...the day, even while driving. The most prevalent cause for being on your phone is to socialize with someone else via text. In 2012, there were over 2 trillion texts sent in the US. With more and more individuals having a phone that can send texts, that number has only risen in the past several years. This can only mean that the danger of a car crash because of texting has also increased. Texting while driving is becoming more dangerous every single day and the American populous should be more informed about how bad texting is, the texting laws need to be updated and become stricter, and drivers need to stop getting distracted by their mobile devices. In 2013, there were 1.1 million car crashes caused by a mobile device. Of those 1.3 million wrecks, 424,000 individuals were injured, and 3,154 people lost their lives due to a distraction from their phone or tablet. One out of every four car accidents is caused by texting and driving. There was also another report done in 2013 comparing drinking and driving to texting and driving. The report stated that “Texting while driving is like drinking 4 beers.” Although the person driving might not have consumed any alcohol, the individual has the same likelihood of causing a car crash from 4 beers as texting while driving. After all 50 states had integrated stricter laws regarding drinking and driving, the number of drunk driving fatalities dropped by 25%. If were to have stricter laws regarding texting and driving, we would see a...
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...Student corner n°1 Drinking and driving The text October 18, 2011, The NY times Friends Still Let Friends Drive Drunk By BARRON H. LERNER, M.D. On Sept. 15, Matthew Grape, 21, got into the passenger seat of a car with one of his Duke University fraternity brothers. The driver hit a tree, escaping with minor injuries, but killing his dear friend. According to local press reports, the driver was charged with impaired driving. Nearly 11,000 deaths related to alcohol-impaired driving still occur each year in the United States, despite a three-decade surge in anti-drunken driving activism, stricter laws and clever slogans like “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” There are more than 110 million instances of impaired driving each year, according to data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey and summarized in a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How can this still be occurring, and what can be done about it? Back in 1980, when Candy Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed in California by a drunken driver with several previous arrests for driving while intoxicated, including one only two days earlier, there was little public discussion of the topic, even though drunken drivers killed 25,000 Americans annually. Crashes were called “accidents,” and victims were characterized as having been “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Police and prosecutors routinely allowed drunken drivers to plead to lesser offenses...
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...Three people are killed every two hours due to alcohol-related highway car crashes (Drunk). The state of Virginia and even the United States of America continues to let off driving while under the influence of alcohol with minor punishments that do not even ensure the ongoing safety of the drivers on the road. The punishment for a first offender should be imprisonment to make the roads a safer place. The penalties set in place now does not ensure that the offender does not get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. The offenders do not learn any lessons by the penalties they are given currently. As the penalty is now, people are not taking this offense seriously. In fact, young people on Youtube have been posting videos of themselves drunk like it is a normal, inconsequential action (Primack). If there was a new penalty put in place that imprisons first offenders of drinking and driving, the numbers of alcohol-related car accidents would surely drop significantly, and stop the younger generation drinkers from thinking it is impossible for them to get in trouble for their action. The penalties for driving while under the influence are too loose compared to how serious the crime is. In the state of Virginia, the penalty for a first offender of driving while under the influence is a license suspension and a fine of a maximum of three-hundred dollars (DUI). This punishment is not nearly as harsh as it should be. Suspending an offender’s license does nothing to ensure the...
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...467 10/2/2015 Effects of drunk driving on teens and adults In 2011 over 1.2 million people were arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Driving while under the influence is most seen in 21 to 25 years old. I found this information to be interesting because are demographic has a high tendency to drive while being under the influence of alcohol. I’m more interested in the effects of drunk driving on teens and adults because it is something that affects anybody who drives an automobile now a days. There is something you should know about driving under the influence. One of out every three Americans on the road has been involved in an alcohol related car crash sometime in their life time. Those are really bad odds looking at the fact that most Americans are on the road for at one hour per day. I’m very interest to learn more about the effects of driving under the influence on teenagers and adults. Most people who drive under the influence don’t actually realize the harm they can actually cause until the minute after the accident has happened. Most drunk driving incidents can be avoided with just a simple phone call. What drunk drivers don’t seem to understand is they are endangering not just their own life but everyone on the roads with them. For example, “In 2013, a total of 1,149 children fourteen and younger were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those 1,149 fatalities, 200 (17%) occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Out of those 200 deaths...
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...weekend with a few beers. While you’re living it up, getting tipsy, you get a call from a friend who’s stuck at home, without a car. You tell your friend you’re on your way to get him, when he asks, “Are you sure you can drive?” you reply, “Oh I’ve only had a few beers, I’m alright.” So you get your keys and head off to your friends house. While you’re driving, you notice you are feeling a little drowsy. You see some headlights that look like they are heading towards you. Then all of the sudden you collide. After everything settles, you realize you are alright. You crawl out of the window and walk towards the other car. Looking through the spider-cracked windshield, you see a woman and her two kids, all dead. In 2005, there were an estimated 16,885 alcohol related fatalities in the U.S. That is over 39% of automobile related fatalities that year. On average, 254,000 people are injured in alcohol related wrecks in a year. After hearing these statistics, you can tell that drinking and driving is a huge issue in America. The dangers of drunk driving effect drivers of America every day. Not only do you have to be responsible enough to control yourself from drinking and driving, you also have to worry about other people that are drinking and driving. Even though you may not wreck while driving drunk, there are other risks involved. When driving while impaired by alcohol, it’s very easy for police officers to notice you. If you are even caught drinking underage, no matter where...
