Motor Vehicle Accidents: Distracted Driving

Many people have lost their lives on the road and caused other’s deaths because they were distracted with doing something while driving. In 2012, 3,328 people were killed in distraction-related crashes (“Statistics on Texting & Cell Phone Use While Driving” n.d.). Distractions while driving that result in these accidents include texting/making a call or becoming intoxicated and having high blood alcohol concentration. Many laws have been brought forth to help regulate the amount of people drinking while driving and using a cell phone while driving. Not only do people put their own lives in danger, they are also putting other’s lives in danger. People who take part in these distractions are not being responsible when making these rash decisions while driving and creating a hazardous environment for those around them.

Being the cause of a cell phone related accident can leave a person unable to handle the consequences of their actions. There is great concern regarding the dangers of distracted driving. This is made evident by legislation that has been put in place in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (2011), nationwide, 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have enacted texting bans. Current data from the National Safety Council (2010) suggest that each year, at least 1.6 million traffic accidents (28% of all crashes) in the United States are caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting. The U.S. Department of Transportation (2011) states that nine states, the District of Columbia, and

Distracted driving has been the most recent cause of accidents on the road presently. Of course there are many other reasons why drivers get into accidents, but it is mainly because they get distracted. Police in El Cerrito, California even gave more than 600 citations in April to drivers for distracted driving violations (“El Cerrito”).Also,“nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in the U.S. due to drivers being distracted”(“Distracted”).Distracted driving today causes many accidents through the use of technology, eating and drinking, and children in the backseat.

Through the improvement and enactment of primary vs secondary laws and the enforcement of the former, would help minimize the number of accidents and fatalities. Ferdinand et al (2014) concluded, “Our analyses indicate that primarily enforced texting laws are associated with fatality reductions among younger individuals, both drivers and nondrivers [sic]” (p. 1375). By enabling law enforcement to better enforce a primary law that bans the act of texting while driving, the high number of fatal accidents would decline. But, some, if not most people nowadays, particularly the younger generation, would not respond as well to heavily enforced laws with accompanying fines. So, there must be a more attractive, extralegal option to discourage those who continue to tempt fate and drive distracted.

The Crashworthiness Data System is a random sample of collected data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of reported crashes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The collection of data identifies how an accident took place, the age of the person involved, variables of attentiveness, ethnicity, and gender. The data summarizes distracted driving into three main types visual, manual, and cognitive (Distracted Driving, 2013). Visual distraction is when a driver takes his or her eyes off the road (Distracted Driving, 2013). Manual distraction is defined as taking your hands off the wheel, while cognitive is taking your mind off the road (Distracted Driving, 2013). As previously, stated, distracted driving is becoming an increased problem in the United States year after year.

In today’s world accidents are a thing of recurrence, a huge portion of Florida’s accidents are caused by distracted driving. According to Florida Highway and safety motor vehicles. More than 45,740 Car crashed where caused in 2016 by distracted driving in the state of Florida. More than 24,560 injuries were caused by this as well. What if all even half these accidents could be prevented by laws being better enforced or by there being more driver awareness. According to Text’nDrive Florida has no major law to enforce texting and driving or other distracted driving. 30$ this is the average fine for distracted driving, 30$ for doing something extremely dangerous that could not only injure you but injure others. However law makers feel 30$ is

“ Distracted driving kills” ( Distracted driving7). Distracted driving affects people of all ages but, “ our youngest and most inexperienced drivers are most at risk” ( Distracted driving7). This happens as soon as a person enters their vehicle and start to drive. Their eyes begin to go off the road which soon causes a head to head collision. Later on as technology improves and advances, cell phones have become the most common type of distracted driving such as eating or drinking or watching videos on their phone for an example, “ because text messaging requires visual, manual and conductive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarm distraction” (Distracted driving 5). This shows that many are risking their life and others around

When many think of distracted driving, they automatically recognize texting behind the wheel as the main factor, which is true. However, distracted driving comes in all kinds of forms such as talking on the phone, eating, and even grooming (like applying makeup) when driving. Doing such simple tasks can take away your focus from the road, which can lead to devasting consequences of being in an accident (that can even prove fatal to you or others). As according to the NHTSA, an estimate of 387,000 people were injured in accidents involving distracted drivers in 2011, and the number rose higher in 2012 by increasing by 34,000. Can the Public Service announcement prevent these numbers from rising any more? Launching awareness campaigns and educating

The majority of accidents involve drivers distracted by hand held or hands free cell phones. Cell phone use while driving is dangerous because it increases car crashes, poses a higher risk of danger, and it affects a driver's driving performance. In 2013, the nation's biggest cell phone companies launched the first joint advertising campaign against texting and driving. Verizon, Sprint, and T-mobile, united behind At&T’s “It can wait” campaign. Distracted driving is dangerous not only to the driver but to everyone in the car.

