...Distracted driving impacts anyone who drives or cares about someone who drives. I live in Northern Virginia and the traffic here, like most metropolitan areas, is terrible and growing worse each year. The Northern Virginia driving population increases every year resulting from business and housing growth. Each year also brings a wave of new teenagers into the driving population. Each day during my typical commute one hour commute, I observe drivers text messaging on their cell phones. A recent survey conducted by Journey Safe, a safe driving advocacy organization, found that over 90% of teens admit to doing multiple tasks while driving, such as talking on the cell phone, eating, playing loud music, channel surfing, using mp3 players, and interacting with friends in the car even when they admit they find it distracting. The same survey results indicate that an overwhelming 75% of teens admitted to text messaging while driving (JourneySafe, 2007). Text messaging while driving is a growing trend and is becoming one of the nation’s top killers. In 2011, 1.3 billion (nearly 25% of all) automobile accidents resulted from texting while driving and 11 teens died everyday from texting while driving (Textinganddrivingsafety.com, 2013). However, only thirty-nine (39) states plus DC prohibit all drivers from text messaging (Distraction.gov 2012). Quite frankly, distracted driving is a dangerous reality and it makes driving risky business for everyone on the roads. Americans should...
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...Prevention: Motor Vehicle Injuries and Distracted Driving Among Teen Drivers Heather Stockman Waynesburg University Advanced Health Promotions Judith Adams August, 20, 2013 Injury Prevention: Motor Vehicle Injuries and Distracted Driving Among Teen Drivers Injuries are extremely widespread across society today and unintentional injuries remain among the top 15 killers for people of any age. The majority of people just accept these incidents as accidents, acts of fate, or a part of life although most of the events that result in injury, disability, or death are not only predictable but preventable. Beyond their immediate health consequences, injuries have a major impact on the well-being of society by contributing to premature death, disability, increased medical costs, and lost productivity. In addition, the effects of injury affect not only the injured person but also family members, friends, coworkers, and communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). The Injury and Violence Prevention objectives for 2020 include a wide range of issues that can improve the health of the nation if appropriately addressed. One such objective focuses on motor vehicle crashes that are due to distracted driving. This paper will focus on that initiative. INTRODUCTION Distraction is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. There are three main types of distraction. The first is when the driver takes his eyes off the road and...
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...Distracted driving: Stay focused when on the road 1. Teddi Dineley Johnson It’s 8 a.m., and you jump in your car to drive to work. You have every intention of driving safely, but within minutes of merging onto the highway you’ve already checked your makeup in the mirror, fiddled with your car’s radio, programmed your GPS for a meeting location, made two calls on your cellphone and sent a text message to your sister. You might not realize it, but you’re a distracted driver. Each time you take your focus off the road, even if just for a split second, you’re putting your life and the lives of others in danger. An emerging and deadly epidemic on the nation’s roads, distracted driving-related crashes caused at least 5,500 deaths and nearly 450,000 injuries in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. However, since many local law enforcement agencies don’t routinely document distraction factors in crash reports, federal safety officials believe the numbers are actually much higher. “Driving a car is a very complex task,” says Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which estimates that distractions are associated with 15 percent to 25 percent of crashes at all levels. “It requires your complete attention. All it takes is a glance away for more than two seconds and you can get into serious trouble.” Spend your time at the wheel focused on the road, not on distractions like phones, food or friends. Graphics courtesy iStockphoto...
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...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 is not only dangerous, but it is also costly. People are not only putting their own lives at risk but they are also risking the lives of everyone else on the road...