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...bad driving habits are most likely to have accidents. Accidents could lead to serious injuries or even death. To prevent accidents, drivers need to have a responsible attitude and a level of maturity, when given this privilege. These accidents occur when the driver’s concentrating less on the vehicle and more on the things around them. Driving is a major part of life, but some habits like using cell phones, over speeding, and drinking and driving could be known as abusing the right of driving. Firstly, talking and texting while driving is a major addiction that could lead to accidents. When talking on the phone one could certainly lose the concentration needed for driving. It’s definitely hard to be aware of two things at a time, but some people don’t realize this, because of over confidence. Texting while driving could also lead to loss of control on car. This most likely happens when one is using both hands to text and is also looking down on the phone. If there is no control of the steering wheel by the driver, the consequences could lead to death. Fortunately, the solution for talking on phone has been found! The use of Bluetooth could help save lives. It is considered good because you don’t have to hold the phone, and so it saves many lives. Secondly, another bad habit is when a person drives the car over the speed limit. This is considered a bad habit because there will be less control on the vehicle, since it’s going at such a fast speed. When driving at faster...
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...Filed 1/7/16 P. v. Cole CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR |THE PEOPLE, | B254915 | | | | |Plaintiff and Respondent, |(Los Angeles County | | |Super. Ct. No. MA055457) | |v. | | | | | |TOMMIE LEE COLE, | ...
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...driver. Eric had went out that morning on a bike ride and while he went on a road not far from his home near Santa Maria, California, Eric was killed when a teen driver traveling at 60 miles per hour struck his bike with her truck. Eric was struck and killed by a distracted teenage driver who neither swerved nor braked. It was later revealed by the driver's cell phone records that she was texting just before the crash. Even though people have been told numerous amount of times what not to do while driving such as texting, driving intoxicated, eating,...
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...Drinking and driving has been a highly debated issue over the last three decades. It has caused frenzy among alcohol licensee holders, alcohol consumers, legislation, and victims of alcohol related deaths. There have been many deaths caused by alcohol impaired individuals that could have been prevented, if there was certain legislation in place at particular times in history. Even though there are still a staggering number of fatalities caused as a result of alcohol and impaired driving, the numbers have decreased exponentially since its awareness has been made public and stricter legislation has been enacted. The activist group or movement organization that I decided to discuss on is the widely known and respected MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) organization. The organization’s purpose and aim is to aid the victims of crimes performed by individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to aid the families of such victims and to increase public awareness of the problem of drinking and drugged driving (MADD, 2010). This organization has been around for 30 years and its founder, Candy Lightner, is a victim of repeated occurrences with impaired drivers. On May 3, 1980 Cari, Lightner’s 13 year old daughter, was walking down the street in a quiet suburb of California when she was hit from behind by a man named Clarence Bush. Cari was hit so hard that she was thrown over 100 feet and which the impact from both the car and the ground ended her life. Reports indicated...
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...3/24/2013 Argumentative research paper Why Not Change the Drinking Age Back to 18? In the United States of America you are considered a legal adult at the age of 18 years old. You have all the major rights of a fully grown adult, voting, enlisting in the military, buying a house, buying tobacco products and many more. However there is one right that was taken away from the 18 year old adult back in 1984. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into place which changed the legal minimum drinking age from 18 years old to 21. Does this law mean that you are not really a mature adult until you are 21 or should the drinking age be brought back down to 18 when you receive all the other rights of a mature adult. It makes perfect sense that this right should be returned to young adults for plenty of reasons and also holds potential solutions to one of the nation’s biggest alcohol related problems. What does it mean to be an adult? United States law states that you are legally considered an adult at the age of 18. It makes sense right? You can buy a house, enlist in the U.S. military, get married and loads of other rights you don’t have until the age of 18. But United States law also states that all states must enforce a legal minimum drinking age of 21. We are the only major nation to have such a high drinking age. The drinking age wasn’t always this high though. On July 17th 1984 the national minimum drinking age act was passed which meant that 18 year old young adults...
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...today, causing an uncanny amount of accidents and deaths each year with the decisions they carelessly make. Premature decisions have caused many preventable deaths. The driving age should be raised to 18 because teenagers today have caused more problems on the road than thought before with their lack of experience and rebellious nature, the influence of drugs or alcohol, and rule breaking. Teenagers are known to be some of the most spontaneous and indecisive of the general population, and that aspect does not change when they step behind the wheel of a car. There are many factors contributing to teenagers making risky decisions. According to the California DMV,...
