By Chance Decker
P.1
Should we have tougher laws to reduce distracted driving?
Imagine that you are in a car. This car is going 80 miles per hour and just a few feet to the left to you someone else is going to pass you, but they are passing you while they are on their phone. Would you be ok with that? I wouldn't want someone next to me on their phone if we were going 30 miles per hour, let alone 80. I'm going to talk about how we should give police officers more control and tougher laws to stop distracted driving. Also in this paper I'm going to tell you about how many people died or got injured last year due to distracted driving and that we need to teach kids the dangers of distracted driving and how it's not ok.
First we need to start giving police officers more authority over distracted driving. The state of New Hampshire was alarmed by increasing numbers of distracted driving deaths and accidents.Therefore they passed a law in 2015 that if you are the age of 17 or younger than you can not be on your phone while driving (Altschiller). In Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York they increased high visibility police enforcements combined with more public services campaigns. These additions showed good results in those two states when it came to a decrease in distracted driving and accident due to
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One way we can reduce these problems is to give law enforcement more means to stop the problem, we need to toughen our state laws to reduce the high number of crashes each year, and teens need good role models and strong drivers education course to teach them of the dangers of distracted driving before they get into the bad habits themselves. that we need to get rid of because every year the death rate of distracted driving goes up. Teens are seeing their parents doing it and they think it's ok when it’s
Copeland’s article about teen driving claims that teens know the consequences of distracted driving. However, they continue to use their phones and participate in such behaviors. Copeland states that most
Distracted driving in America is not a trivial issue in today's society. On average, eight people are killed and one thousand one hundred sixty one people are injured due to accidents involving distracted drivers, particularly due to texting. Distracted driving is a huge issue in our society. The risks are great and lead to unfathomable results. Distracted driving has also taken such a big toll on our Nation, that laws have been put in place in hopes of preventing distracted driving.
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.
GHSA examines the problem of distracted teen drivers so they can find the problem and address it (“Governors” para. 1). Teens are the number one distracted driver at the
There is an undeniable familiar site as we drive down our roads daily. Distracted drivers pose a risk to all those on the road ways. According to the US Department of Transportation National Highway of Traffic Safety Administration, on September 30, 2009, the problem of distracted driving reached the attention of the highest levels of government when President Obama issued an Executive Order prohibiting Federal employees from texting while driving government vehicles or while using a government supplied cell phone while driving any vehicle. U.S. Department of Transportation agencies have issued similar directives. Examples given include the “Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) banned commercial truck and bus drivers from
Distracted driving is a major problem all over the world. Some people believe that making distracted driving against the law will help, but many people don’t take the law into consideration. People should be taught that distracting yourself while driving is serious and very life threatening to you, the people in the car with you, and the other individuals on the road. Many people lack the common sense to not use their phone while getting behind the wheel. There should be a class or warning when someone gets their license reminding them the hazards of being on your phone while
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.
Distracted driving poses an immense problem across the United States, and the issue only seems to continue growing. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed” in cases involving distracted driving, and of those killed, “teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes” (“Distracted Driving”, n.d.). These terrifying statistics cannot be ignored. Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and unless society addresses the problem properly and efficiently, the risky driving behavior will continue to plague our streets, endangering peoples’ lives and leading to more fatalities.
According to Ashley Gaddis from Counterpoint, “From 1999 to 2008, nearly fifty-two thousand people were killed in car crashes caused by distracted drivers” (n.pag.). Distracted driving started when technology became mobile and handheld. Many people have died and gotten injured from people not paying attention to the road. This problem has been growing as technology advances. Distracted driving is a big problem and there needs to be stronger penalties and laws in place to deter people from distracted driving.
Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing problems in the United States. It is starting to be considered as serious as drunk driving based on the dangerous outcomes. According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “distracted driving was a cause of roughly 450,000 accident-related injuries and nearly 5,500 fatalities in 2009 alone” (para. 1). Drivers who allow themselves to become distracted while driving are not only endangering themselves, but other innocent bystanders.
First, schooling teens in distracted driving won't be enough to change their habits. Drs. Coben says, “Young drivers are at greatest risk, both because they use cell phones more than older drivers, and because they are inexperienced behind the wheel." This is why teens are being piled with statistics and information all through intermediate, middle, and high school, but does this really make a difference? Many of our young people are becoming rebellious to the repeated efforts to inform them of apparent-or rather ensuing-danger. It makes you wonder whether or not
Drivers are going to stop getting distracted while they are driving. In the future, people are going to be focused on driving. All of the drivers are going to put their effort into not getting distracted while they are driving. There are multiple things that drivers can do to prevent getting distracted. Some examples include turning off their phone, pulling over to pick something up and waiting until they arrive somewhere to fix their makeup. Teens driving their own cars are more likely to get distracted than those who share a car with others. For example, 20% of teens who share cars had texted while driving compared to 35% of teens with their own cars (Copeland). If this is not solved, people are going to continue to get injured or even die. Teenagers that are barely learning how to drive need to learn the dangers of distracted driving before they drive on the road. People need to be focused on driving so they can not get in a crash with someone else. Distracted driving is a big issue that needs to be fixed. There are plenty of dangers that can be prevented. There are a majority of people that have experienced distracted driving. Other people that are just walking down the street can also get injured or killed due to distracted drivers or even drunk drivers. If drivers stop distracted driving, the roads will be
“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,” (Heit). This specific quote shows how the results of distracted driving not only affects you, but also those around you. Distracted driving has been a serious concern for many years. This subject has been an issue because of the dangers it brings to the safety of others. One major type of distracted driving includes texting and driving. which is becoming more popular in today’s society because many have cell phones. Another type of distracted driving is drinking and driving, this continues to stay a topic for many years. Although drinking and driving and texting and driving carry many similarities with the
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
When it comes to someone getting behind a wheel it’s a big responsibility, you are not a passenger that could be doing different stuff you are now carrying with several lives and people are waiting for you at home. Many things cross our minds exactly when we are about to drive, but we need to learn how to ignore them and worry about getting where we supposed to be. Nowadays many accidents that occur on roads are caused by distracting driving and it seems easy to choose to do something such as: texting, eating or drinking, talking to passenger’s etcetera. “The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses” Not everyone realizes the danger it is being distracted while driving, but every distraction cause at least once to take our eyes off the road.