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Danger of texting and driving
Negative effects of texting while driving
The danger of texting and driving
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Our world has developed a more efficient and independent way of communicating. Texting became popular in the late 1990’s and has evolved to where it is today. The first method of texting was the “multi-tap.” The “multi-tap” method had three letters for every number. For an example, the third key is where D, E, and F are displayed (Erickson Par. 10). This method was easy to understand, but not the most efficient. The next method of texting was T9, short for “text on 9 keys.” No multi-tapping was needed because T9 had predictive text technology (Erickson Par. 11). The most recent way of communication through texting was introduced in 2007 when Apple came out with the IPhone. The IPhone was the first “smart phone” with multi-touch interface and
An average of 50% of American teens and more than two thirds of American college students admit to texting and driving (Biscontini Par.1). In a study provide by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute indicated that texting while driving can delay a drivers reaction time enough to make him or her twice as likely to be in a “safety-critical event,” which can being anything from stomping our you brakes to a collision between two vehicles (Biscontini Par. 2). Texting and driving has been an issue ever since the creation of texting. For people to be able to successfully text they would have to take one hand off the wheel and both hands if they felt it was needed. Now with new advancements in technology we have the ability to use vocal command. Vocal command applications like Apple’s Siri are used without having to take your hands off of the wheel (Biscontini Par. 3). Taking one or both hands off of the wheel while driving is not what causes the most danger. The dangerous part of this wanting to communicate in the car is that our attention is being divided. This is a problem that has a negative effect on our driving because all of our attention should be on the road in front of
The results showed that texting while driving impairs a driver more than a blood alcohol content of .08 percent, which is legally driving drunk (Biscontini Par. 3). This should be a warning to all of us on how negatively we are affected by texting in the car. The United States has banned texting while driving from 46 states (Distracted Driving Par. 3). Even thought texting is illegal while driving, police officers are finding it difficult to enforce the no texting and driving law in most states. Police officers have a hard time because avid phone users that text and drive typically have there phones in their lap so that the police officers are unable to see the phone (Biscontini Par. 4). However, even when the police officers do see drivers using there phones, they have a difficult time proving it was texting when the driver could claim they were using the GPS on their phone or changing the song in the car. Even thought a majority of the states have banned texting and driving because it is dangerous, it isn’t stopping or even helping the problem. Even if laws, or the police make it impossible to text and drive, people will still find other ways to be distracted, weather its putting on makeup or anything else you might find distracting (Biscontini Par. 5). A lot of people die from texting and driving and since the law and
Phones use while driving is one of the worst habits to have. Drivers who text while driving are twice as likely to crash than some who is drinking and driving (New Approaches to End Texting While Driving). Teenagers believe they are the best drivers and can multitask while driving. In order to text while driving you have to be looking at your phone. If you are looking phone you are not taking precaution to what in front of you. People think looking down for one second will not hurt. In one second anything could happen such as hitting someone or even running off the road. Other people ar...
The several effects of distracted driving are deadly. Andrew Lavallee points out that “texting while driving is unsafe. Not only are a driver’s eyes off the road, one or both hands are off the wheel.” “We think it is incompatible with safe driving” (qtd. in Lavallee). “Study upon study showed that talking on a cellphone was far more dangerous than she’d realized – that a driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash” (qtd. in Hanes). Stephanie Hanes also mentions that, “Unlike a conversation with a passenger, the electronic conversation takes a driver into a virtual space away from the road.” Subsequently, this causes severe problems and deadly
The New York Times. Results show that texting behind the wheel causes 330,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths a year. People who talk or text on the phone are just as impaired, or even more impaired, as a drunk driver. A study performed at the University of Utah, shows that the participants crashed when they were texting while driving, but when they were intoxicated, they did not crash. This shows that texting while driving takes your focus off of the road and into the conversation you are having on the phone.
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...