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...Arrive Alive, Don’t Drink and Drive We often hear this while we’re out with friends and usually the answer is no, yet we still strive to say yes. The question here is, “ Am I okay to drive?” after a night out at the club or any other social event involving alcohol. In Lebanon, more than 350,000 accidents have been recorded till this day, and we can only imagine how many of them have been alcohol-related. Drinking and driving is one of the number one causes of death worldwide. It is dangerous and in some countries, illegal to drive intoxicated. There are no positive outcomes to driving while under the influence, however, it is essential to understand why people do so in the first place. Unfortunately, most, if not all accidents end with either death or injury. Moreover, there are many negative aspects and disadvantages to drinking and driving. It can have impact on yourself, your friends, family, physical and mental health, as well as impact your future in the long run. First of all, why do people still proceed with driving after drinking all night, knowing that they are not in any condition to take any responsibility of any type? Believe it or not, many people know they will be drinking and driving even if they do not intend to do so purposely. The reasons for people’s decisions to drink and drive could be related to the effects of alcohol itself. After consuming alcohol, many people get tipsy, or drunk and start to feel different than their typical self. Alcohol affects...
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...Unfortunately that trust is often in many cases. Teen driving while intoxicated is one of the worst causes of deaths, in the young of the community. The causes are many, a parental figure that was not there when the child was younger, in the more formative stages of their life. A bad parental figure, which has shown the young drivers, that while there are rules, they teach that the rules do not apply to everyone. And young adults, who have just entered the college setting. Instead of concentrating on learning, to advance their education, they concentrate on the social aspects of college, fitting in, and trying to be socially acceptable. This has a significant chance to lead to the “rowdier” lifestyle, which can lead to the more socially acceptable, but illegal choices. According to Shelia Sarkar, and Marie Andreas, on a poll done with 1430 teen drivers, 880 of the teen drivers had traffic violations, which included speeding, drag racing, and driving under the influence. Younger drivers are more likely to overestimate their driving skills, especially young male drivers. When a driver overestimates their driving skills, they tend to be more agreeable to the riskier, and even lethal behaviors. Driving while under the influence is one of the more dangerous behaviors at any age, but especially for a teen driver who does not have the experience that an older driver does. It has been proven that those teen drivers, who were exposed to drunk driving, have a much higher chance of actually practicing...
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...April 1, 1994, all new drivers applying for their first car or motorcycle licence enter Ontario's Graduated Licensing System (GLS). Graduated licensing lets new drivers get driving experience and skills gradually. The two-step licensing process takes at least 20 months to complete. To apply for a licence, you must be at least 16 years old and pass a vision test and a test of your knowledge of the rules of the road and traffic signs. After you pass these tests, you will get a Class G1 or M1 licence and a driver information package for new drivers. You must pass two road tests to become fully licensed. New drivers earn full driving privileges in two stages and have five years to complete the program (Classes G1, G2, M2 or M2 with condition "L") and graduate to a full licence (Classes G, M or M with condition L). Graduated Licensing for Automobile Drivers Class G1 New drivers of passenger vehicles learn to drive with six important conditions with a G1 licence. A new driver must hold a G1 licence for a minimum of 12 months before attempting the G1 road test. This time can be reduced to eight months if you successfully complete a Ministry-approved Beginner Driver Education Course . Drivers earn more privileges after passing their G1 road test. As a G1 driver, you are required to: * maintain a zero blood alcohol level while driving; * be accompanied by a fully licensed driver, who has at least four years driving experience, and a blood alcohol level of less than .05...
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...Dangers of Texting and Drinking while Driving Ashlyn R. Fellman Western Governors University WGU Student ID# 000298280 Every year there are thousands of fatal car crashes due to distracted drivers. Distracted driving is not only caused from texting and drinking, but from eating, music, children, other people in the car, and even putting on makeup or fixing their hair. There are many laws out there to ban texting and drinking while driving to keep people from harm’s way but there are so few people who actually obey the laws. Research shows that drinking while driving and texting while driving are equally harmful because they both impair the driver’s vision, the driver’s reaction time, and the driver’s concentration and vigilance, all skills needed to prevent millions of accidents, deaths, and injuries every year. The driver’s vision becomes impaired when they look anywhere else but the road and how fast they are going also when they are drunk, their eyes are glazed over and bloodshot. Just one or two drinks in a person’s system affects their nervous system and motor skills. Alcohol slows reaction time and clouds depth perception, vision, sense of touch, coordination, and judgment even when they are not considered legally drunk (Kedjidjian, 1994). Drinking while driving may cause people to become drowsy which is just as dangerous. Drowsy driving makes people fall asleep at the wheel or close their eyes for a few seconds every couple of minutes...
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