Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The dangers of using cellphones while driving
The effect of texting and driving
The effect of texting and driving
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The dangers of using cellphones while driving
Why Distracted Driving is A Big Deal
Distracted driving is a big deal. In 2014, the last year the federal government has statistics for, more than 431,000 people were injured and 3,179 killed in car accidents related to distracted driving.
Over the course of 2014, 169.3 billion texts were sent in the United States and its territories. In addition, 10% of drivers between 15 and 19 years old that were in fatal car wrecks were distracted drivers.
Overall, 16% of all fatal crashes had distracted driving at their core, leading to about 5,000 deaths in 2014,
What is Distracted Driving
Distracted driving happens when a driver fails to pay attention only to driving and has their attention diverted by doing other activities.
When cell phones were first introduced, it
…show more content…
For context, your car can cover the length of a football field in that brief time.
There are three primary types of distracted driving:
Physical distractions happen when the driver takes his or her hands off the steering wheel.
Visual distractions are those that occur when a driver takes his or eyes away from traffic and other possible dangers.
Cognitive distractions are those that occur as the driver’s mind wanders from driving to thinking about the new tires that he or she needs and zones out of their driving focus.
The Problem is Hard to Remedy
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that more than 90% of adult drivers know the dangers associated with cell phone distraction and said they find distracted driving unacceptable. But, a startling 35% of those adults admitted they have sent or received a text message or email when they were behind the wheel.
California Updates Distracted Driving
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.”
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.
Young, Kristie L., John D. Lee, and Michael A. Regan. Driver Distraction: Theory, Effects, and Mitigation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2009. EBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Seppa, Nathan. “Impactful Distraction: Talking While Driving Poses Dangers that Drivers Seem Unable to See.” Science News 184.4 (2013):20-24.Readers Guide Full Text Mega. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Distracted driving refers to a wide range of conditions involving the driver of the vehicle not being alert and attentive to the task of driving. These distractions can mean anything from texting and making phone calls to eating and other activities. Driving a motor vehicle while simultaneously being engaged in a different task can and is a fatal mistake that
What is considered to be distracted driving in today’s world, is it just using devices or talking. Well in research article from BMC Public Health, “DD is an activity that can take a driver’s eyes off the road and divert his/her attention to something else”. Distracted driving includes but is not limited to using a mobile device, using a GPS, personal hygiene, talking to passengers, reading, even just adjusting the radio/stereo and list goes on and on. So how do adults and teen drivers classify these, well it is broken down in to 3 different parts. Visual, Manual, and Cognitive. Each equal having a negative effect on adult and teen drivers, cause them to become a DD. These three categories of DD, as found in Maclean’s Magazine, that each one has a certain effect on adult and teen drivers causing them to lose focus on the road in which makes them unaware of their surroundings. The Visual side is anything that cause the adult or teen driver to take their eyes off the road in which causing them to place their eyes on something else. The Manual side is in which the adult or teen driver takes his/hers hands off the wheel for something else in which takes control of motor vehicle away from driver.
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
Just how many accidents have there been that people believe were caused by distractions. Some might be wondering how many accidents are actually caused by distracted driving, “Police say 80% of crashes are caused by some sort of distractions” (Watson). This means that every 4 out of every 5 car accidents are found to be generated by a distraction. While everyone has been distracted while driving at least one time in their lives, research shows that it is most common among teenagers. 34% of teens the age of 16-17 said that they have texted while driving, 48% said that they have been in a moving vehicle where the driver has used a phone (Texting While Driving). This information from the study conducted by the Pew Research Center, is just from one study about texting and driving. But, there are so many more that state just how serious distracted driving
Even though texting and driving is against the law, men and women of all ages are doing it on a regular basis. Statistically speaking, 23% of car accidents, which was about 1.3 million, involved cell phones in 2011 (“Texting and Driving..”). According to Edgar Snyder and Associates Law Firm out of Western Pennsylvania, “In 2011, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 people were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver.” Along with those stats, and according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “texting and driving kills 11 teens each day” (“Texting and Cell Phone..”). These numbers show how fatally dangerous texting and driving can be. As mentioned earlier, it is illegal, so humans shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. However, if someone gets caught, they could be looking at a ticket costing about, 135 dollars, not including the additional base fine, surcharge and the law library fee (“Texting and Driving, Challenges..”). If a person chooses to text and drive and...
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.
According to Ian Mulgrew, a journalist/author from Canada, many accidents are blamed on distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage (Mulgrew). This shows that accidents are being caused by texting and driving. A majority of people have busy lives that leaves them to get things done while on the road. Texting or using a cell phone while driving is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you. Most people are against this action is because it causes many car accidents every year. Did you know that texting while driving is one of the longest eyes-off-the road time of distracted driving activities? According to DWI, text messaging makes a crash up to 23 times more likely. While other activities like, dialing, talking or listening or reaching for a device is less likely. While driving, adults and teenagers cannot resist the urge to pick up their cell phone and send a text or respond to one. When a
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
1…2…3….Crash Distracted Driving is rampant on our roadways, killing hundreds each year. Unfortunately, it is easier than ever to drive distracted. Auto makers are putting technology into our vehicles that allows us to make phone calls, dictate texts or emails and update social media while we are behind the wheel – all actions that are proven to increase crash risk (“Distracted Driving: Problem of Cell Phone Distracting Driving”).
“Distractions that take the driver’s eyes away from the roadway the longest — such as visual-manual tasks — greatly increase a driver’s crash risk” (Gregoire 1). It's a distraction, and taking your eyes off the road for just a second can lead to devastating consequences. “These distractions come in many forms, but the primary one is cellular devices, Crouse said” (Butzer
The main distraction of driving is cell phones. Most adults and teens will engage in texting and driving. Due to the major issue of texting and driving many campaigns have been launched, one being launched by AT&T “when it comes to texting and driving, it can wait.” This campaign has many drivers take the pledge to no longer use their phone when driving, there is an available app that will send out automatic messages to anybody that sends a while the individual is driving. When someone is driving at the rate of 55 miles per hour for only 4.6 seconds, it will equal the length of a football field, 100 yards. So, even stopping full vision from the road for a few seconds will still risk serious danger. Another cause of distracted driving is being exhausted or tired, doing so will cause a much slower reaction time. The slower reaction time causes many of the accidents that happen when people are tired. Another possibility is falling asleep behind the wheel even for a few seconds you could drift, or swerv into another lane and hit another car causing a major or fatal car accident. When taking driving classes, the students within the class will hear the saying “stay alert, stay alive.” The final major distraction of driving is eating and drinking. One of the problems of eating and drinking while driving is that it causes both a visual and manual distraction. When removing your eyes from the road many dangers will be