...Abstract Advancing technology in wireless communications is presenting a growing concern for distracted driving due to using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving. Although distracted driving accidents and fatalities have risen in the last decade, placing a ban on the use of a cell phone or other electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle as some states have will not resolve the issue. In fact a ban on cell phones and driving may very well increase the accident and fatality rate because drivers are now more involved with concealing their illegal behaviors. More citizen participation and drivers safety management should be more carefully considered in a transpiring situation such as this. More Americans should be made aware of the dangers of distracted driving, and become more involved in a reform for safety. Distracted Driving In the last decade, accidents resulting in injuries, or death caused by distracted driving has increased drastically as technology in wireless communications has advanced. Distracted driving is defined as operating a motor vehicle while simultaneously focusing your attention elsewhere (Goldfarb, 2010). Distracted driving includes texting and driving, using a cell phone or smart phone, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, grooming, reading (including maps), using a navigation system, watching a video, adjusting the radio, CD player, and/or MP3 player. About every 24 seconds there is an accident, and so far this year...
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...Distracted Driving Driving is a big responsibility on the road ways, “Each year, more than 100,000 crashes result in injury and death involve texting drivers”, (Overton, et al). Distracted driving, such as texting while behind the wheel, is a recurring issue within the United States. Distractions are anything that requires drivers to take their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel. Not everyone drives responsibly, and accidents can happen no matter how experienced the drivers are behind the wheel. Abiding by the rules and regulations are all based upon the driver and also based on the passengers to warn the driver to not drive distracted. Although people argue that laws currently in place are sufficient, distracted driving causes death and injuries, so stricter laws and new technology in cars that monitor device usage are necessary in order to reduce the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers....
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...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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...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 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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...Since then cell phones, although useful, have become distractions for many Americans. They have distracted students from performing well on their school work and adults from the duties of their lives; however, cell phones have not distracted people more than when they are behind the wheel. On Automotive Forums it states, “Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road” (Forums). When people text while driving, they focus more on their cell phones than they do on the road, which puts them and drivers around them at a greater risk for accidents. One author writes, “The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting” (“AMERICAN SCIENTIST”). The risk drivers take when they distract themselves while driving is one Americans can live without, for it not only increases the risk of danger but it causes tragedies. There have been many known car crashes involving driver distractions. The Forums also express that “In 2008, 5,870 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction (16% of total fatalities)” (Forums). The saddest part of these accidents is not only the death of victims but the fact that their deaths could have easily been avoided if the drivers had not distracted themselves. Americans need to take into consideration the danger they are not only putting themselves...
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... The roads of Mississauga have many dangers associated with driving. Peel Regional Police shows, in 2014, there was a total of 28 collision, which have been increasing every year. This essay seeks to uncover the dangers and the solutions of how Mississauga can avoid and prevent these dangers. According to the peel region police, the total number of tickets issued in Mississauga in 2000 increased from 69.589 to 78.732 in 2005. This essay seeks to outline the following dangers: speeding, fatigued driving, and distracted driving which are the main causes of accidents and collisions. The leading cause of danger on Mississauga roads is speeding. Speed driving is when a driver operates their...
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...and driving The whole society have spread by mobile phones, but it also can produce some unexpected harm. Mobile communications are linked to a significant increase in driving, resulting in injury and lost life. The Problem of texting and driving is the driver has fluke mind, when comes a text message, they think that just two seconds distracted and it doesn't matter, but this kind of behavior is also very dangerous. Maybe it just a few seconds, it can caused injury or the public property has damaged. The solution of this problem is the Government agency can inform and educate the public about the dangers of distracted driving. They can make some advertisements and posters to remind people. Secondly, the Government and the traffic department can take the publishment. Such as, when the police found in the process of driving, the driver's hands holding a phone, they have to pay a fine or penalty points. And the second solution is better. The Problem of texting and driving is the large percent of drivers were mostly teenagers. Their thought is not mature, and they have no awareness of the dangers of this approach. They just focus on mobile communications, and don’t think about distracted driving wether would hurt others. The solution of this problem is we can created a dedicated website to help in this effort and share information. Secondly, related activities can be carried out by school and do lecture to the students. By the comparison, the second solution is more...
