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Affects of distracted driving essay
Affects of distracted driving essay
Essay on how distractions affect driving
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As our population grows, so does our infrastructure, more develop cities leads to more develop highways, which in turn equates to more automobiles. There are more drivers today than ever before, automobiles has become our primary source of transportation in our day to day lives, from driving to work ,school or to the supermarket this form of luxury has simplified many aspects of human life. Unfortunately like everything else driving also has its negative sides, once you leave the comfort of your home strapped into your aluminum shell on wheels you become privy to all sorts of catastrophes and dangers while on the road. Driving a motor vehicle is a dangerous business. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS) data, there were 30,057 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2013 in which 32,719 deaths occurred, these statistics should motivate anyone who gets behind a steering wheel to be alert and aware when navigating from place to place in a vehicle, but there are many drivers who use there privilege to engage in acts of reckless and senseless driving. Kyle Careford, 20, and his friend Michael Owen, 21 recorded themselves speeding through …show more content…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS) estimates that at any giving time there are over 660,000 distracted drivers operating a motor vehicle. These distractions can range from texting while driving to having conversations with the people in the backseat. In the case of Carlee Rose Bollig, 17, was texting and driving which caused her to run a red light killing Charles Mauer and his ten year old daughter Cassy. As reported by the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, texting and driving has caused more than 3,000 tragedies and 330,000 accidental injuries each year. Distracted drivers are slowly becoming the new ‘drunk drivers’ as each year the number of tragedies associated with this practice is
According to Stephanie Hanes in the essay “Texting While Driving Is as Dangerous as Drunk Driving,” a driver on a phone and those talking on a phone are four times likely to crash. This statistic shows how dangerous using the phone or even texting is while driving. As technology has increased, so has the use of cellphone. Distracted driving has caused an increase in car fatalities and disasters. However, distracted driving can be prevented if drivers take precautions, but no matter what we do, trouble will always be spelling on the road.
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).
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.
According to the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, "automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 3 to 33, with 43,005 (118 per day) Americans killed in 2002 alone" (Clayton, Helms, Simpson, 2006). Worldwide, vehicle accidents consist of 1.2 millions deaths per year, "behind only childhood infections and AIDS as cause of death amount people aged 5 to 30 years old" (Clayton., 2006). The annual cost of road accidents is estimated about $518 billion"(Factor, Yair, Mahalel, 2013). The fact alone of being in a moving, heavy vehicle is a danger in itself but individuals that do not wear their seat belts, talk on the phone, text, and do other distracting behavior also put themselves in even more harmful situations.
Every person who has gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle will be involved in some sort of automobile collision at some point in his or her lifetime. Traffic accidents account for over twenty thousand deaths each year and more than ten times as many injuries. There are a number of factors that contribute to these types of collisions, however, new and evolving laws can account for a large portion of successful preventable measures. In order for laws to be changed or added for the purpose of safer roads and highways, lawmakers have to first look at what factors contribute to such unsafe conditions. The top five causes of automobile accidents that cause injury are distracted drivers, driver fatigue, drunk driving, speeding, and aggressive driving. Laws can be proposed to reduce and even eliminate each of these risks.
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
“John died in his sleep. He was warm, comfortable, and doing 70 miles per hour on the motorway”(Fatigue:THINK!:Roadsafety. (N.d.). Retrieved from http://think.direct.gov.uk/fatigue.html). Should drowsy driving be mandated as a criminal offense in the state of California? Few people realize the explicit dangers of drowsy driving. Consider the following scenario: Darkness surrounds your car on the drive home after a late night at the office. There is no light on the two-lane highway except for occasional flashes from the headlights of oncoming traffic. Your eyelids are heavy. You yawn. Your head begins to bob. As you shake your head from side to side trying
...ture a risk-taking species. In ancient times we took risks just to eat. Later we took huge risks by setting out in little wooden ships to explore the earth's surface. We continued as we sought to fly, travel faster than the speed of sound and to head off into space. We rely on increasingly more complex equipment and constantly strive to design and manufacture faster and even more elaborate devices. It goes without saying that every effort is made to ensure our "safety"; to keep us from harm or danger. Every time you slide behind the wheel of your vehicle you are taking a risk. Driving is the riskiest activity in our lives. It is an inherently "unsafe" environment. The most perfect vehicles on the best designed highways on beautiful sunny days driven by fallible human beings crash into each other. The only way to drive "safely" (as we are all admonished to do!) is to learn more about the process. Learn more about your vehicle and how to maintain it; learn how to use your eyes to look far down the road; learn to spot problems before they happen; and also learn to deal with emergency situations. In most cases it's the human element that fails. After all, safe is only as safe does.
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.
Now a days everyone is glued to their phones, constantly checking their emails, facebooking, snapchatting and texting. With all the devices people have and interact with on a day to day basis, there seems to be a lack of knowledge on how dangerous these devices really are. A report done by the AAA traffic safety foundation showed that “Each year, more than 80% of drivers in the annual AAA Foundation Traffic Safety Culture Index cite distraction as a serious problem and a behavior that makes them feel less safe on the road.” With the limited hours of free time during the day, people are using driving time to check emails and make phone calls which is inflicting on the safety of everyone around them. Texting and driving needs to be a thing of
In 2011, Evan Lieberman died at the young age of 19 due to deep injuries a month after he was a passenger in a car accident in Orange County, NY. The driver of the vehicle claimed he fell asleep on the wheel. However after investigating the situation, Ben Lieberman, Evan’s heartbroken father, found out using the driver 's phone records that the driver was actually texting seconds before the collision occurred. Now, Ben is intent on taking initiative to combat the issue of texting and driving after his son 's death. He formed an organization with his wife called DORCas (Distracted Operators Risk Casualties) to educate others about the dangers of distracted driving. Evan had just finished his freshman year at the University of Connecticut and wanted to become an entrepreneur later on before this tragic accident took his life. If the driver was not texting, then Evan would have still been alive and healthy, pursuing his dream today. Evan’s father is still mourning his son’s death and has
Being able to drive may be a dream for some, but it can easily be turned into a nightmare that you cannot wake up from. With the ever-increasing use of technology, DWI’s are not the only dangerous driving conditions on the road. Distracted drivers are putting themselves, other people on the road and their passengers at risk. According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) over 3,331 people were killed and over 387,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents connected to distracted driving (Learn The Facts About Distracted Driving). The National Safety Council disputes these findings, and says that at least 28 percent of vehicle crashes are caused by texting and cell phone use alone.
Every year, thousands of people are injured or killed in car wrecks caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. Despite this fact many people still are impatient and become angry on the road. Driving is a curious display of public and private acts. A car isolates the driver from the world. The personal sensation of power over a couple thousand pound car is intoxicating. Road rage/aggressive driving starts from things such as illegal or improper lane changes, failing to yield the right of way, and excessive speeding just to name a few. Everyday we deal with this type of driving. Everyone runs a great risk just driving around the corner to the local convenience store or just to the local church. According to U.S. News and World Report, the United States Department of Transportation estimates that two-thirds of fatalities are at least partially caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. This essay will look at some of the arguments for and against road rage/aggressive driving.
Texting and driving paired with one or multiple people in the vehicle, with it also being late at night or other variables, can increase a person chance to get into a car accident. “You are 6 times more likely to get into an accident, than being drunk” (“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics”). By picking up your phone, you can lose concentration on the road, and start to move out of the lane, maybe into a ditch or hitting someone else. With 3,477 deaths, 391,000 injures, and 660,000 people using cellphones in the year of 2015, it should be clear that texting and driving is not safe at all. Texting and driving is a serious problem that needs to be
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.