifications will be going off. To protect myself, I have downloaded this app. I don’t want to be in danger nor do I want to put others in danger while driving. I declare my own independence from texting and driving. Many people will agree that a life is more important than a text, or a spilled drink, or a book. However, “a recent survey by State Farm Insurance revealed that 98 percent of drivers understand the danger associated with texting while driving, but 36 percent of the respondents admitted to engaging in this risky behavior anyway”, according to Paul Wilkinson Law Firm. This shows directly the ignorance that drivers portray while on the road. Nobody’s life should be taken from a simple mistake made on the road. The more you do it, your chances of an accident on the road increase. Think about your loved ones and how you would be devastated if they
made the choice to send a text back to someone and ended up in the hospital. Nobody truly knows the effects it can have until it’s happening to someone you know. It’s so easy to be caught up in distractions, but think before you make the next move while you’re driving, and maybe you can save a life. Distracted driving is a form of negligence, and must be eliminated to keep everyone safe. Choose wisely and don’t let any form of distraction get in the way of your safety. Declaring your independence on distracted driving can be liberating for everyone, and that is what I’ve decided to declare my independence from. Buckle up, turn it off, and keep your eyes on the road.
The term “distracted driving” may be hard to define, but, simply, it is the act of driving while being engaged in any activity. Stephanie Hanes describes in her article, how texting is a deadly epidemic. The distractions occurring while we drive on the road endangers the lives of drivers and passengers around us. Andrew Lavallee explains in his article “Companies build Services to End Texting and Driving,” how texting is wildly popular these days. David Andreatta points out some activities which drivers are engaged in while on road, in his article “Texting and Driving Can Spell Disaster.”
Distracted driving is such an increasing problem in the U.S. that there are laws against driving distracted. In New Jersey there is a handheld ban for all drivers and that is a primary law. There is a ban on all cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for novice drivers. There is also a ban on texting for all drivers. This problem Is growing, drivers who are texting are 23.2 times more likely to get into a crash than people who aren’t (Cell Phones and Texting). Every driver takes their eyes off the road for approximately 4.6 seconds when texting. Driving is a new skill for teens, so doing multiple things simultaneously takes more effort for them than for more experienced drivers. Texting and driving can ruin families because when texting and driving there is a higher chance of getting in a crash. There are only 2 percent of people who can actually multitask successfully. Even though teens are more likely to try multitasking they are still part of the 98 percent who can’t do it safely. For example, Nebraska teen Emily Reynolds says...
In today’s day and age, there are so many excuses for distracted driving. Lives are put at risk every time a distracted motorist is on the road, and deaths have increased by a substantial amount in the last ten years. On Thursday, April 26th, 2014, one woman’s bad judgement cost her life (Hastings, 1). Not only was she affected, but her friends and family assuredly felt a pain in their hearts. In the few seconds it took Courtney Ann Sanford to post a few words on Facebook, it was enough to distract her from the road and to drive across another lane and through a median straight into a truck (Hastings, 1).
Distracted driving includes not only texting and calling, but also eating, navigation, and conversing with passengers. (Idaho Transportation Department). This is a serious problem, and danger to not only ourselves, but those around us. On any given day between when the
Imagine it’s a beautiful summer day. Sun shining. Windows are down in your car allowing the fresh air to blow your hair in the wind. As you turn down a side street, you see a car coming towards you. You slow down expecting the other driver to slow down too; but that’s not the case. Frightened, you slam on your brakes, honking the horn to get their attention. Finally, the other driver slams on her brakes. Her cell-phone flies out of her window as the car came to a screeching stop. Missed hitting you by inches!!! Disturbed, you get out of your car, pick up the cell-phone, and hand the cell-phone back to her. “Are you Ok”, you ask? She replies, “Yes. I’m fine. I was on my cell-phone and didn’t see you. I’m glad you honked your horn.” Shaken, at her response you get back in your car drive away, grateful that it didn’t turn out how it could have. A Fatal car accident!! Unfortunately, this story is true; as a matter of fact it is my story. It’s been about five years since this incident happened; I’m glad that I made it out to tell the story. However, that’s not the ending for so many others. They actually loose their lives in accidents caused by drivers who are distracted by cell-phone use. Cell-phone usage, while driving, can create distractions that can lead to major accidents; the worse case scenario would be death. You and I can come together to ban the use of cell-phones while driving. You may ask how and why? In banning cell-phone use while driving, it will help in preventing unnecessary accidents and deaths, also drivers who talk or text while driving are less aware of their surrounding road conditions, and major cell-phone companies have joined ...
