Persuasive Essay On Texting And Driving

Being able to drive is a dream come true, that can easily become a nightmare that you are never wake up from. The state of Florida is trying to make drivers aware of the dangers that come with distracted driving. Texting and driving is one of the biggest problems America is facing at the moment. Many people, especially teenagers, are dying from distractive driving. The state of Florida decided that they wanted to help with this problem and made it illegal to text and drive. They have also put up billboards all over the state to remind drivers about the law and the consequences of distractive driving. Not only could you be harming yourself but you could also harm others if you decide to text and drive. Do us all a favor and put your

Distracted driving; most of us are guilty of it without even knowing it. Distracted driving is doing anything else unrelated to driving while behind the wheel. This could include: using a cell phone, changing the radio station, eating food, and even having a conversation. The most distracting of them all is using a cell phone because it requires the user to manually input information. The laws surrounding texting while driving are far too lenient when compared to laws on drunk driving, yet both can end in a car crash. People texting while driving should face steeper penalties than what is already in place because they are a danger to anyone around them. The small fines are not enough to deter people. While banning cell phones from being allowed in vehicles is not an effective approach to the problem, stricter laws should be put in place to make the roads a safer place. Texting while driving penalties should be treated with a similar severity that DUI charges are. The penalties for texting and driving need to be increased because it would make the roads safer, increase the government’s revenue, and help solve the problem of texting while driving.

Nearly 1.6 million car accidents are recorded each year, out of those accidents 330,000 result in injury or death (Edgar Snyder & Associates). Your life or someone else's life can change dramatically while driving just because someone was on their phone. Texting and driving is a real issue in our country and outside of spreading awareness or creating ineffective distracted driving laws. no one has really tried to solve this problem. Texting and driving is a problem because too many innocent lives are lost every day. The Government should implement an app that rewards people for not being on their phone while driving because so many people die every day from texting and driving.

Nearly 6,000 people are killed connecting to the outcome of cell phone use while driving, according to Edmunds.com (7). Texting and talking on the phone throughout the time that a person is driving can have deadly consequences, but people still don’t seem to want to give up risking their life. There are many issues that can happen while on the road related to the usage of cell phones. It is important to stop people from looking at their phones while driving, because it is extremely distracting and not safe. Even hands free devices are not as safe as they seem to be. There have to be consequences for people using their cell phones while driving in order to improve the people’s safety. According to Edmunds.com, cell phones are known as distractions everywhere in the world and have created several concerns to several countries (9).

Texting and driving should be banned in all fifty states because texting is a distraction that keeps drivers away from the road. According to the book Brain Rules, while multitasking, research shows your error rate goes up 50 percent and it takes you twice as long to do things. (Cooper) Texting someone is nearly the same as talking on the phone, therefore, it’s an ongoing conversation. But driving is an ongoing action, excluding stop signs and stoplights as well. As a driver the main focus is the road. In order to send a text, the cell phone has to be the main focus. For example, if a driver is at a stop sign, receives a text, and decides to look down at the phone. The driver’s eyes, hands, and focus completely move toward the phone and not the road anymore, which is the main focus. With this situation, there are a number of things that can go wrong. Someone can switch lanes really quickly, a baby can walk out the street, a car could suddenly stop, etc. So any drivers, who plan on “multitasking” while driving, think twice before making that decision.

Furthermore, ‘texting in cars and trucks causes over 3,000 deaths and 330,000 injuries per year as stated by a Harvard Center for risk study’ (Hanson n.p.). Just imagine all the lives that could be saved from deaths or injuries if people stop texting while driving because it is a major distraction for them. There belief is that they can multitask, but the sad reality is that the brain cannot do that. The brain has to focus in a particular task at a time. In order to do things right or correctly. Pennings a highway patrol helped demonstrate teens that texting while driving is a dangerous action. He made several so called “ Professional Texters” pass several obstacles while answering text messages and the results were not pleasing at all, cones were flying. The questions asked were not hard, yet they still manage to make the driver lose focus from driving. This is why implementing a rigorous law would come in handy. People will reconsider the thought of many things while being in their vehicles such as texting,eating and drinking, watching videos, putting makeup or grooming, etc. The states have not yet implemented a good law they only prohibit it during school zones or if a police officer sees you, but that is not enough.

