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Effects of distracted driving essay
Outline of an essay on distracted driving
Effects of distracted driving essay
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Drivers in their 20s make up 27 percent of the distracted drivers in fatal crashes (NHTSA). In a class of 30 High School sophomores students between the ages of 15 and 16, will be in their twenties within 4-5 years. Within this short amount of time, that means that 8 of them will be responsible for a fatal car crash. If they survive the crash, they will face charges of irresponsible driving, if not something worse such as vehicular manslaughter which can result in up to 20 years in prison. This will affect them for the rest of their lives. But the answer lies not in stricter driving laws. The solution lies in educating motorists about the dangers and punishments of distracted driving. For example, a study was conducted using a driving simulator. …show more content…
This driving simulator showed people exactly how dangerous texting and driving was which convinced them not to do it. Obviously, distracted driving has always been a problem for motorists, and is becoming increasingly dangerous with modern technologies & careless motorists, however, they can solve these without enacting stricter driving regulations. The first factor when talking about distracted driving, is the dangers of passengers. Some people like to argue that passengers are a big factor in causing a motorist to be distracted, especially young drivers. However, people have driven with passengers since automobiles were first created. That is why they have more than one seat. Automobiles are supposed to be about convenience and getting somewhere faster than another mode of transportation. It is a substantial contradiction statement to say that passengers should not be allowed in vehicles. One reason that they have not put a ban (stricter laws) on this yet is because it is extremely inconvenient, especially for people who still live in rural areas. In rural areas there is not a lot of public transportation available (Gerdes 21). This applies to us here in Wyoming. Another reason why the nation does not need stricter driving laws because of passengers is because it would not help anything. A lot of people who carpool are young and not very experienced drivers. A peer that they could drive with could have more experience and be able to help them out in a situation that they would be unsure of. Studies according to the Harris Interactive Poll have shown that teen peers can be a positive influence when it comes to texting while driving (Simulator Shows...). If they could not have passengers that means that teenagers would have to get places on their own. This would significantly increase the amount of vehicles on the road which is not making anything safer (Gerdes 21). That is why our country does not need stricter driving regulations when it comes to passengers. Another talked about issue when talking about distracted driving, is texting. As most people would guess, texting while driving is a major distractor in modern day society. However, in a nation where there are more cellphones (300 million) than vehicles (254 million) it would be very difficult to put a restrictive ban on cell phones (Yes, Cellphones...) . It has caused problems and one of the reasons this is is because people are unaware of how truly dangerous it is to text and drive. If people were able to realize how unsafe it was and realize that it is serious, people would not do it as much. A big reason for this is because people always put so much blame on drunk drivers, some of them might even have known someone who has suffered from the punishments of getting a DUI or have had someone they know die from the result of a drunk driver. People know that driving while intoxicated is bad, what needs to be done is to drive that same mentality into peoples minds about texting while driving. Texting while driving has proven to be as bad as driving while legally intoxicated and also triples the crash rates of motorists. What people fail to realize is that anything that takes hands, eyes, or your mind off the road is as bad as drunk driving(Maine Should...) . Murder is obviously wrong. Drivers taking their eyes off of the road for a text can inadvertently lead them to becoming a killer themselves. Drivers need to think about what they are doing and maybe they will decide that the text can wait and that they can stay focused on the road. Like a good driver. If people were educated about these dangers, they would be less likely do this, which is why stricter driving laws are unnecessary. Back on the texting while driving issue, which is the strongest supporter for why it is a good idea to get people educated about the dangers of distracted driving rather than making stricter driving regulations is because of a driving simulator test that was sponsored by AT&T.
