Distracted driving any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. It is very easy to become distracted by texting, answering calls, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, personal grooming, reading maps and adjusting the radio or air conditioning controls (“Facts and Statistics”). What is currently being done? Many laws are being made and put in place to become more effective. I believe they should be more age diverse because not only are teens and young adults texting and driving etc.
How to Fight Distracted Driving by Lianna Thompson Safer roads is a goal that virtually everyone benefits from since we all share the road infrastructure. However this goal of safe roads can be difficult since there are many circumstances that can put drivers in dangerous situations. But perhaps the one that has gotten the most attention as of late is the issue of distracted driving. There have been countless attempts in order to help stop this issue, yet it still remains one of the leading causes of auto accidents.
Oprah Winfrey’s essay titled “DND TXT N DRV” attempts to show the state of distracted driving in our world, outlining specifically how distracted driving has become normalized in our society and individuals’ developed sense of entitlement to use their phones while driving, leading to denial of the risks and dangers associated. While it’s true that the physical action of hanging up or switching off a phone while driving is a simple one, actually doing so may not be as simple for everyone. Using a cell phone while driving has become habitual for most, with pressures to be constantly available and responsive in our new digital age we as a society ¬¬¬have accepted the potential consequences involved in this behavior, yet have failed to do an accurate
To put it another way most experience drivers don’t feel they’re totally distracted from the road even if their attention is somewhere else. However, being distracted while driving, doesn’t only involve the use of our phones. Distracted driving is any action that involves you taking your eye’s, mind or hand of the wheel while driving. For example; eating, drinking while driving or talking on the cellphone, are a few actions that, causes a distraction while on the road. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) there are three kinds of distracted driving: manual, visual, and cognitive (Adminstration, n.d.).
Delbridge, E. (2016). Causes and Effects of Driving Distracted. The Balance. Retrieved 11 October 2016, from https://www.thebalance.com/causes-and-consequences-of-distracted-driving-527085 2.
With the public service announcements that the school system has access to, there are very many more options when looking into stopping distracted driving with the school. The only way to really convey such an important message is there a personal connection. When looking into solutions for distracted driving, it is important to try to find people who can influence the audience in a personal way instead of random strangers poorly acting their way through the very common distracted driving stories. There are so many people in the world who have been deeply affected by distracted driving that in every school there are always people who can step up and tell their story to reach out to a wider audience on a more personal level. That is the way that the school system will effectively fight distracted
Distracted driving contributes to millions of vehicle accidents every year in the United States, resulting in millions of cases of property damage, bodily injury, and the tragic loss of life. A major reason distracted driving is so common is due to the era of information that we live in. At any given time, the average driver on our roads has access to unlimited amounts of information at the tip of our fingers through our phones, computers, and other electronics that constantly surround us. This access continues while driving since technologies have been advanced so that even our cars are able to feed us a constant stream of information. Unfortunately, the human brain is terribly ineffective at multitasking, so when we try to do something else
Road rage, ignoring traffic laws, drinking and driving, or texting and driving are becoming a convention. As more people convert to these unacceptable actions, the roads become even more perilous. Reevaluating the way individuals drive could end up saving someone’s
These advances have become so deeply rooted in our society one cannot seem to go a single day without their phone or laptop or other electronic devices. People are constantly going on the Internet and checking their phones whether it is to text someone or post a status update or a picture. Personally this issue not only affects my generation, it hits close to home as well. The goal is to successfully address an issue in a way that provides a better well being for society as a whole. Distracted driving is an epidemic that can be controlled.
Distracted driving has become a big problem in the United States. What does distracting driving consist of? The NHTSA characterizes distracted driving as “any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.” From new drivers to people who have been driving for almost a decade, they experience more distraction from their mobile devices than anyone. Coleman at Bankrate wrote, “In April 2006, a study released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the NHTSA found that almost 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event.”
A distracted driver would travel the length of a football field when driving sixty miles per hour (Hollister, 2013). The length and amount of time could cause a horrific accident. Traffic safety researchers at Virginia Tech also recognized that those who participate in the act of texting and driving will be twenty-three times more likely to crash (Johnson, 2012). Everyone can see the evidence that distracted driving exists, specifically texting and driving. The people need to recognize it.
In today’s society, distracted driving is a major issue, one we have been struggling with since the invention of cell phones. In 2013 alone, over 3,000 people were killed in accidents caused by distracted driving in the US. While many methods have been used to try and stop distracted driving, people are still in search of the best way to go about it. Many believe that we will get the best results by distributing PSAs, or Public Service Announcements, across the nation through different forms of media. They believe that, by showing people the facts, they will become more educated on the dangers of distracted driving and cease to do so.
Distracted driving is extremely common in youth. Kids do not understand the dangers of distracted driving. That is why I believe we should have an app on our phones, that when you get into a car the phone powers down. The risk of dying is not worth one text. Yet kids in today's world do not see the risks or possibilities that can come out of it.
III. Purpose Statement – Texting while driving is a serious distraction and one that could cost you your life or the lives of others. IV. Main Points (TRANSITION:
Though laws have helped prevent cell phone use while operating a vehicle, cell phones still have only greatened the number of distracted driving accidents. Susan Henneberg is an author who focuses on writing about common issues in society. After hearing of a fatal distracted driving accident, she wrote of the accident, “The impact [of the crash] spun their car sideways into Shaw’s lane, and the trailing pickup truck plowed into the side of the Saturn, killing both men instantly”(Henneberg). Both of these drivers were physically hurt all because of texting and driving.