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The danger of texting and driving
The danger of texting and driving
Distracted driving cause and effect
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The Outcome from Texting and Driving Texting while driving has become a major problem in the United Sates over the past couple years. Even though most people will say that it does not affect their driving, texting while driving can change or take someone’s life in just a split second. The accidents, distractions, and illegal issues of texting and driving are a few reasons why people should not take part in the activity. Many accidents have happened in the past to prove to people that texting while driving can cause many deaths. (Narrate) About a week ago, my best friend Christina and I were driving home from work. It was around 3:15 a.m. We were so exhausted and did not want anything more but to be home in our beds. I was following behind …show more content…
Nearly 333.000 people get injured in accidents each year caused by texting while driving. It takes you approximately five seconds to answer a text, traveling at 55 MPH, that’s enough time to travel the length of a football field.” ("Teens and distracted driving," 2009. Mary Madden & Amanda Lennart). The incentive for Highway Safety states that, “11 teens die every day from texting and driving. In 2013, more than 50% of teenagers admitted to texting while driving and are well known of the outcome that could happen.” (Cellphones and Driving." Insurance Information Institute. 2008). The most common question everyone wants to know the answer to is. “Why do people still text and drive?” Truth is they know what can happen. They know it could kill or seriously injure hem or another person, but the 4” by 6” screen in their hand still receives more attention than the road. People are so anxious to respond to a text message they don’t even think about the consequences of their decision to text and drive. For decades, drunk driving has been the main debate. Jacob Masters said “stricter laws have been passes across the nation leading to a decrease in drunk driving accidents. However, there is a new threat that is called texting while driving, and many say that it is actually more dangerous than drunk …show more content…
“Visual distractions are instead of watching the road ahead; your eyes are looking for message lights or other signals inside the car. Manual distractions are to operate various controls; your hand or hands must be taken off the wheel while the vehicle is in motion. Cognitive distractions are when your mind is no longer on your driving, but on other devises and communicating to others.” (“Resources for Individuals.” Department of Transportation 2015). Most people are guilty of looking at their cell phones too much. For many, cell phone screens are the last thing people look at before they go to bed at night and the first thing they look at in the morning. It is common to see people texting and driving almost every day. When people go out to eat it is completely normal to see a family all on their cell phones at the table also, it’s normal to see them checking their phones while having a conversation with another person. You never see children sitting at the table without a tablet or phone as they play a game or watch a show or
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.
Texting while driving is national growing trend, and it is quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Most drivers think they can manage to text and drive and still stay safe on the roads; however, the numbers do not lie! According to the National Safety Council, 1,600,000 accidents per year are caused by someone who was texting and driving. Laws and penalties for this act are too lax, and tougher laws should be enforced.
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
Most of the drivers are likely to mix up driving and messaging from their cell phones while driving regardless of the laws standing on the issues, and danger posed to them. A majority of those drivers engaging in this act do not contemplate the possible detrimental effects from their actions. Research has indicated that texting while driving contributes to road accidents significantly. This situation is sufficiently bad to the extent that there are more accidents caused by messaging while driving than those caused by drunken driving (Fumento n.p.). From the foregoing statements, this essay seeks to support the laws, which outlaws texting while driving by highlighting how dangerous it is for drivers to massage while driving.
It’s a Friday afternoon and you’re driving to the grocery store after work to pick up a pizza to eat later for dinner. All of your weekend plans are on your mind as you make a right turn. You hear your phone go off and quickly unlock your phone to see what plans are happening tonight. Little do you know you won’t have any plans for this weekend because the text you are about to send will end your life. This might sound harsh but this is exactly how all texting and driving stories go. Texting while driving causes a huge 1,600,000 accidents per year (Distracted Driving), and 11 teens die every day from these accidents. It’s highly likely that while you read this paper someone just got into an accident
Texting and driving is a deadly issue in today 's generation. Using our cellphones while driving is a damaging habit among teens and adults. This habit caused many catastrophic accidents and deaths. Texting while driving has made the roads unsafe for other drivers. Many states recognize the immense threat resulting from texting and driving and have placed a ban on this epidemic. While many people realize texting and driving is hazardous others believe that the ban is useless and not strong enough of a solution.
That is equivalent to downing four beers and then getting behind the wheel.”. Texting while driving is considered to be the highest form of distracted driving. In 2002 2,600 people died from distracted drivers and in 2011 3,331 this number has gone up by 22% in the last 9 years. In 2002 drunk driving accidents have killed 12,405 people but by 2011 that number has decreased by 25% to 9,296. This shows that texting while driving is on its way up and may continue to get worse. The National Highway & Transportation Administration (NHTSA) declares that 1.6 millions accents are caused by texting and driving every year, thats almost 25% of all automobile accidents (Masters).We already know that texting increases chance in an accident, well so does dialing by 2.8%. Also so does talking and listening at 1.3% and reaching for your cell phone at 1.4% (Texting). On November 28, 2010 Nina Todd was leaving her mother house with her two sons, when Karli Brown struck her car head on. In result of the accident Nina’s
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...
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
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 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).
First and foremost, the risk of using a phone while driving is a big chance of an accident more than what the people think. According to the Harvard study “Texting while driving and other forms of distracted driving are responsible for more than 1 million crashes, 400,000 injuries, and 3,000 deaths in the U.S. each year—and those numbers are likely to in...