...Texting While Driving The number one leading cause of teenage driving deaths and crashes is texting while driving. Texting while driving is teenagers’ number one driving distraction (Cell Phone). Texting while driving has not really been a big concern until recently. Law enforcement have realized that the percentage of texting and driving accident have risen over the past years. Texting while driving has been getting ignored but now it’s time to bring it to the light to save some lives. Texting while driving is the #1 wrong thing to do while driving than anything else (Cell Phone). Teenagers do not realize how dangerous texting and driving is; it can cause injuries, distractions, and even deaths. Texting while driving is a growing trend, and a national epidemic, quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers (Distracted Driving Laws). Every year there are one million six hundred thousand, accidents per year and of those accidents there are three hundred thirsty thousand, injuries per year (Distracted Driving Laws). Eleven teen deaths every day due to texting while driving (Distracted Driving Laws). Nearly twenty-five percent of all car accidents are due texting while driving (Distracted Driving Laws). Texting while driving is about six times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated (Distracted Driving Laws). Texting while driving is the same as driving after four beers (Distracted Driving Laws). Texting while driving takes away your attention for five seconds...
Words: 943 - Pages: 4
...known as text messages. SMS allows people to type messages and exchange them between mobile phones better known as texting. This trend of texting came around in late 90’s and has immensely advanced.It’s fast and it’s easy. We respond to that buzz of our phones spontaneously and tune out of our surroundings. A large number of drivers don’t hesitate to both read and respond to test messages while driving. Unfortunately texting has also become a huge safety concern when it occurs while driving. Texting while driving is a serious health issue. Multiple cases have confirmed that texting while driving is becoming a rising problem across the nation. The crashes are happening far too frequently involving both teens and adults. It has reached the point where many states have banned text messaging while operating a vehicle. While talking on a cell phone, a given user can still keep their eyes on the road and at least one hand free, where as text keeps the user’s eyes on and sometimes even both hands on the phone. Texting while you are driving takes one thing away, your vision. Everyone’s eyes are supposed to be on the road at all times. A crash could take place in just a second of you reading the message. Your eyes are the most important thing that you need while driving, a lot of harm could be caused. People today think that texting someone else is fun and necessary. When a person decides to text he or she does not realize the potential dangers that could happen. Texting while driving...
Words: 2383 - Pages: 10
...Crystal Comp 1 November 25, 2013 Texting and Driving “Five seconds, is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55 mph, that’s enough, time to cover the length of a football field” (“Stop The Texts Stop The Wrecks”). Most accidents are blamed on distractions while driving. Most of those distractions are proven to be caused by texting and driving. Many teens do not realize how quick accidents can happen. When it comes to texting and driving, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. This problem, has taken our nation by storm in the last decade. Whether people think they can safely text and drive or not, this problem need to be stopped. Accidents have increased significantly since cell phones have become popular. “Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s handheld or hands free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08% (“Stop The Texts Stop The Wrecks”). Texting and driving is now at a higher accident rate then drinking and driving. To me, this is getting out of hand. Teenagers and young adults ranging from age fifteen to age twenty are rated as the greatest portion of distracted drivers. Texting and driving should be banned in every state because it is dangerous, irresponsible, and there are alternatives! As previously stated, texting and driving is very dangerous. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. There is no possible way for a person to drive and concentrate...
