Young Xavier was crossing a street with is sister when his life took a turn for the worst. An accident left this once energetic child confined to a wheelchair, his mother forced to listen to the constant, rhythmic mechanical hum of his breathing apparatus. If it fails she will only have moments before he would begin to suffocate. An unsuspecting Amish family, going about their day as per usual was killed on impact after being launched into a ditch. A father, crushed to death one morning on his way to work. Above all else, Werner Herzog’s documentary on the tragedies of texting and driving, “From One Second to the Next”, conveys a simple, yet profound, notion – it can happen to any of us. (Herzog)
Anyone can lose their life because another driver deems sending a message more important. It should be a goal of every driver to create a safer environment on the road for those generations yet to come. I drive nearly every day, and my safety relies on the actions of other drivers as much as, or more so, than my own. For this reason, the accountability of my decisions when I am behind the wheel are of a great concern for me. Text messaging and social networking sites on smartphones make the bulk of how people today interact. This in itself is not inherently bad – though there is a tendency for individuals to use their device in inappropriate environments, such as while driving.
Distracted driving – while not exclusively limited to phone use – by definition describes any
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.
According to texting and driving statistics, every year, around 330,000 people die every year from texting and driving. This is around half of all the people who pick up their phones in the first place. Being on your phone draws your attention from the road, to your phone. Doisomething.org states, “When you text and drive you are 23 times more likely to get into a crash.” All it takes is a simple act of not watching the road. Being unaware while driving can put you, and other's lives at risk or injury or even death. This can affect your future, others around you, your friends, and your family. Texting and driving is a very big deal. Don't Text Drive states “5 seconds is the minimal amount of time a driver takes their eyes off the road. If you are traveling at 55 miles an hour, this would equal the length of a football field of not
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
Could you live with the knowledge that you deciding to pick up your phone while driving a vehicle caused someone to be injured or be killed? Texting and driving puts others around you and even your passengers at risk of being involved in an accident. Texting while driving takes your eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, and focus away from the road. All new drivers are taught not to text and drive, but they continue to do it even though they know it is dangerous. Teens and adults today have trouble focusing on the road mostly because of smartphones. Drivers need to be aware of their own actions and the actions of others driving around them. Texting while driving laws need to be enforced more strictly. To ensure and prevent accidents,
Every day, approximately 9 Americans are killed in car accidents involving a cell phone. In 2013, three hundred forty three thousand accidents were caused by texting. These statistics are realized, yet people still deny that they themselves will fall victim to one of these horrible accidents. “The steering wheel and airbag were thrown from his vehicle. My friend's legs wound up in the engine compartment. The force of the impact broke both of his legs and ankles as well as his wrist, nose and sinus bones. He lost 10 teeth and endured months in facial reconstruction and other surgeries. The other driver, who was texting at the time, suffered a broken ankle” (Jay MacDonald). We all live in denial that tragedies could never happen to us because they never have; we have only seen these things happening to other people. Well, we are all “other people” to somebody else. We cannot all just be indestructible. We need to be cautious of events and always play it safe. That is why texting and driving is
How much longer will we have to endure the pain of a careless distracted driver who crashed into a loved one? Is the text you just received while driving that important? Can’t it wait 5 minutes? There isn’t any text that is worth the price of endangering your life, and the life’s around you. And because of those who text while driving, texting and driving has now surpassed drunk driving by being the number one cause of the deaths for drivers. Americans now in days are hooked on their phones, and while driving, can cause serious consequences.
You've probably heard reports in the media about the dangers about texting and driving. You never thought you'd be injured because of the danger, but you or someone you care about has been, and a personal injury law firm might be able to help.
Picture yourself sitting in your car at a red light. As you sit there waiting, you notice a car in the lane next to you completely speed by, and that the driver has a cellphone in their hand. The car disregards the red light ahead, and crashes into an incoming vehicle, killing not only themselves but the other driver as well. For reasons such as this, I support the idea that some states should make it illegal to drive while using a handheld cellphone. Driving with a handheld cellphone is a dangerous distracter that is just as dangerous as texting and driving, which is illegal. Accidents that involve drivers using a handheld phone can occur just as frequently as accidents involving texting and driving because the attention of the driver is focused on the
In the twenty-first century, technology is constantly evolving and becoming more abundant. Hand-held devices travel everywhere with consumers, too and from one’s destination and the in the car on the ride between. Cell phones keep within arm’s reach and are a major cause of distracted driving. In driver distraction accounting for an estimated 25 percent of all vehicle crashes, notifications from a hand-held device to create a constant distraction in the vehicle (Stutts et al.6). Distracted driving due to people texting while driving will continue to be a widespread issue unless drivers are made accountable for their device use. Phone usage in differing ways all results in distractions for the driver; be it sending or receiving text messages, making calls or using the internet. Enforcement of traffic safety laws related to phone use while driving are seen by many to be ill implemented and is commonly unenforced leading to drivers seeing little consequences for their illegal actions (Watters and Beck 126). Apart from feeling little moral obligations to the law, many driver’s habits did change based on their passengers' wishes in an attempt to fit into a group or moral norm (Nemme and White 1260). Accountability of drivers to choose not text and drive must become a priority so that drivers no longer think they can compensate for their actions with driving experience or driving speed.
