The Dangers Of Being Distracted While Driving
Just last night, the Oklahoma Highway reports a 17-year-old youth from Locust Grove was killed when the Jeep he was riding in went off a county road and struck a tree. The troopers say the cause of the crash was driver inattention. Distracted driving is defined as "any activity that could divert a person 's attention away from the primary task of driving. " Distracted driving can lead to minor fender benders or catastrophic collisions.
Most Americans have all at least one time in their lives were driving in an automobile, and while driving picked up a cell phone, eaten and or drinking, or even fixed your hair in the rear view mirror. While performing these acts you have to actually take your eyes and attention off the road and therefore your risk for an accident increases substantially. Some of the accidents could be minor however, a lot of the accidents could be and are fatal. These acts are called distracted driving and is defined as the act of driving and the driver is engaged in other activities. There are many things that can be classified as distracted driving however, the main culprits would be looking at a smartphone or cell phone, texting, eating or drinking, personal grooming, and using a GPS or the radio.
One distraction after another creates the attentional disengagement problem, causing the driver to be oblivious to their surroundings (Lewis 18). Vecera also makes a strange proposal in this article; he thinks researchers should look into whether or not someone can condition or practice texting and driving to eliminate the mental distraction it causes (Lewis 22). This claim seems strange to me, considering Vecera dedicated a whole experiment trying to prove the dangers of texting and driving. I have never considered practicing something as dangerous as texting and driving to become better at it or to try and diminish the possible consequences. This source helped me understand why people drive worse when using a cell phone, but I still have not found any statistics proving
When an induvial is distracted while driving they are endangering their own safety and the safety of others around them. When drivers decide to divert their attention from the road this is called distracted driving and that is against the law. The fact is that cell phone manufacturers can’t tell users what they can and can’t do with their devices. Cell phones makes our lives generally easier, they allow us to be accessible at any moment in time and in place around the world. And, it’s truly sad to say that there is a high percentage of individuals that use their cellphones while driving.
Distracted driving is a problem of epidemic proportions. Thousands die every year in accidents attributed to distracted driving. There are many ways to be distracted behind the wheel - answering a phone call, sending a text message, paying too much attention to passengers, or playing with the radio. One distraction many drivers take for granted is the need to use the restroom. Experts say, however, that needing to use the bathroom can be as dangerous of a distraction as any other.
p. 10). Retrieved from http://www.nsc.org/DistractedDrivingDocuments/Cognitive-Distraction-White-Paper.pdf C. Trends in fatalities from distracted driving have risen over the years. 1. A total of 51,857 fatalities caused by driver distraction occurred from 1999 to 2008 according to FARS data. (Fatality Analysis Reporting
A distracted driver would travel the length of a football field when driving sixty miles per hour (Hollister, 2013). The length and amount of time could cause a horrific accident. Traffic safety researchers at Virginia Tech also recognized that those who participate in the act of texting and driving will be twenty-three times more likely to crash (Johnson, 2012). Everyone can see the evidence that distracted driving exists, specifically texting and driving. The people need to recognize it.
According to the article Distracted Driving, in 2015 alone 37,461 lives were
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are free advertisements created by the media to send out public safety and health messages. From anti-drug and anti-drunk driving campaigns to PSAs regarding balanced diets and lifestyles, these announcements remind us to be safe and healthy. In addition, PSAs are used to increase the public’s awareness about the hazards of distracted driving. According to www.distraction.gov, in 2014 over 400,000 people were injured and 3,000 people were killed in vehicle crashes due to distracted driving. Distracted driving has become a fatal threat to the population, and PSAs may be a tool to prevent these incidents.
While many people know cell phones can cause a distraction while driving, cell phones are only one of many distractions drivers regularly face. Here are some other driving distractions we encourage you to avoid: Getting Lost in Your Own Thoughts While driving, it is easy to start thinking about something other than driving. Planning what you are going to do when you get home, worrying about how you can resolve a problem, or thinking about something else while driving is common. Unfortunately, these thoughts take your focus away from driving.
Young, inexperienced drivers are more likely to get in an accident because of driving while using a handheld cell phone. Driving while doing anything on a handheld cell phone is one of the biggest distractions to the driver. While texting on the phone the driver is forced to alternate between looking down at their phone and looking at the road. In the time span of the five seconds that it takes them to look at their phone an accident can happen.
Statistics don’t lie, and the statistics surrounding the use of phones while driving are shocking. For example, “at any given time throughout the day, approximately 660,000 drivers are attempting to use their phones while behind the wheel of an automobile. ”(Chase). Texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in the time a driver spends with his/her eyes of the road. A driver who takes his or her eyes off the road for five seconds to look at their phone will travel the length of a football field, blind.
An estimated 1.6 million crashes each year are caused by texting and driving. Being aware of your surroundings while in a car is extremely important when trying to get somewhere and it is even more dangerous to distract yourself from looking at the road for even just one second. Getting distracted on the road will increase the chances of an accident occurring by 4 times. Regardless of the many commercials and advertisements that preach about how terrible texting and driving is, most people disregard those advertisements and are still guilty of doing it.
For instance, using a cellphone while driving exceeds the risk of drunk driving (Austin 139). Therefore, it must be extremely dangerous. Also David Strayer, which been studying this situations for 15 years, stated that talking on a cellphone diverts the driver’s attention and disrupts their driving performance. If a driver gets distracted, anything
According to the NSC, cell phones, including hands-free cell phones, are involved in 26 percent of all crashes and are the number one source of drivers not paying attention to the road (New Orleans City Business). Texting, posting selfies, or checking Facebook all cause drivers to be six to twelve time more likely to be involved in an accident. Studies have shown that drivers can miss seeing close to 50 percent of what is around them when they are preoccupied with talking on a cell phone (New Orleans City
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