...Dangers of Texting and Driving Drivers should not be able to use their cell phones when driving a motor vehicle because it is dangerous for the driver and others who are driving as well. The use of cell phones takes the driver's attention off the road. They should not be used while driving because it jeopardizes the driver’s life along with pedestrians and others on the road. Texting and driving causes fatal wrecks, is a leading cause of death among teens, and is illegal in most states. The usage of cells phones can cause wrecks and are often fatal. Those who partake in texting and driving are endangering others as well as themselves. Texting causes late, delayed reactions. Drivers need all of their senses, such as hearing and sight, to drive. Studies have proven that texting and driving puts the driver at a four time’s greater risk of crash. Texting and driving causes loss of concentration and one single mistake can lead to injury and even be fatal. If the driver of a motor vehicle closes his eyes for five seconds, going at a speed of 55, the driver would have traveled the length of a football field without looking at the road. Even though texting makes communication fast and easy, it should not be used when driving. Texting and driving is the leading cause of death among teenagers. Almost fifty percent of teens admit to texting and driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, texting and driving is six times more dangerous than driving while...
Words: 607 - Pages: 3
...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
...Texting and Driving By: Sarah Bento One of the most common, tempting, deadly distractions for anyone behind the wheel is cellphones. One in four American drivers admit to texting while driving, and 40% of teenagers between the ages of 12 to 17 years old say they have been in a car where a teenager used a cellphone in a dangerous way. Although teens and others may not realize it, any cell phone use, whether hand held or hands free, while driving is dangerous. In fact researchers have found that it quadruples the crash risk. Just the act of dialing a cell phone can increase crash risks by three times. In a naturalistic of truck drivers, Virginia tech researchers reported a 23 fold increase in risk of a crash or near crash when any drivers were text messaging. As of may 2012, 10 states, The district of Columbia (DC), Guam, and The Virgin islands have instituted a hand held cell-phone ban for all drivers, with all but two of them making it a primary offense. Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 38 states, The district of Columbia, and Guam with all but three of them making it a primary offense. An additional five states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers. Since the number of states enacting very distracted driving laws is very fluid, be sure to check web resources that follow movement in state safety traffic laws, such as the governors highway traffic safety association, before providing these numbers. Recent research from the insurance institute for...
Words: 804 - Pages: 4
...There is a new rising threat that is taking the lives of many people around the world, texting and driving. Using a cellphone while driving does not only put your life on the line you also endanger everyone else on the road, not only do you take your eyes off of the road you take your mind off of driving and start thinking about texting. When you take your eyes off of the road you may start to drift into other lanes or even fly through a stop sign an hit an vehicle. If you could only wait for a few minutes to look at your phone you could save yourself even another life. That is why I stand before you today There are some devices that can be used to cut down on cellphone use while driving, like a Bluetooth device which is installed in your car. Or a hands free headset. Although these devices may not be cheap they will help reduce the amounts of accidents caused by cellphone use while driving. Because if you don’t put it down then there are laws which prohibit the use of a cellphone being used in a moving vehicle such as senate bill 390 which prohibits having the device in immediate physical possession, if it is in your hand then you will receive the great joy of paying the fine of $50 for your first offence and $100 for the second offence, then $200. On top of all of this a $100 fine for a moving violation while using the device Ask yourself is a text really worth it? Is it really worth the value of one’s life? Is it worth my life? If a text is really that important to you...
Words: 776 - Pages: 4
...It is simple to answer a phone call, text or navigate the web yet it is not the most responsible thing to do behind the wheel. Visual, manual and cognitive are three types of distraction and texting takes up all. Texting on your cellular phone makes you an irresponsible driver. “I’ve seen it firsthand, it does cause accidents, it’s dangerous and it’s irresponsible,” a former police officer commented (Marino, 2012). Driving a vehicle requires full responsibility and one who is not willing to take the precautions on it should not be issued a drivers license. The consequences range from receiving a ticket to having a fatal car accident. All of these distractions can always wait; they are not worth paying a ticket, taking someone’s life or losing your own. Keeping your eyes on the road is the most important thing to do when operating a vehicle. Five seconds off the road traveling at fifty-five mph is like driving an entire football field without looking (Marino, 2012). Five seconds sounds so insignificant yet can be your biggest regret. Many things can go wrong in those five seconds; it simply takes one second for you to rear-end the car in front of you. People do not realize they are operating a weapon with a blind fold when they are looking away. In order to take rapid initiative to prevent an accident visual focus on the road is required to know what is happening or about to happen. Manual distraction adds to the irresponsibility of a driver. Majority of the people drive...