The topic I have chosen to explore is motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. “Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving; all distractions endanger drivers, passengers, and bystander’s safety” (http://www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-statistics.html). Distractions may include, texting, using a cell phone or smartphone, adjusting the radio, and more. I will specifically be covering motor vehicle crashes related to texting and driving, as it is by far the most common distraction on the roads today.

With each new day, we have a new opportunity to make a change; make better choices, make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others. Simple choices such as choosing not to drive distracted can save the life of that little child holding his mother’s hand crossing the street, or the father on his way to work in the morning. It seems simple really. Yet every second of every day, someone deems their social life more important than the lives of that mother, child and father when they choose to answer that phone, or reply to a text while driving. Do you make this choice? Are you above being at fault for the choices you make? Are your driving skills so superb that you feel invincible? If so, it is time for a reality check.

As mentioned, distracted driving is a rising epidemic caused by the rapid growth of smartphone addiction caused by social media. While operating a smartphone, drivers are physically & cognitively distracted. Multitasking is in impossible because the brain can only fixate on so much. Undeniably, young adults and teens are more likely to handle their phone without reservation while they are driving, creating a high risk for the effects of distraction. Despite the convenience of hands-free devices, it is not a solution and is a serious distraction that causes a delay in reaction time, consequently putting these and other drivers at risk for a crash.

Unfortunately, there are many people affected by distracted driving. Everyone has their own story on this. Sadly, some have been affected more than others. Here is only one story out of thousands. Elene had a five year old son, Jamie, and she had arranged for her sister, Angela, to pick him up after school one day. She picked him up and they were off driving on the road. The last thing her sister remembers is reaching for her phone, which was lying on the seat next to her because it was ringing. As she reached for her phone, she made a turn and lost control of her vehicle causing her to crash into a truck. Angela ended up being in critical condition, but survived; however, Jamie was killed. Elene, talking about her sister, says that Angela, “lives with the pain of knowing that one moment of distraction behind the wheel took Jamie’s young life.” She talks about how much this has impacted her and her family's life. She says, “Every day I think about my son, and every day I wish that he was here and that I was just a mother of a 17-year-old, taking him to soccer or whatever he would be doing in his life now. I don’t know what my son looks like anymore.” Bratton goes on saying that, “she hopes her family’s story serves as a warning to drivers to make safety a priority and avoid every possible distraction behind the wheel” (Garske). This is a very touching story. It shows that in one second, lives can be totally changed. No matter how important a text or phone call is, it is never more important than a person’s life.

There could be so many distractions while driving. For example, driving to a friend’s house and suddenly the phone goes off. Thinking you’ll be fine to text back because the road is just going straight down, but then all of a sudden something unexpected happens. An accident, an accident caused by a simple text. Texting while behind the wheel looses focus, taking eyes off the wheel and it has a high risk factor. Driving while texting is a very dangerous and serious issue that distracts everyone no matter what the age is.

Every year, about four hundred twenty-one thousand people are injured in a car crash involving distracted driving. In the United States alone, nine people are killed and over one thousand are injured every day in a car accident involving a distracted driver. Distracted driving is responsible for the majority of accidents that take place in the state of California. The rapidly increasing rate of fatality occurring in California proves distracted driving has become a fatal epidemic. Alike a disease that has the ability to wipe out an entire population, distracted driving has proven to be equally as devastating. Many people may argue that the laws currently in place in California is all that can be done to eliminate or minimize the trauma that results from the issue. Although, the thousands of people who have lost their loved ones to car accidents involving a distracted driver would have to disagree. The state of California certainly has not done enough to prevent distracted driving nor enforce punishment upon those responsible.