Causes Of Distracted Driving

In the fall of 2006, a nineteen-year-old male named Reggie Shaw was involved in an accident that instantly killed two men. He had been texting during the time of the accident, and authorities believe this caused the accident. The accident killed two men, James Furfaro and Keith O’Dell, both men had children, wives, and successful jobs (Henneberg, 2017). Problems like this accident are the reasons why people need to understand that distracted driving. People need to understand that distracted driving still causes major problems.

Driving while distracted can cause a lot of damage mentally and physically. There are many different forms of distractions. Texting, other passengers, drinking, eating, and music can all be considered distractions while

The statistics found anywhere can prove that it still is and has been for a long time. Christopher Terry, part of the Department of Psychology at Elmira College, and Danielle Terry, part of Clinical Practice in New York conclude, “The National Safety Council estimated that, in 2011, 21% of all crashes (1.1 million car accidents) involved cell phone conversations and an additional 4% involved texting while driving” (Terry, C. P., & Terry, D. L., 2016). Car accidents that involve cell phone usage can be life threatening. Many accidents involving distractions have ended in fatalities. The fatalities have included the people who did the texting and the people who were mere victims to the others. In the year 2009, distracted driving accidents caused around 5,000 deaths and almost 450,000 injuries (Johnson, 2012). The substantial amount is part of the reason why people need to know about the problem. They need to learn that distracted driving causes problems everywhere. When operating a car a single second can change everything. According to Barbra Harsha, the executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, “Driving is a very complex task… It requires your complete attention. All it takes is a glance away for more than two seconds and you can get into some serious trouble” (Johnson, 2012). The idea that driving is simple and straight forward, is fallacy. To drive a motorized vehicle, such as a car, one must have major focus and a sharp mind. Within a few seconds of distraction, the driver could lose control and drive off the road or worse into oncoming traffic. The Governors Highway Safety Association says approximately fifteen percent to twenty-five percent of crashes involve some sort of distraction (Johnson, 2012). Many of these crashes involve some sort of injury or death. Even in times like now most people know the dangers of distracted driving yet do nothing to stop it. In a study on distracted driving