Words: 819 - Pages: 4
...Texting and Driving: Two Technologies Collide Harry Williams Jr ITT Technical Institute Abstract Texting and driving has become a serious problem in recent years. In 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions involved cellphones. The death rate caused be texting and driving is higher than that of drinking and driving. The financial burden caused be texting and driving affects everyone from the individuals involved to the public services. Penalties are not severe enough to deter drivers from texting. Public awareness of the consequences of texting and driving is not where it should be. In recent years there has been an alarming increase in traffic accidents and deaths related to cellphone usage while driving, the most notable being texting and driving. The purpose of this research is to identify the causes of traffic incidents and to propose solutions to help curb the number of incident and mortality rates caused by this highly dangerous and illegal behavior. In 2011, 23% of all auto collisions involved cellphones. That’s 1.3 million crashes. (Texting and Driving Saety.com/texting-and-driving-stats, 2013) “The minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road when you are texting and driving is 5 seconds. If you’re traveling at 55mph, this equals to driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.” (NHTSA, 2009) “A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month found...
Words: 861 - Pages: 4
...Adam Heidenfelder Social Problems Professor Morse Texting While Driving When someone is given a drivers license, they are also faced with a great deal of responsibility. Not only are they driving a vehicle that has the potential to take their life, but it has the ability to take the life of others as well. Driving requires a large deal of focus and requires many types of concentration. Sending a text message while driving requires a great deal of attention as well and is projected to cause 28% of automobile accidents per year (Pascual-Ferrá, P). When someone chooses to send a text while driving, they are sacrificing their ability to concentrate on the road, increasing the chance of tragedy. In order for a change to be made in the way drivers view texting and driving, drivers must realize the negative effects texting can have on driving abilities. Evidence show that states that have banned texting and driving show a significant decrease in annual accidents. So, it can be assumed that if texting while driving were made illegal in the United States, the number of annual accidents would decrease. Many drivers believe that they are capable of giving full attention to the road while sending text messages at the same time. However, it has been proven that people often overestimate these abilities. More accidents have been caused by those who were texting and driving than ones involving drugs and alcohol combined (Pascual-Ferrá, P). Paola Pascual-Ferra, a doctoral...
Words: 1463 - Pages: 6
...Texting and Driving Every day of our lives, we encounter people. Naturally, we connect and communicate with them whether we have close, normal or an acquainted relationship. That’s the human nature, humans are genetically created and designed to interact with their surroundings. Of course, tools and methods people use in order to communicate between each other differ among them; especially with the development of technology and the major role it plays in our lives. However, tend to use this advanced sort of communication at the wrong times distracting them from more important things at that moment, which may result in disastrous outcomes. The ad is telling people, primarily young people of the texting generation, not to text and drive, and does so effectively using the fear factor by implying that texting and driving leads to violent injuries. The picture I chose for this assignment displays texting and driving, acts as a warning about the deadly consequences. In the picture, the scattered blood on the hand of the female driver resembles the injury and pain caused by the incident of texting and driving. Blood on the cellphone also tells the extent of physical damage the female driver has encountered; small, convergent blood dots on the phone may be caused from a face or head injury. The appearance of blood in the picture acts as a warning to show that texting while driving causes serious physical pain. Furthermore, the position of the laying arm holding the phone loosely...
Words: 1049 - Pages: 5
...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 are an alcoholic...
Words: 2113 - Pages: 9
...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 dramatic...
