As a mother, when I am driving, my first concern in any situation on the road is my daughter. I not only have to be aware of my own driving, but also to the drivers around me. I have been in countless situations where I have been almost pushed off the highway by a woman changing lanes while applying makeup, or a man texting and driving, not realizing he was slowly swerving into my lane. My reflexes have been our only saving grace to the possible accidents. Unfortunately, distracted driving is a common issue in modern society. A study made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2017 found that approximately 9 deaths and over 1,000 injuries in crashes occur every day due to distracted driving in the United States.1 The largest …show more content…
contributors to these incidents are people aged 20 years or younger.1 In 2015, the CDC’s national Youth Risk Surveillance Behavior System (YRBSS) found that 42% of high school students who drove in the past 30 days reported sending a text or email while driving.2 The developing evidence is showing a disturbing correlation between younger generations and the ever-expanding growth of technology. Local, state and federal leaders have been battling with how to contain the problem without violating personal freedoms. On Sunday, July 23rd, Washington State passed a new distracted driving law that will now allow local and state police to ticket drivers for being on the phone or holding any electronic device in their hand while driving.3 Not only will violations increase in cost (starting at $136 for the first offense and moving up to $234 for the second and future offenses), but they will also be reported to the driver’s insurance company for their record.3 The law also included a secondary offense that will cost drivers $99 for grooming, smoking, eating, drinking, or reading if pulled over for any other driving incidents.3 The new law is expected to help drivers be more conscience of their driving habits and reduce the threatening number of distracted driving incidents within the state. But drivers can start making accommodations of their own to be more responsible behind the wheel. As a role model for my daughter, I have a responsibility to be the conscientious driver in a world largely driven by technology and its manifested urgencies.
There are several ways drivers can combat the urge to text and drive. Many electronic devices offer a “Do Not Disturb” mode in their settings, which allows the driver to travel without disturbances from phone notifications, save a phone call from selected contacts. There are also dozens of hands-free applications available to both Apple and Android devices that can assist drivers with immediate needs whilst traveling. But simply put, drivers need to learn to put the phone down. No text, email, “selfie,” or social media notification is more important than their life or the ones around them. It is my hope that, with my state’s new law and growing hands-free technology, I can watch our nation become a safe driving environment for myself and my daughter. 1. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Distracted Driving: 2015, in Traffic Safety Research Notes. DOT HS 812 381. March 2017, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Washington, D.C. 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance- United States, 2015. 2016, Retrieved From:
https://www.cdc.gov/features/yrbs/. 3. Aprikyan, Tatevik, July 23, 2017, Washington’s New E-DUI Law Takes Effect, Retrieved From: http://q13fox.com/2017/07/23/washingtons-new-e-dui-law-takes-effect/.
“New Devices Aim to Eliminate Distracted Driving.” Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 11 Oct. 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
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...
One day Chandler Gerber 23, of Bluffton collided with an Amish buggy back in April of 2012. A three year old boy and a five year old girl were killed. A 17 year old boy who was in critical condition died several days later. Chandler was sending a text that said “ I love you” to his wife when he caused the accident. Drivers who were texting were 23.2 times more likely to crash to those who weren’t texting (Cell Phones and Texting). The increasing amount of crashes caused from texting and driving and growing and becoming more of a problem. Distracted driving is an increasing problem in the United States resulting in many accidents, but a solution to the problem would be banning cellphones while driving.
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
"Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System: 2011 National Overview." CDC.gov. Center for Disease Control, June 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
I find the fact that distracted driving has caused so many deaths exceedingly tragic, however it should not surprise me. Additionally I’m inclined to the view that this issue – unfortunately - has become a more controversial problem in proportion to earlier. I don’t think that there exists a specifically solution in relation to this problem – if so not yet - however I’m convinced that there eventually has to b...
During 2013, there were over 3,000 deaths related to distracted driving and over 420,000 injuries. People are distracted when they first get behind the wheel and when they have been driving for hours.
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
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.
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
People are constantly fixated on their phones, checking social media and texting and they seem to have become accustom to doing this wherever they please, whether it be at dinner, at work or in the car. The use of a cell phone while driving is extremely dangerous and destructive to not only the driver, but also everyone driving around them. Every year, twenty one percent of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of using their cell phone while behind the wheel. This statistic is expected to grow as much as four percent every year. But, texting and driving is not just a problem among teen drivers. One-fifth of adult drivers in the United States also report sending text messages while driving (“Cell Phone & Texting Accidents”). To help fight this problem, the government needs much take a stronger stance and try to stand up against texting and driving to make the idea a bigger deal and implement harsher punishments, as well as stressing the damaging effects of texting and driving to children and teens early on in
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).