Texting while driving is the act of composing sending text messages, email, or browsing web while driving a car. The issue of texting while driving is too many people think they can do both focus on the road and text .” The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed nearly 1,700 videos that capture the actions of teen drivers in the moments before a crash. It found that distractions were a factor in nearly 6 of 10 moderate to severe crashes. That's four times the rate in many previous official estimates that were based on police reports” (Lowey). Although, some people don’t think texting while driving isn’t a big deal but texting while driving is like being drunk
According to Inkteen.com “In 2009, 5,474 lives were taken and 448,000 people got injured from car accidents from being distracted while driving, says the government.” Being able to drive may be a dream comes true, but it could easily turns into a nightmare that is never woken up from. The use of technology has grown in constant for many years, distracting people from things that are important. Texting and driving is one of the biggest problems in USA. However, not only are drivers putting themselves in danger, they’re putting passengers in their car and other drivers on the road in danger, too. So it is very precarious to yourself and for the people that surrounding you. One reason the majority of people are against this action is because it
In the United States texting and driving laws are on state to states bases, which leaves questions from state to state and unawareness of laws like it did in the state of Utah. In A Deadly Wandering, by Matt Richtel, he examines the growing influence that technology has on the United States, and uses Reggie Shaw as an example. In 2006, Reggie Shaw was driving when he spun out of control and hit a car head on killing the two passengers. He did not remember the accident, but records showed that he had sent eleven text messages within minutes of the accident and denied it. When the trial rose, the state of Utah was uncertain of how to precede- their unawareness blindsided them. His main point in the book was the growing usage, and posed the question of how can we find a balance? He also reflected on the effects that technology has on the brain while driving, and how much it does affect someone’s driving ability. Shaw’s case exemplifies why as a country, the United States needs national texting and driving laws for balance and awareness and
Purpose Statement – Texting while driving is a serious distraction and one that could cost you your life or the lives of others.
Three of the high risk behaviors account for texting and driving including “eyes off of the road, at least one hand off the wheel, and mind off the driving situation” (Hollister, 2013). The three actions a person partakes in while texting and driving fall into the three major categories the Center for Disease Control established. Once people begin texting and driving, they no longer pay attention to their driving and only their phone or tablet. Distracted driving takes away the reaction time of a driver from avoiding a crash. Comprehending danger while driving takes multiple seconds. 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. Texting and driving has caused many deaths among teens and others, and many families grieve every day, wishing that the worst action anyone can do while driving to become illegal. In the year 2009, 5,500 people died in texting and driving related accidents (Johnson, 2012). From then the numbers only go up because of the growth of technology. Since the issue has grown and causing more and more problems, laws need to change and become stricter to fit the new forms of
Transition: Now that I have introduced my topic, I would like to begin by talking about hazards and harms of texting and driving.
She lost control of her car clipped an oncoming car, flipped two-and-a-half times, and landed upside down in a ditch,” (Waugh). In this article “Texting and Driving” Koraza says that even when she gets a text message she feels the need to read it immediately. An article that Koraza uses in her own article says that “studies found that 21% of all reported injury crashes involved distracted driving.” Koraza also says “It is hard to resist texting while driving as it is easy to get away with.” This is showing that if there was a law in South Carolina on texting while driving, that less people would do it because they would be afraid of getting
More than 3,000 teens die each year in crashes caused by texting and driving. On June 8, a report was released stating that Tennessee bus crash that left two young girls and a teacher 's aide dead last December was the result of texting and driving. James Davenport, the driver of the bus, was found dead in his home on June 1.Why does this have to happen? Preventing texting and driving should be an easy thing but mostly everyone is anxiously waiting for a text message from there dearest friend or loved one that we forget about our safety. That’s why we should start implementing laws for safety so these staggering rates can go down. Most statistics say that when a teen has a passenger in their car they felt like they were in danger because of texting and driving from the driver.
Many drivers, not just youth, hold the belief that they are capable of texting while driving in a safe manner. A 2014 telephone survey conducted by “The Center for Internet Technology Addiction”, reported surveying 1,000 drivers and found that 98% of those who text every day and drive frequently say the
The Texas lawmakers heatedly debated whether to ban texting while driving, which resulted in 102-40 for the ban. (Barnett) People seem to use the excuse of their unalienable rights to keep on losing themselves while driving instead of paying attention to whatever is ahead of them. That is also the reason why texting while driving is increasing the crash rates even outside of Texas, as you can see stated in "90+ Texas Cities are Hands-Free / Ban Texting and Driving", "In 2013 alone, 3,154 people in the U.S. were killed in
It’s amazing how many people will still drive distracted, either by texting, talking on the phone, or even not paying attention to what is in front of them. Over 5,000 distracted driver crashes have occurred in Utah in a year. This has resulted in 3,000 injured and almost 20 deaths. Wouldn 't you think that would be enough to make people think and see what is happening? Texting or looking at your phone is now illegal in most states yet so many people still do it. In many things I 've researched it says “At 55 mph, the average text takes your eyes off the road long enough to cover a football field.” So much can happen in that amount of time. Other distractions while driving are cell phones, other passengers in the car, internal and external things going on, The Radio/CD/DVD and most importantly
As of January 2012, 9 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands will have banned all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving and 34 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam will have banned drivers from text messaging. Laws for novice drivers are even more stringent, with 30 states plus the District of Columbia banning novice drivers from using cell phones and 41 states plus the District of Columbia banning novice drivers from texting while driving. It is likely more states will adopt some form of legislation targeting drivers’ cell phone use and/or texting in the future. Americans, when polled, are usually strongly in favor of laws curbing using cell phones while
In out of the dust, Billie Jo and her father suffer from a lot of loss and grief. Billie Jo’s father loses his wife and son and Billie Jo loses her best friend, Livie when she moves to California to get out of the dust. Billie Jo also loses the ability to play the piano for a little while because of her hands being burnt from the fire.They learn to overcome these hardships by living without the things they lost. They also learn to have a stronger relationship with each other and bond more.
In addition, despite laws in place to restrict the use of technology, such as cell phones, while driving has not offered enough of a deterrent to stop this activity according to the Highway Loss Data Institute and the number of insurance collision claims. Even though adolescents are capable of fully understanding the risks involved in texting while driving, it doesn’t seem to be enough for them to stop engaging in this risky activity. Research has suggested another approach that seems to be more effective than ones tried in the past. Adolescents seem to respond more effectively with statistics shared that reflect the majority of their group not participating in risky behavior. In other words, opposed to focusing on the percentage of teens that engage in texting and talking on the phone while driving, there is a more positive response to campaigns focusing on the majority of adolescents that don’t participate in these activities. Studies have shown a more positive response rate with this approach, making it the most effective approach to
Every day 6.8 billion people use a cell phone. With almost 91% of the world population using these devices, one would assume they are safe. They are not. Some would disagree, contradicting with how cell phones can improve your everyday life with health apps, reminders, etc. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. Cell phones are a large negative component in so many lives, yet this goes practically unnoticed. Cell phones can negatively affect one’s physical health, mental health, and one’s daily life.