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...Distracted Driving Distracted driving is the main cause of car crashes in the United States. “Each year, over 330,000 accidents caused by texting while driving lead to severe injuries. This means that over 78% of all distracted drivers are distracted because they have texted while driving” (Hopkins 1). Distracted driving is an issue that is occurring with all populations that are on the roadways.This issue is continually on the rise due to technology advancements. Many people think distracted driving is not a serious offense,but distracted driving could take someone’s life and if nothing is done this will only increase as the years go on. Distracted driving is a major concern for all people on the roads today and solutions that could help the issue are having a fine for anyone who is pulled over for distracted driving, reducing the number of colors in roadway advertisements and make laws gives a police officer to pull someone over if they think they are texting and driving and can give them a ticket. The introduction of cell phones was in the mid 2000s. By 2007, one in six fatal car crashes were from a...
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...Focus on Driving According to an article by Kiernan Hopkins, “Over 2.5 million people in the U.S. are involved in road accidents each year. The population of the US is just 318.9 million. At this rate, the American people could be extinct in two human lifespans. This is an astounding number of traffic accidents.” This is just one of the astonishing statistics you can find about how severe of an issue distracted driving is in the United States. What is distracted driving you may ask? Distracted driving defined as any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. A few examples of distracted driving encompass everything from texting and driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, or using any illegal substance. Some things that are so simple that you would not realize are distractions include eating or drinking, changing your radio station/song selection, watching a navigation device, or adjusting your seatbelt or mirrors. Distracted driving is becoming like the modern version of “Black Plague” and so many people are not...
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...Distracted driving is the number one cause of traffic accidents in the United States. People are dying everyday because people can not stay off their phones. At this point people should realize how big of a problem and how dangerous distracted driving is. However, people will still find the time to get distracted while their behind the wheel, putting himself and other in the path of destruction. That's why Stronger laws should be enforced for distracted driving. Distracted driving is an activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger the driver, passenger, and bystander safety. There are many things that qualify as distracted driving but texting and driving is the leading cause of traffic accidents in the United States. Texting while driving kills more than three thousand people every day! In a recent survey ninety percent of motorist said that they know the dangers of texting and...
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...Distracted driving is a big problem in the United States, and people are more likely to get in an accident if they are distracted. Studies show that texting while driving impairs normal driving. In 1980 Candy Lightner was drunk driving on night and she killed a 13 year old girl, and she later said that the girl she killed was her daughter. Candy lightner also later said “ After the crash there is an impact.” People are more likely to get in an accident if they are distracted, but though scientists are not able to find out if all car accidents are from distracted driving. Studies show that texting while driving impairs normal driving. Priscilla Natkins says distracted driving is bad and she says to keep your phones and remind friends not...
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...Should the Driving Age Be Raised? The first driver's license was issued a little over one-hundred years ago in 1901. In 1909 Pennsylvania was the first state to put an age restriction on a driver's license. Since then teens all across America have waited till they turn sixteen to acquire their license. All across America young-adults wait until this magic age for this rite of passage to adulthood. The United States should keep the current driving age the same because of the option of newly developed graduated drivers’ programs for teens, the need of valid driving experience, and the statistics of overall accidental death rates in our country. First are the graduated drivers program where teen drivers can become well prepared for real world...
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...Solutions for Distracted Driving Driving is a very important thing to know how to do; it not only gets you from one place to another but also helps in different endeavors, such as grocery shopping, or in case of emergencies. This makes sense when you look at the number of driver’s licenses issued in the year of 2003. The state of California issued 22,657,288 driver’s licenses, ranking the state number one in issuing the most licenses in the year (StateMaster, 2004). Texas, coming in at number two, issued a total number of 13,498,071 licenses that same year (StateMaster, 2004). Keeping these numbers in mind, one would say that driving is one of the most important things in a person’s life. Achieving a driver’s license is a big deal that is worth celebrating in one’s eyes, especially if said license is achieved at a young age of 16-years-old. Even though driving can be a blessing, it is also a massive responsibility. If drivers do not take it seriously then someone may end up hurt, if not dead. The major way people abuse the ability to drive is by participating in distracting behaviors. There are various ways that a driver, young and old, may become distracted and therefore putting not only their lives but the lives of everyone around them in danger. Texting and driving is considered to be the one most thing that drivers do that cause them to become distracted, but this is in fact not the only problem that drivers have. Talking on the phone is also a big problem that some drivers have...