Words: 445 - Pages: 2
...Persuasive Speech: Texting and Driving Rough Draft Imagine this: You’re driving to school like its any normal day. You want to see if your friend is already there so you pick up the phone to text him, what could it hurt, you’re only going to look away for a couple of seconds. Next thing you know you’ve lost control of the wheel and when your eyes open again, you’re lying in a hospital bed. You have broken collarbone and arm, but yet, you’re considered lucky because you are alive. You’re lucky because you ran up a curb and hit a tree, not another car or a biker. Texting and driving is a growing occurrence. All it takes is a few seconds of your time away from the road to get into an accident. While some might not believe it, no matter what you feel like you have to say at the moment, it can wait. Unfortunately, a lot of drivers do not see the problem with texting and driving, or they do not believe that it is an issue. The phrase, “I’m a good texter,” is often times used as justification, and I’m here to tell you that there is no such thing. 77% of adults confidently say that they can text and drive while 55% of young adult or teen drivers claim that “it’s easy.” In 2011 23% of car crashes were texting related, so if all of the confident people were “good” texters, the numbers would add up. 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, so a lot can happen in that time...
Words: 742 - Pages: 3
...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,...
Words: 1517 - Pages: 7
...Criminal Law August 12, 2013 Texting and Driving: It Can Wait Leslee’s life changed forever on March 4th. Leslee Henson and her husband David were involved in a terrible pedestrian-motor accident. They were not driving a car; they were simply going for a walk on a Monday morning in their neighborhood when tragedy struck. The motorist that was guilty of texting, rear ended another vehicle that struck the pedestrians. David shielded his wife, Leslee and took the death for her. In other words, he pushed her out of the way and he died while she survived and has to endure more than 5,000 stitches and staples on her head and neck. Bones in Leslee’s neck and back were broken. She had bleeding in her brain. Her shoulder was injured. The woman that caused the accident was 50 years old, late for work and was texting with her head down. In addition to all these factors, she did not have insurance which leaves Leslee with the medical bills. The car that she rear ended was being driven by a man named Fred, who witnessed David pushing his wife out the way and taking the blow for her. 1 So many individuals’ lives will never be the same because that lady chose to send a text. It has not been revealed what the message entailed but if it was that pertinent, than as a mature person she should have pulled over and taken precautionary measures. David was an amazing father, husband, uncle, and grandfather to 10 darling grand kids. Leslee did go home, two and a half weeks after the accident...
Words: 4027 - Pages: 17
...Texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the web on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. The practice has been viewed by many people and authorities as dangerous. It has also been ruled as the cause of some motor vehicle accidents, and in some places has been outlawed or restricted. Texting while driving leads to increased distraction behind the wheel. In 2006, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group conducted a survey of more than 900 teens from more than 26 high schools nationwide. The results showed that 37% of students found texting to be "very" or "extremely" distracting. A study by the American Automobile Association discovered that 46% of teens admitted to being distracted behind the wheel because of texting. Although talking on a mobile phone while operating a vehicle is considered dangerous, the threat really became an issue when texting was introduced. Texting has become a social norm fairly quickly since the year 2000, as most cell phone plans include a text messaging package. There has been a significant rise in smart phone sales with the popularity of the BlackBerry and iPhone, which allows people to communicate while they are doing practically anything. The dilemma is at what point do we chose safety over convenience[3]. Many studies have linked texting while driving to the cause of life-threatening accidents due to driver distraction. The International Telecommunication Union states that...
Words: 435 - Pages: 2
...accidents which nobody would know how far it would take for people to recover all because of you texting and driving. One mistake can lead you into something that you would never want to happen a disaster.It states that 11 percent of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of crash. People dont know nothing about there surroundings because they are so concern about whats going on in there phone. Texting and driving is equivalent if not worse then driving under the influence. Alot of people get into car accidents because its either the driver is texting or the person walking is texting in not looking. Its becoming more addictive in our lifes that people feel if they dont have there phones with them its a part of them is missing. Texting sometimes mess with people vocabulary because they want to hurry up and text the person that they write in slag. This is why you get a ticket for drinving and texting because you can not keep your eyes on road if you are texting on the phone. Also can lead into car accidents. Research showed that 49 percent of drivers with cell phones under the age of 35 send or read text message while driving. 60 percent drivers use cell phones while driving. 42 percent of young adults drivers are very/somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving. im setting a example telling you stop texting and driving. Out of sight, out of mind I know a lot of people heard this before. This means if you put...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