Words: 1193 - Pages: 5
...Don’t Text and Drive Every day there are many motor vehicle accidents in the world. The use of cell phones while driving causes many of these accidents. In Albuquerque there is a hands free law. We can get fined if we have our cell phone in our hand when we are driving. Even with the law, I still see people with their phone in their hands while driving all of the time. Some people are talking on their phone and other people are texting. In order to save your own life as well as save the lives of other people on the road, it is important that people stop texting while driving. Texting while driving is very distracting. Imagine if your best friend was driving a car and received a text. They look down to read the text and a car pulls out in front of him or her. They look up at the last second but it is too late. If someone is going 55 mph, they will drive the length of an entire football field in the time it takes to look at a text. There are applications people can get that will read a text to you. I think the best thing would be to turn your phone on silent until you have reached your destination. Most text messages can wait. If someone is texting, that means they do not have both hand on the steering wheel. The reaction time if they need to swerve out of the way would not be as good. They would need to drop their phone and grab the steering and then turn the wheel. This would also cause an accident. Text messaging makes the likelihood of an accident...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage. (Mulgrew) Many drivers today have such busy lives and never have time to get the things they need to do completed in one day’s time. This leaves them to get things done while on the road. Checking emails is a top priority for Americans and since many havsmartphonees, they will do it on the road as well as send text messages.There are many laws being established to try to prevent distracted driving from happening, although they can’t completely stop it. No matter what age the driver is, under no circumstance should they be texting while driving. Texting or using a cell phone while driving is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you. One reason the majority of people are against this action is because it causes a great amount of car accidents every year. (Copeland) While driving, adults and teenagers cannot resist the urge to pick up their cell phone and send a text or respond to one. When the driver hears the vibrate or ring, nothing can stop them from checking the notification on their phone. As soon as the driver’s eyes meet their cellular device, their focus on the road is drawn away. In 2009, 5,474 lives were taken and 448,000 people got injured from car accidents from being distracted while driving, says the government. (Copeland) The lives of innocent people are being taken every day due to a simple distraction. Car crashes are four times more common to take place while the driver...
Words: 2463 - Pages: 10
...Texting and Driving “In 2010, 3,092 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver” (Distracted Driving). Many people do not realize that texting and driving causes so many injuries and deaths. People believe that looking down at a phone for three seconds is okay and will not cause harm. They are wrong; texting while driving causes more accidents than other distractions while driving. There are also laws that forbid the use of a cell phone while operating a vehicle. Texting and driving is an action that kills more people than expected. Due to the lack of concentration on the first-hand action; a slowed reaction is brought upon the driver. Texting and driving is a problem because of the delayed reaction time of someone who is driving a car. “Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s handheld or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent” (2009, University of Utah). Driving while texting is similar to driving while intoxicated because of the delayed reaction time, but texting while driving is much worse. When a person is driving under the influence of alcohol, they are, for the most part, still focusing on the road; whereas a person who is texting is paying more attention to their phone than on the road. Therefore, most accidents are caused from texting while driving. When going...
Words: 1931 - Pages: 8
...Ernestine Moore Mr. Jim Flick ENG101 11 December 2013 Banning Texting While Driving Automobile crashes as a result of texting while driving is an epidemic that has taken our nation by storm over the past decade. People think they can drive safely while texting on their phones, or they don’t think nothing is going to happen while they are texting on their phones. Texting while driving must be stopped. To do this our government must take action to both uniformity to the laws and punishments bestowed on the offenders. But it is also vital that our government give educational programs that will help spread the dangers about texting while driving a car. Image from video captured by (Dr. Beth Ebel’s) field study of cell phone from behind the wheel, captures a Washington woman texts while she drives. They weren’t police, but when Beth Ebel and her team of investigators walked up and down intersections in six major counties this year, peering into car windows to count how many drivers were using their phones, some drivers dropped them. Hid them, and pretended they’d never held them. “We in public health have this fallacy that if we tell people why they shouldn’t do things, they won’t do them,” said Ebel, a trauma doctor and director of the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Harborview Medical Center. “We got to stop that.” Today, 97.5 percent of the state’s drivers wear seat belts. When Elbel began doing research on seat-belt use in 2001, 83 percent did. Now it’s time to...
Words: 1611 - Pages: 7
...eighteen admit to texting while driving. Driving is already dangerous, so when people add texting, it becomes scary. Not everyone comprehends how big of an issue texting and driving is so they think it okay to do it. Texting while driving takes place by nearly 800,000 drivers at any time across the country. Texting while driving causes car collisions, distracts drivers, and puts lives in danger. To start, texting while driving causes many car collisions because the driver may not have their attention on the road. Each day when on the road I survey a countless amount of people texting while they drive. Just one second can change the driver's life permanently. Drivers are twenty- three times more likely to crash while texting, I have read about so many fatal collisions from texting it blows my mind to think people still text while driving. Texting while driving causes thousands and thousands of car collisions and nearly eleven teen deaths every day. For example, Kayla Preuss a sixteen year old girl died...