One out four car crashes are caused by texting and driving. It has been proven that 94% of all teens acknowledge and agree that texting and driving is a very dangerous thing. However 32% admit to doing it anyway. www.edgarsnyder.com states, “660,000 drivers are attempting to use their phones while behind the wheel of an automobile.” This is an outrageously large number of people. This number needs to be reduced. “In a split second you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you. -50 reasons not to text and drive-”. Texting and driving should not be permitted on the road.

Texting and driving was banned in 2011 in Indiana because of the overabundance of car accidents that involved cell phones and distracted driving. With this law in place, people thought that it would work and that people would stop using them while driving. This was not the case, however. In Indiana with the texting and driving ban there have only been, “fewer than 400 tickets written as of mid-2014” (Gormley 89). This is not surprising because cell phones are so modest that they are easily missed when police drive by cars. Texting and driving bans are used to better driving accidents, but are not always used to their full extent. On page 89 of "Indiana's Texting-While-Driving Ban: Why Is It Not Working and How Could It Be Better?", Gormley stated, “As it stands today, Indiana’s texting while driving statute contains gaping loopholes, which leave drivers free to engage in risky behaviors with little fear of legal repercussions” (Gormley 89). A loophole they have to get around are actually being able to see the driver texting while driving. Texting and driving bans are newer and do not have all the kinks worked out, but if more states begin using them they will become better used. Putting more of these bans into use will be able to work on all the kinks and better them to use to be more effective and save more lives.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), twenty states have banned handheld devices. Most states have already made texting illegal. I believe that making texting illegal is a start to a greater change, but more action needs to be taken. For example, the other thirty states need to work toward enforcing laws that ban texting for all drivers -- not just novice drivers, school bus drivers, etc. (GHSA). In regards to texting, Washington was the first state to pass a texting ban in 2007. This is a step in the right direction, but more states of this Nation need to be moving forward like Washington

There are approximately 11 teen deaths each day because of texting and driving. It is clear that if people would stop texting, talking or using other apps on their phones while driving , then there would be fewer accidents. The number of teens dying from being injured has skyrocketed as a result of texting while driving. It is estimated that there are over three thousand teen deaths and three hundred thousand injuries nationwide. A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that drivers who are texting are two times more likely to crash or almost crash compared to those who are focused on the road. There are thirty nine states and the district of Columbia that ban texting for drivers on a statewide basis. A federal survey showed that there are ninety four percent of Americans that think texting and driving should be illegal. Clearly, car accidents have increased because of the use of cellphones while driving and something more must be done about this problem.

According to the study of the University of Utah texting car drivers are 8 times more likely to crash than a driving simulator. Even though many people don't think texting and driving isn't a big deal it's probably because only less than 20 states prohibit texting while driving. For example one of New York's laws states that drivers can be fined and allows police officers to penalize the driver if spreading on the road.

Texting while driving, which is the equivalent as driving blind for five seconds, has been an issue for about as long as the text message was invented. This activity has caused many accidents across the nation every year and resulted with quite a few fatalities. To this day, 46 states have decided to implement their own law banning texting while driving. This law can only be formed under the State’s authority rather than by our National government. This being a very controversial topic,

The recent and rising popularity of mobile devices has brought upon some unanticipated and highly dangerous consequences. Texting while driving is currently a growing trend, a national epidemic, and is quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Texting and driving should be illegal across the country because it can cause immense physical damage, has severe legal consequences, and is more dangerous than drunk driving.

Driving while driving has become a major problem across the country. We are losing too many mothers, fathers, son, and daughters due to drivers being distracted with their cells texting. Nineteen states including the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) have banned it. The Transportation

Texting and driving is against the law because “In 2012 Alabama became the 38th state to ban texting while driving.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) also “Novice drivers in Alabama- drivers aged 16 or 17 with an intermediate license less than 6 months- are banned from from using cell-phones (both handheld and hands-free) and, like all drivers, banned from texting. Even the bus drivers are banned from texting while driving.”(http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php) Not only that but there are also fines you can get for texting and driving and those penalties are “Fines for texting and driving are $25 (first offense) then $50 and $75. A driver will also be penalized with two points against the driver’s license. Alabama’s cell phone and texting laws are considered “primary” laws. A primary law means that an officer can pull a novice driver for texting without having to witness some other violation. That is, the officer sees the novice driver texting and simply issues a citation.” (http://www.drivinglaws.org/alabama.php)