It’s time to have an honest look into using phones while we drive. We don't understand why we continue the behavior, and it’s killing us. Distracted driving is leaving tragedy behind on American roadways while there is more likelihood of meeting a “texter’ than to meet an intoxicated driver. Accidents occur when people talk on cellphones or send text messages while driving. According to an article published by the CDC “Injury Prevention and Control: Motor vehicle Safety” “Some activities—such as texting—take the driver’s attention away from driving more frequently and for longer periods than any other distractions.” The CDC reports that younger, inexperienced drivers under the age of 20 may be at increased risk; they have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. There is a lot of media about teen drivers texting, emailing and using popular social media while driving Distracted driving is far from just a teen issue, there is no age limit on this growing epidemic. Looking down at a phone for just mere seconds while driving at highway speeds is the same as driving the distance of a football field without eyes on the road and what's taking place around you. Multitasking is often encouraged in many things we do, however when it comes to operating a motor vehicle, multitasking shouldn't be an option. While laws and programs have helped and have risen awareness to the problem people find ways to cheat the system. The technology world is working hard on devices that jam cell phones while a motor vehicle is in operation. Technology will be our only chance at reducing the injury and death from our ever so popular cellular devices. Technology brought us here and now its up to technology to reevaluate and change...
Have you ever been on a cell phone while driving or seen someone on his or her cell phone while driving? This is distracted driving at its finest. Whether you are looking at a text, changing radio stations, applying makeup, or anything else that takes your mind or eyes off the road is distracted driving. Distracted driving killed around 3,000 people in 2011 (Bauers). Car crashes are the leading cause of teenagers in the United States. If you don’t think you are distracted behind the wheel think again, many people think they aren’t distracted till something bad happens to them, like a crash, driving into a ditch, or running a red light and get a ticket for it. Distracted driving is a major problem and most people don’t know their distracted or what is a distraction to him or her.
Driving is something everyone does. It is something that teenagers look forward to. Something that parents dread coming because it shows that they are growing up. It is a mile marker that everyone reaches at some point in time. But, when it comes down to it, driving is one of the most serious things people do everyday, one mistake and everything could be over. The increase in technology has led to an increase in distracted driving, especially in teens or adolescence.
When people hear their phone ding, they immediately have the urge to see what is going on. “Seventy-seven percent of teens say they are more than confident”, and they think they are able to safely text while driving. “Fifty-five percent of young adult drivers say it is really easy to text and drive”(stoptextsstopwrecks.org), and they do not understand why it is such a big problem to do so. Teenagers are not the only ones who take part in the act of texting and driving, many teens have said they see their parents do it. Studies show that “5 seconds is the minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road when you 're texting and driving”(DWI:Driving While Intexticated). Say a person is traveling at fifty-five miles per hour, the five seconds they take to look at their phone is equal to driving the length of a football field without looking at the road. If the driver in front of the texter comes to an emergency stop, and they are not paying attention, he or she will have caused an accident because they were paying attention to a phone. Texting while driving causes about 1,600,000 accidents and 330,000 injuries per year. The accidents, injuries, and deaths are all a result of someone feeling the need to take their focus off the road, and place it on seeing what their friend texted
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
Whether it is a text massage from love one or a bite of a sandwich, it is not so important than a human life. Distracted driving is an epidemic, so more tough laws should be implemented. The law for distracted driving should be tough just like a driving under influence. Distracting driving is a killer on the road, it should be banned because, it is the number one killer of the U.S. teenager in the road, not only the teenager in the road, but also cause a collision which is often fatal, and some incident were driver or one who involve on an accident became disable. Distraction is an involvement of driver where his or hers eye or mind are engage and performing on other things rather than driving, such as while talking on
Across the globe family and friends are losing their loved ones to fatal texting and driving accidents. These days, many strive to be connected with the world and their friends by using mobile devices. The problem is that numerous people tend to do so at bad times. For example, while one is driving, it is common to look down at the cell phone to send a short text message that could put their lives in harm. Across the nation, numerous advertising and support groups are spreading the word to encourage society to put phones down and focus on driving instead of texting. However, it really hasn’t stopped. There needs to be a significant change and with the way technology is advancing, there is an immediate, attainable action that can be accomplished.
Each day in the United States, over 8 people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (Distracted Driving). There are a few different
In today’s society, texting and driving have become an issue. Many teens and adults, have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving. Texting while driving can be very distracting, which can cause many accidents to happen. In trying to prevent this, new laws have been passed, making the use of cell phones while operating a car, illegal. However, too many people do not respect this law. People should stop getting distracted while driving because texting while driving is taking people’s attention on the road, accidents are getting higher and is comparable to drunk driving.
We as a society need to all take responsibility when we are on the road and avoid the many temptations and distractions surrounding us. Distracted driving is dangerous plain and simple. Some may be willing to take the risk because they have never had an accident while behind the wheel. But it’s