Teenagers risk their lives everyday texting and driving, and a lot have teens have been killed from texting. A. About 6,000 deaths and a half a million injuries are caused by distracted drivers every year from text messages and cell phone usages. 1. Teenagers spend about 10 percent of the time outside the driving lane they’re supposed to be in.
Potential driving distractions include grooming, using your cell phone, eating and drinking, or even reading maps or adjusting the radio. Each day in the United States, more than 9 people are killed and more than 1,153 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. A Massachusetts teenager was sentenced to one year in prison, after he swerved into oncoming traffic and hit another vehicle head on, killing one person and seriously injuring another. He will also have his license suspended for 15 years. 69% of drivers reported they talk on their cell phones while driving.
Copeland said, “The lives of innocent people are being taken every day due to a simple distraction”. According to the National Safety Council, there are 1600000 car accidents per year and, 11 teen’s death per day every day are caused by drivers distracted by texting while driving, and . This number adds up to nearly 25% of all car accidents. Also, according to some studies, in 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions in 2011 involved cell phones, which is adds up to almost 1.3 million car accidents. Car accidents are four times more likely to result from take place from drivers being distracted by texting than other causes.
About 1,900 people under 21 die every year from car crashes involving underage drinking. i) Young people are more susceptible to alcohol-induced impairment of their driving skills. ii) Drinking drivers aged 16 to 20 are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash as drinking drivers who are 21 or older. iii) For every 100,000 Americans under the age of 21, 1.4 people were killed in drunk driving fatalities in 2010 iv) The rate of fewer than 21 drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 populations has declined 48% over the past decade. v) In 2009, 11 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were young drivers 15- to 20- years old.
Statistics have indicated that over 6,000 deaths and well over half a million injuries have occurred due to drivers using cell phones in 2011 alone. People should be cited for texting while driving because not only are drivers putting themselves in danger but also everyone else around them. People tend to lose focus on what they are actually supposed to be doing while driving and using cell phones. Drivers sending or receiving test messages take their eyes off of the road for at least five seconds which is enough time to cover an entire football field. One could only imagine the tremendous amount of damage that can be done driving across a football field with unopened eyes.
The study found people who texted while they drove also had a dramatic decrease in their ability to control their steering wheel. In fact, the study found texters had a ninety-one percent decrease in their ability to control the direction of their car. Texting while driving has shown an increase in risk of serious injury. Statistics show the motor vehicle death rate of teens caused by cell phones is 21 percent and rising by 4 percent a year. Texting while driving increases your chances of crashing by 20 times.
Evidence Research: * I have found that 1.6 million auto accidents per year, which is equal to 28%, are caused by cell phone use and texting and driving. * Also, another scary thought is that texting and driving is equivalent to a driver who has had 4 beers and then started to drive. E. Conclusion I propose that a state ban of texting and driving will alleviate most of the accidents that are happening now days due to this major distraction that only requires a driver’s eye for 5 seconds. In those five seconds, if traveling at 55 MPH, a driver can go the distance of a football field (Bowers, 2014) and can cause a horrific accident. It has been stated in research, that 1.6 million of auto accidents are caused by cell phone us and texting, which is 28% (Pascual-Ferrá, Liu, & Beatty, Meta-Analytic Comparison of the Effects of Text Messaging to Substance-Induced Impairment on Driving Performance, 2012), as well as texting and driving is equivalent to someone who has drank 4 beers, (Bowers, 2014) or someone who has decided to get high off of some kind of illegal drug, and then decided to get behind the wheel and drive.
To examine this issue one should look at the following: Firstly, I would love to see the death rates in Alcohol related deaths go down drastically. The U.S has the highest drinking age in the world and it has been estimated to have saved 17,000 lives. More people would get to live till their oldest. Secondly, the highest deaths among teens are road crashes, and 2 out of the 5 teens had been drinking. Thirdly, how would you feel driving to your child’s funeral knowing it could have been prevented?
Push for P-plates until 25 Forcing young drivers to remain on probationary licenses until the age of 25 would cut Victoria's road toll, says the state's top traffic police officer. Under the move, young adults would have to drive with a zero blood alcohol level for an extra three years, or for the first seven years of solo driving. Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill, who wants the community to consider making the change, said 40 per cent of people aged 20 to 25 who were killed or injured on Victorian roads every year were victims of drink-driving. Mr. Hill said medical research showed that the brain did not develop fully until the mid-to-late 20s, particularly the part that controlled decision-making. ''What I'm advocating is a community
AT&T’s Texting and Driving Campaign Your cell phone rings. You flip open your phone and the text says “where u at.” The time you took to respond to that text while driving took five seconds. Five seconds that could have changed your life or another driver’s life. While driving at 55 miles per hour and reading and responding to a text that takes approximately five seconds, you are driving blind at the distance of a football field (Box). If you were asked to drive with your eyes closed for five seconds, you wouldn’t attempt it; but drivers still respond to texts, which is the same thing.