Studies also show drunk driving is actually statistically safer than texting and driving. In my observation as my family was traveling to Wisconsin, I put tallies on my notebook to record the results of passing drivers. The results were surprising in that 1 out of 8 kids and 1 out of 5 adults in passing cars were distracted while driving. These statistics are actually scary to me because I will never know which one will make a mistake when I am around them on the road. The negative effects this problem causes death and serious injury to themselves and others. It also effects the distracted drivers by placing others around them in harm. As more people text on the roads the drivers will get too familiar texting and driving. According to most statistics, that’s when most mistakes happen. Phone and car companies allow this behavior to happen simultaneously. Phone companies are making their product easier to be distracted, as the technology is addicting to use for the consumers. The notifications from the phone distract most humans from accomplishing their tasks. The phone pings or sounds and the driver looks down. Car companies are now installing Wi-Fi in the newest cars of our generation. The WI-FI is active for all passengers. The distraction element is also active for
All around the world, texting while driving has become an even more dangerous hazard than drinking while driving among teenagers and adults who openly acknowledge sending and reading text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Texting while driving is arguably one of the most dangerous, selfish, and careless acts that a driver can take part in on the road today. According to Teens Against Distracted Driving, a study was done at the University of Utah that showed that while people are texting and driving, it reduces their attention level down to that of a person with an alcohol level of 0.08%, which is the legal limit to which someone can be
No matter how good of a driver someone is, or how long someone has had their license, it is still not safe for people to text while drive. Earl K. Miller, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, told Foxnews.com, “It is difficult for pretty much everyone to do several things at once. In fact, studies have shown that people who have the most confidence that they can multitask are actually the worst at it,” (“The dangerous psychology of texting while driving” Para. 7). With Miller saying this, it shows that even if people think they are a good enough driver, and can multi task while they are driving, are not as good as they think, and can cause many crashes and problems while driving, and possible
Texting and driving involves all three types so you can predict the outcome isn’t too much in our favor (Distracted Driving, 2015). According to the National Safety Council (NDC), the big myth today is that people are capable of multitasking, and even worse multitask while driving, but in fact, the human brain cannot do such a thing. People may be walking and chewing gum at the same time, but that is because those actions involve both a thinking task, and a non-thinking task. Driving and talking on the phone at the same time is risky though because it requires both to be used. Instead of attending to both actions simultaneously, the brain quickly shifts between two cognitive activities (The Great Multitasking, 2010). Taken from a new report from the NSC ,drivers that tend to talk on cell phones often enter a state of what is called “inattention blindness” and when this occurs, they may fail to see up to 50 percent of what is ahead of them (NSC Looks Inside, 2010). The United States Department of Transportation says, "text messaging while driving creates a crash risk 23 times higher than driving while not distracted,” (Distracted Driving, 2015). That makes driving
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
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% ...
One of the dangers of texting while driving at the same time is the attention it takes away from the road. A driver, who is focused on looking at their phone, is not paying enough attention to other cars or what is happening around them. Something as simple as a car stopping in front of them can cause serious damage to the driver and to the other car. “Texting” while driving is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the internet on a mobile device while operating a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, truck, or train (Reuters). Many people and authorities have viewed it as a dangerous practice. It is on occasion like this, where familiarity with the road and surrounding will not make it easier for the driver to look at their cell phone. The probabilities of drivers texting on the cell phone and getting into accidents are only getting higher. Cell phone use while driving accounts for a major cause of
Texting while driving is referred to as distracted driving. "Distracted driving continues to be the number one leading cause of car accidents in America. Talking on the phone, texting, eating, reading, grooming, and talking are just some of the ways drivers get distracted behind the wheel. Drivers who use a hand-held device are 4 times more likely to get into a car accident than drivers that pay attention to the road ahead. Individuals who text message while driving are 23 times more likely to get into an accident. Do not risk your safety or your life. Put everything down and pay attention to the road ahead. It is the single most important thing you can do today to reduce your risk of getting into a
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).
An Adesman stated that, “A person who is texting can be as impaired as a driver who is legally drunk.” A car traveling at 55mph covers the length of a football field in five seconds. The average person who sends out text messages while driving spends on average about eight seconds of looking down at their phone. Approximately 10% of driving time is spent outside of their original lane, by drifting while texting. “There's a difference between driving and texting. When you’re driving your eyes have to be open and on the road watching the cars around you, road signs, and traffic lights. Along with your mind on the road and destination. Which means you are multitasking. When your texting your eyes are on your cell phone screen and key pad. Along with your mind on what you’re going to say next. So how can you do both?” This quote was written by Johnathan Anthony Burkett who wrote the story Neglected but Undefeated. The chances of getting into a car crash are increased four times more than those who are not distracted. Texting while driving involves manual, visual, and the mental ability of a driver which makes messaging while driving one of the worst distractions.
Step onto any college campus and take a look around. You will find clumps of students standing around in circles, phones in hand, typing away. What is it they are doing? Texting. Ever since the first text message was sent in 1993, the use of text messaging as a means of communication has spread like wild fire, especially amongst the adolescent generation. And with this new form of communication a new language has appeared; text-speak, the shortening of common words into abbreviations and acronyms (Drouin 49). While texting and the text-speak language seem to have been welcomed by many, what affect is this new technology having on the way we communicate? Is it possible that texting is negatively affecting our ability to use formal written communication, or is this idea just a myth perpetuated by negative media attention? And what changes has texting brought to the way we communicate person-to person? Are these changes positive, negative, or perhaps a mixture of both?