Words: 624 - Pages: 3
...Driving While Intexicatied: The Dangers of Texting and Driving Have you ever been driving down the road and the car in front of you is swerving all over the road? You then become worried and you proceed to switch lanes to ensure your safety, and as you approach the car, you see that the driver is face down in their cellphone, and because of the size of phones these days, you realized that they almost cause an accident for Facebook? Really, Facebook? What happens when your friend comes to pick you up and as you guys head out for a night on the town, your friend is all consumed with texting in the middle of driving, and she inadvertently veers over into the next lane cutting a vehicle almost causing a collision? Your life could have been lost in the blink of an eye, all because of that darn cellphone. As you continue to read this paper, it will show you that texting while driving is just as dangerous and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Cellphones have been around for centuries. The modern cellphone has only had the capability for texting since 1997 when Nokia introduced the 9000i with a full QWERTY keyboard (A Brief History of Text Messaging, 2015). Since its time, the cellphone has become interactive; we now have the luxury of not even needing a personal computer, because cellphones have evolved into just that a fully functional complete communication device. Cellphones are a necessity in life and it has been proven, but not as it pertains to texting and driving...
Words: 1269 - Pages: 6
...Dangers of Texting and Driving George Koudelka COM/155 February 09, 2014 Amy Hankins Dangers of Texting and Driving The letters LOL, TTYL, or just saying "Hey" have the power to cause an accident within seconds. The National Safety Council estimates that "1.4 million accidents occur every year due to people using their cell phones. 200,000 of those accidents alone are from texting while driving."(How) The popularity of mobile devices has had some unintended and even dangerous consequences. We now know that mobile communications are linked to a significant increase in distracted driving, resulting in injury and loss of life. With this said some people believe that texting and driving needs to be closely monitored because of the risk it involves. While other people think that it is alright to use the phone while driving as long as we keep glancing at the road while replying to the text. Currently there is no national ban on texting or using a wireless phone while driving, but a number of states have passed laws banning texting or wireless phones or requiring hands-free use of wireless phones while driving. This epidemic negatively affects teens and their society and should be strictly avoided. Using cell phone causes many distractions for our eyes, our mind, and our actions. It is easily possible for our eyes to slip off the road. The Tampa Bay Times claims that it "takes seconds to get eyes off the highway and takes self-control"(Cox). Therefore, instead of...
Words: 1096 - Pages: 5
...TEXTING IS TODAY’S MOST DEMANDED FORM OF COMMUNICATION AND WHILE SOME MAY THINK THAT IT IS JUST A SIMPLE TASK, THE ACT OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING CAN ALSO BE ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS AND POSSIBLY FATAL FORMS OF COMMUNICATION IN THE WORLD TODAY. FIRST LET ME GIVE THE PROPER DEFINITION OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS THE ACT OF COMPOSING, SENDING, READING OR SENDING A TEXT MESSAGE, READING OR SENDING EMAILS OR MAKING OTHER SIMILAR USE OF THE WEB ON A MOBILE PHONE WHILE OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE. WE ALL HAVE SEEN THE COMMERCIALS WHERE A DRIVER TAKES HIS EYES OFF THE ROAD TO READ A TEXT MESSAGE AND IN AN INSTANT THE DRIVER’S LIFE IS SUDDENLY CHANGED BY A HORRIFIC ACCIDENT ALL DUE TO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. I KNOW THAT I DON’T EVER WANT TO THINK ABOUT BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT THAT WOULD TAKE THE LIVES OF OTHER MOTORISTS OR PEDESTRIANS. AND I’M PRETTY SURE THAT NONE OF YOU GUYS WANNA WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH THE FEELING OF KNOWING THAT YOU WERE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING AN INNOCENT PERSON IN A WHEELCHAIR FOR THE REMAINDER OF THEIR LIVES OR EVEN SHORTENING THE LIFE OF A SMALL CHILD ALL BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO TEXT WHILE DRIVING. USING A CELL PHONE WHILE DRIVING IS DANGEROUS ENOUGH BUT TEXTING WHILE DRIVING WILL HAVE THE EFFECTS THAT ARE 100X MORE DEVASTATING. ACTUALLY RESEARCH SHOWS THAT 5 SECONDS IS THE AVERAGE TIME YOUR EYES ARE OFF THE ROAD WHILE TEXTING, AND WHEN TRAVELING AT 55 MPH THAT’S ENOUGH TIME TO COVER THE ENTIRE LENGTH...