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...Distracted Driving There are several ways people are distracted while driving but the most common reason is handheld cellular devices. Cellular telephones have been around for several years now and have evolved so much in the past few. Some of the first cellular phones only had the ability to make phone calls. Modern cell phones are personal computers that a person can hold in his/her hand. A person can read his/her e-mail, surf the web, send text messages, play games, and still make phone calls. The problem is people are using these handheld devices while driving, which is causing big distractions. Using a handheld device while driving is dangerous. Unfortunately there is no immediate solution to the problem of using handheld devices while driving (“Transportation Business Journal,” 2010). There are several levels of government that are making it illegal to use handheld devices while a person is driving through the area that they govern. Last year President Obama signed an executive order prohibiting texting while driving for federal employees. It is hard to enforce the laws because people are finding ways to hide that they are using the handheld device while driving. A lot of time law enforcement doesn’t know that a handheld device was being used until they investigate an accident (“Transportation Business Journal,” 2010). At this time there is no cost effective way to solve the problem. Studies have shown that using handheld devices while driving is a problem...
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...TEXTING WHILE DRIVING LAWS Jessica Daniels DeVry University TEXTING WHILE DRIVING LAWS SECTIONS III, IV, AND V Imagine a person driving in a car down the road and all of the sudden the car coming the other direction swerves and hits a person head on. The victim of the crash probably thinks the other driver was intoxicated in some way, but that person was texting while driving. This shows that sometimes people drive as badly when they are texting while driving as when they’re intoxicated. I had a personal experience of this kind. The author of this article had a friend who was driving down a country road texting while driving. He swerved left of center and hit a box truck head on and died instantly. Everyone in high school at the time knew him so it was quite devastating to the entire student body. There were grief counselors on site for a couple weeks after he passed away. This incident shows how a simple act can instantly affect everyone so quickly. There are more and more texting while driving injuries and deaths happening every day. A lot of these injuries and deaths are in states with lenient texting while driving laws. If communities in the states with these lenient laws helped raise awareness, people may think twice before texting while driving and also raising awareness could possibly lead to the chance to change some laws. Some people believe texting while driving laws make people have to hide their texting behind the wheel, thus making it more dangerous (Masnick...
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...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...
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...Knowing the categories of distracted driving is the first step in driving safely. There are three types of distracted driving, cognitive, physical, and visual (Esurance). Recognizing when a driver is experiencing these distractions will safe thousands of life's. To help a driver recognize these distraction they need a way to learn and the transportation enterprise has not been helping aid the solution recently. They are adding ways for a driver to experience the three types of distraction instead of lessening. The transportation enterprise has been too quick to adapt in vehicle assistance, and needs to research and study more into developing dangers on these technologies. New technologies are increasing the range of task at hand for any...
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...Charles M. Hayes once said, “Safety first is safety always,”but clearly, not many people follow this extremely important rule. Statistics show that thousands of people, young and old, are killed every year. In response to this dilemma, our class has thought of a possible public policy solution that could potentially help reduce the amount of traffic-related fatalities.What is this policy? This policy is adding more traffic safety tools such as adding more refuge islands, traffic signals, and speed bumps. Now one may ask, how will this policy affect people? Foremost, it will increase taxes because of the people/services required to create the crosswalks. This means that this policy will affect many taxpayers negatively and citizens that want...
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...Social Media Addiction Distracts Drivers Noelyne Paet Chamberlain College of Nursing Social Media Addiction Distracts Drivers PR Newswire (2015) reported Abby Slatten, 20-years-old, was allegedly speeding at 85 miles per hour (mph) while scrolling through pictures on her Facebook account via smartphone. Tragically, Slatten plowed into another car that killed another driver who was at the elderly age of 89-years-old. The elderly victim could have been someones parent, friend, or sibling who did not deserve a fatal ending to their life. A similar story, involved a young 34-year-old woman who received a prison sentencing of 10 years with a $25,000 fine for sending a text message while driving that could not wait, in result, crashed and killed her daughter and two nieces all who were in the same car. That women will serve her sentencing but will never be able to bring back her loved ones back from the accident. The constant reminders of roadway accidents ending in tragedy, such as those police reports, are widely spread across our nation. All tragic stories are disheartening to hear and think about; a reminder to play our part in keeping our roads safer. Tragedy may effect your next door neighbor or a stranger in the local supermarket; no matter who we are or what our background is tragedy exist and does not discriminate against anyone. People can make a difference to their daily living. There are those small percentage of people who has a habit that is...
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...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. You...
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