Ever since the creation of portable technology, people have found a way to distract themselves from the responsibilities of safely operating a vehicle. The first distractions while driving a vehicle began with something as simple as the car radio. As technology progressed, the devices became more complex and required more attention to operate them. Recently, the biggest distraction for drivers is using smartphones to send text messages or to interact with others through social media. People fail to realize the dangers that are associated with distracted driving. The Department of Transportation reported 100,917 distracted driving crashes in 2014, resulting in 483 fatalities and more than 3,000 serious injuries. Compared with 2013, distracted-driving crashes in Texas have increased by 6 percent (“Cell Phone” 2008). The broad meaning of the phrase, distracted driving is any activity that could divert a driver’s attention while operating a vehicle. My paper will focus solely on distracted driving while using a handheld electronic device.
Too many people get killed daily from texting and driving and too many are killed daily. So many young people have lost their lives from texting or going in snapchat, it’s not just from driving, it could be from crossing the street and not seeing traffic. We are too distracted from technology these days we don’t worry about the reality, we are only worried about what is on our phones. We could miss our kids first steps due to staring at that screen and commenting and sharing posts on facebook instead. You have a big class assignment due tomorrow and the first thing you do when you get home is turn on your Xbox or Playstation and start playing video games until it’s too late to try and do your homework. During work you’re on your phone texting your friends planning a party for the weekend instead of doing what you’re supposed to be doing when you’re at work. Technology has distracted us to the point where we are texting and driving, skipping school work, getting distracted from work, and not worried about reality anymore.
Every year the percentage of car crashes caused by people texting and driving rises. You should never text while driving. There are many deaths and fatal accidents from people taking their eyes off the road for five seconds to read a text. Texting and driving is becoming a bigger issue as technology becomes a larger part of our lives.
Even though in today's time everyone has a cell phone and that it's not new to the world. There are some disadvantages and advantages on having a cell phone. One advantage is that it helps with communication with family and friends in today's time. One disadvantage with having a cell phone is that when people receive a phone call or text they want to answer it right away no matter if you're driving or not so it causes distraction and it's dangerous to text and drive. People should not text and drive because it’s against the law, people could die, and it’s unnecessary.
“It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile, and one nut to scatter it all over the road.” Drivers’ use of cellphones while vehicles are in motion should be prohibited because, drivers are at a four times greater risk of a crash, studies shows that driving while using your cellphone is worse than drunk driving, and it can weaken a person’s management of the automobile and decreases their attentiveness of what is going around on the path they are driving at. In an interview between Ray Suarez and professor David Strayer an expert on distracted driving, Strayer, from the University of Utah is a psychology professor whose published studies of his own. Ray Suarez is the one who wrote this article that I wil telling you all about in most of
“A mere five letters can change someone's life forever”(Burhart, 2017). Those five seconds that a driver looks down at their electronic device can take away their live, passengers lives, and even take away the lives of other people in the other vehicles around them. One of the most dangerous and distracting activities that people do is texting while driving. There have been many court cases and charges made for people who decided to text and drive. The drivers that were texting have been charged with manslaughter, murder, assault, and many other chargers. They could also have to pay for any damages to the other vehicle and any hospital bills of the injured. In 2011, a sixteen year-old girl was charged with manslaughter, assault, and texting while driving in a fatal car accident. According to the prosecutors on the case, Rachel Gannon was texting on her cell phone when she lost control of her vehicle which caused a seventy-two year old woman to be killed on the scene in the car that she collided with. The woman's granddaughter was also in the back of the vehicle and she suffered injuries but they were not life threatening. Rachel Gannon faced four years in prison for the manslaughter charge and one year in jail for the assault charge. It truly is not worth it to text and drive if those are the consequences. To this day, people in every state and even every country do not take this seriously. It is important to be aware of what could happen to the driver, and everybody else in