Have you ever seen a driver that’s looking down at their phone or applying makeup on the go? Have you wondered what happened to them after you passed them at the light? Every day there are more and more distracted drivers on the roads of America. Whether there was serious damage done or just a slight drift into another lane, distracted driving affects Americans’ daily life greatly and can have many consequences.
Texting and driving can be fatal and each day over 1,000 people get hurt due to distracted drivers. I’m sure you have been driving somewhere and have seen a car accident in your lifetime. Have you ever thought about what caused the accident? Possibly it could be caused by a distracted driver. [1] Before you ever text and drive think about the millions of people who die every year due to texting and driving.
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.
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
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:
Interacting with children and other persons sometimes affects them manually on the road. Then, there is social media which in many cases removes the mind from the road. Today the major distractions while driving can be anything from texting, interacting with people inside or outside the vehicle and posting on social media. Texting while driving is a major discussion today, as it is becoming more popular. Texting and turning focus to the phone while driving can affect the craft of safe driving.
Finally, I will discuss the potential solutions to this serious issue. Transition: Now that I have introduced my topic, I would like to begin by talking about hazards and harms of texting and driving. II. BODY A. Significance/Harms – Texting while driving is a major issue that needs to be addressed a. (Statistic) Texting while driving creates a crash risk 23 times greater that undistracted driving.
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.
Texting and driving is the most dangerous form of distraction behind the wheel, but the observers are incorrect when they say the teens are the most dangerous beings on the
Texting or calling while driving can subtract from the attention you are giving to your surrounding, and poses a serious hazard to the citizens around you. While there are ways to avoid texting and driving, there will always be some individuals who will choose to text and drive, so the only way to ensure that people do not text and drive is to put laws in place that punish folks who decide to put others in harm’s way. Cell phones and smartphones are a huge advantage in today’s society. They allow us to communicate with friends, family, coworkers, etc… This technology is normally beneficial, but there are times when you need to put your phone aside and pay attention to what is physically happening around you. One of these times is when you
Facts How Big Is The Problem? FATALITIES: In 2012, 3,328 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver; 3,360 were killed in 2011. MAJOR/MINOR INJURIES: An additional, 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver in 2012, a 9% increase from the 387,000 people injured in 2011. In 2011, nearly one in five crashes (17%) in which someone was injured involved distracted driving.
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
People will always have arguments for either one side, saying that texting is more dangerous while driving or drinking. After reading the research that was made, those who are entrusted while driving might have a different insight of the impact they can cause around them if not being responsible.
This is affecting the 16-24 year old drivers majorly as it becomes the main distraction when on the roads. This is evident as it has been identified as being a contributing factor in 22% of car crashes and near crashes in naturalistic driving studies. (4) Mobile phone use has been an increasing risk factor of young drivers fatalities on the road. In Australia, young adults have the highest level of general mobile phone use, with the age groups of 18 to 24 years and 25 to 39 years reporting the highest percentages of 94% and 91%, respectively. These age groups are also more likely to use a mobile phone while driving than older drivers, with 3/5 Australian drivers aged between 18 and 24 years reporting that they had sent or received a text while driving compared with 1/3 drivers aged over 25 years.
Defining Distracted Driving Anyone handling an 18-wheeler that is text messaging is twenty-three times more likely to get in an accident. In the simple act of dialing a cellphone, a truck driver is six times more likely to cause an accident. Distracted driving is not just limited to texting and talking on a cellphone.