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...Evolution of Distracted Driving The problem of distracted driving is more common than operators like to admit and is a serious factor in automobile accidents and fatalities. With the advent of cellular telephones, distracted driving is coming more and more under scrutiny, but distracted driving dates back almost to the beginning of the automobile. In 1930, car radios were in question. Massachusetts and St. Louis proposed laws to ban radios while driving. According to historian Michael Lamm, “Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver’s attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep” (qtd. in DeMain). In a 1934 poll of New York Auto club members, 56 percent considered the car radio a “dangerous distraction.” However, the Radio Manufacturers Association recognized the potential benefits of the radio and defended keeping them for the purposes of informing drivers of bad road conditions, severe weather and helping sleepy drivers stay awake (qtd. in DeMain). Automobiles have changed greatly since their inception, including the interior accessories and instrumentation. Automobile manufacturers have not always taken into account the diminished vision of older drivers when designing labels for the interior accessories. This can lead to older drivers spending more time struggling to read the poorly labeled instruments instead of concentrating on the road. Many people use the car interior...
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...Should texting and driving result in mandatory jail time? Texting and driving is has been a big issue for people, especially teens. In todays society were smartphones are constantly being checked at, driving can become a problem. People who are caught driving, using their smartphones, should result in mandatory jail time with car manufactures have developed technology to allow the drivers to focus on the roads while giving drivers accessibility to smartphones via Bluetooth or hands free devices there should be no excuses when one is caught. Texting and driving is a dangerous practice as is can lead to tickets, accidents and worst of all the loss of lives. When sending, reviewing or reading a text, on average, drivers are distracted for nearly 4.6 seconds. As it may not seem like a lot, this can leave for great room of error, causing either the driver too get a ticket, for speeding, rolling a stop sign or just not paying attention to their surroundings. If at fault, demerit points will be accounted towards the license of the driver, increasing insurance premiums. By keeping your eyes on the roads and hands on the wheels at all times while driving, this action can dramatically reduce the chances of one getting a criminal record. Texting and driving can easily cause an accident as drivers take their attention off the roads and are more focused on their smartphones.Losing focus on the road to call or text someone is a distraction and cause the driver to take his or her eyes off...
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...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...
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...phones by the time they get into middle school. We rely on these communication devices for every aspect of our daily lives, whether for personal use or for work. To me we rely so heavily on the cell phone that it is becoming dangerous. Think to a time when you were driving down the road and came up on a slower vehicle. They were swerving within their lane, couldn’t keep a constant speed and just seemed like they were completely distracted and not paying attention to the road and the seemingly easy task of driving. You want to get by the person but every time an opportunity to do so came into view it would quickly disappear because the other driver would speed up or do something to avert your opportunity. Finally you get your chance and go around the person. You look over in an attempt to quench your curiosity and see the person is talking on their cell phone. It all makes sense now; they are paying more attention to the conversation they have going on than to their driving. Driving is a dangerous activity in itself, but when you add other distractions like talking and or texting on a cell phone, the outcomes can be anything but pleasant and lead to extensive consequences. Drivers are far more distracted while talking on a cell phone than just talking to a passenger in the car. Recently my wife and I were going to a store. I have driven this route several times and knew exactly where to turn, but because of the distraction of talking, I missed my turn. This happened...
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...We get our information about the world from many sources. Because not all information sources are reliable, many of us carry around a lot of misinformation in our heads. Although some incorrect beliefs are harmless, those related to driving can kill. Here are four driving misconceptions that make you a danger to yourself and others on the road: Distracted Driving Is a Teen Problem The first step in overcoming a driving safety problem, is knowing that one exists. Thinking that only teens have this problem implies that you don't because you aren't a teen. Even if you don't text and drive as so many teens do, there are many other forms of distracted driving that are also dangerous. Daydreaming, eating, grooming, enjoying the scenery, or any...
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