Words: 1570 - Pages: 7
...While driving, there will always be distractions. Whether they’re noticeable or not, they are there. This includes the quick glance at the phone to see if mom called, the pizza that looks like a slice of heaven, the radio that plays the same catchy song five times, the annoying back seat driver, and the billboard of that new phone without a headphone jack. The simplest actions that force the driver to give their attention to something other than the road is a distraction. To prevent any distractions, a driver must stay focused and alert behind the wheel at all times. By ignoring distractions, drivers can make the Highway Transportation System safe for all users. Distracted driving is broken down into three subcategories: visual, manual,...
Words: 555 - Pages: 3
...Don’t text and drive Victoria Guerriero Image Analysis “Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field.” (2009, VTTI). While texting and driving has always been an issue since people were able to text on phones, it has not gained much media attention until recently. People may have sent an occasional text while driving ten years ago, but because the keyboard was harder to use, people were not doing it as often. Today’s phones allow you to text with one hand, making it easier to text while driving. With that being said there have been more accidents related to texting and driving. Those that have been injured or almost injured in an accident may no longer text and drive, but the vast majority of people that have yet to injure themselves or others while doing this will continue to text and drive because they feel safe. There are many ads, commercials and even organizations that are against texting and driving but the number of people that have actually stopped texting while driving is at a bare minimum. “60% of drivers use cell phones while driving.” (2011, Harris Poll). It seems as if all the advertisements have not paid off like planned. The reason behind so many ads is to cut back on texting and driving and I believe the media helps get the idea of texting and driving into people’s heads. People will participate in this dangerous action...
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...Texting and Driving Ding! You hear your phone go off while you are driving and you look down for one, solitary second. Bam! Was your life really worth that one text message? The answer is no. Yes, texting and driving is a big problem in the world, everyday at least 9 people die and at least 1,000 are injured due to distracted drivers. But with your help, we can confine texting and driving for good. People should not text and drive because people can die, it hurts insurers and your insurance rates, and because you can get punished. No one should ever text and drive because they are placing their own precious life and the lives of the people around them in danger. Imagine if your loved one died due to texting and driving. About 3 years ago, my friend Tita and her mother Emma died in a car crash. Because other people were texting and driving, in the end 4 total people died and 2 of them were children. It shouldn’t take any more lives before we all act on our problem at hand. The National Highway and Traffic Safety...
Words: 679 - Pages: 3
...people to get to places quicker than by taking a bus with many stops or walking. Also having the ability to text others on their cell phones speeds up the process of communication. People who own cell phones try to combine texting and driving to make personal calls or for business matters. While driving they check their emails or even go on the Internet! Texting while driving is a highly controversial issue and is discussed constantly all around the world. As a result of texting and driving, many more car accidents occur each day and because of this, research has been conducted about why people text and drive, the dangers of texting while driving, the statistics, laws in New Jersey, and ways to prevent texting while driving. Not only can texting and driving be dangerous for yourself, but it can be dangerous for others around you. When first getting your driver’s license, you are taught to keep your eyes on the road. You are taught to drive with no distractions and to concentrate on what is ahead. After becoming comfortable, drivers soon realize that they can do a lot more than just have two hands on the wheel and drive. Nowadays it is very common to see drivers glancing down at their phone or even holding it up to the steering wheel. Is this because drivers are addicted to texting while driving or is it a matter of just no self-control? Atchley’s study “Why Do We Still Text and Drive” stated, “If you are addicted to something you make irrational decisions.” For example, if you...
Words: 2113 - Pages: 9