As mentioned earlier, passengers are not a distraction. In fact, while being a passenger in a car, four out of five teens (which is 78%) said that they spoke up and pointed out a fellow teen drivers distracted behavior when they saw it (Simulator Shows...). When the issue was brought up 84% of drivers listened to their peers and stopped texting and driving. All of these teens took the driving simulation test. When teens are educated about the issue of distracted driving they are less inclined to do it. The simulator showed them just how dangerous it was. Two minutes. That was all the time that it took for .E.B. Stuart High School driver's education teacher Donald Balsavich to crash into a bus while texting and driving the first time he tried this simulator. This simulator renders a fully realistic driving scenario. This includes pedestrians crossing the street, traffic lights changing, and other cars changing lanes on roads (Simulator Shows...). This simulator was enough to show and convince teenagers good driving habits and not to text and
drive. People have always had issues staying focused on the road while driving, it is becoming even harder with today’s modern technologies; as motorists may have noticed in their own driving. In fact, over 80% of people admit to checking their phone while driving. Do not be one of them. Schools and other Drivers Education services need to educate drivers about how dangerous distracted driving is, not enact stricter laws on it. Texting while driving, the issue on passengers, and the experience people had participating in the driving simulator show why drivers need to be educated.
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
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
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...
David Hosansky states that the use of cell phones and texting should not be allowed while driving. The increased uses of cell phones and texting while driving has become the center of safety conversations. In fact, there are more than 5,000 deaths related to the use of cell phones and texting while driving over the last decade. Even if laws were put in place it is believed that motorists would still find it hard to put down their phones down. Hosansky also gave an example on the hazards of texting while driving, especially among young drivers. There are very few states that have implemented laws restricting the use of cell phones or texting while driving. David Hosansky is a freelance writer in the Denver area. This article seems to have been written for the general public and thought to be informative. I found this especially helpful and informative in finding this is not just a local problem.
There are approximately 5,400 deaths per year that are linked to distracted driving, and thousands more were injured. (U.S. Department of Labor). Those fatalities are our neighbors, close friends, and even family. How can we prevent this from being so prominent? How can we make the roads a safe place to be again? These questions have many different answers, but many prove to be un-effective. I believe that the best and only way to resolve this issue is to implement tougher laws on cell-phone use in vehicles, and educate our youth to the best of our abilities on the dangers of distracted driving.
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
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.
The problem I am addressing today is that the privilege to operate a motor vehicle is being recklessly abused by the people of our society. America today as we all should know has an unhealthy obsession with the use of technology, more so their cell phones. People drive distracted every day and it is nothing to just brush aside. . There are many facts and statistics on how this is a critical subject of matter. Whether you think it is a big deal or not, you should consider the consequences. The common age group being found related to distracted driving crashes are said to be around 24 years and younger. More so because of so many newly and unexperienced teenage drivers. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study
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
The cdc.gov says, "Everyday more that 9 people are killed in the united states and more than 1,153 people are injured in car crashes that are reported involving a distracted driver."Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes drivers ' attention away from driving. An everyday activity that is dangerous is being distracted while driving. Three situations that can cause driving to be dangerous are texting while driving, being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs while operating a vehicle,being distracted by passengers inside the car.
From speeding to not wearing your seat belt, and texting and driving is no exception people do it too. In Kansas there is only a 60 dollar fine for texting and driving. By the time people texting and driving receive real consequences a child could already be dead. When teens text while they drive, they veer off lane 10% of their total drive time. http://distracteddriveraccidents.com/25-shocking-distracted-driving-statistics/ veering off the lane can cause crashes with other cars, cause the car to veer off the road or even veer of onto the sidewalk. they could kill themselves, children walking to school or anyone else on the road and that would be awful. A next door neighbor of mine had two children who were driving with friends. They had their seat belts on and were driving safely, but another car hit their car, that driver was texting and now their mom our next door neighbor has to deal with the loss of her children. Distracted driving kills, however the consequences for doing it is minimal and the real ramifications do not occur until someone is hurt or worse killed. It is a growing problem, according to Indiana State Police Sergeant Jerry Goodin."It will probably be our number one distracter as time goes on and technology increases,"Despite laws, warnings, and a general recognition by the public that texting while driving is dangerous, people still do it. Even the rising number of deaths involving distracted drivers
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.
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 changing 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.