Texting while driving is irresponsible and extremely dangerous, not only to the driver texting, but to everyone close by. It only takes a second for a disaster to occur on the highways, and texting takes the driver's attention off the road for more than a second. Texting or calling while driving has the potential to cause a serious car accident that can have fatal results. Speaking on a cell phone is already illegal in many states. Texting while driving is even more dangerous.
Texting while driving has been banned for all drivers, while any use of a cell phone has been banned for anyone under the age of eighteen. (Texting While Driving) What kind of dim-wit wrote this law? Adult drivers can be distracted just as much as teenage drivers. Studies estimate that distractions caused by cell phone use while driving result in roughly 2600 fatalities and 330,000 injuries each year in the United States. (Noder) This number could be much higher because it is difficult to prove cell phone usage without reviewing a billing
There is no doubt that citizen under the age of 21 drinks repetitively and consistently. Unfortunately, they are being stranded when they are in the middle of nowhere. When they are drinking at an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, with the pressure of getting home without getting "caught", and atrocities become imminent (Ford 1). If we lowered the drinking age teenagers would not have to sneak around and force themselves to drive under the influence just to make it home or where they need to be without getting caught. Furthermore the government could focus on other things that are more of a threat, such as drug trafficking, murders, and ect.
(Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2010) Throughout this age, tees are going through many experiences and changes. Emotions are running wild, and stress and peer pressure can cause teens to make bad decisions such as drinking and driving. Teens tend to take more risks as they are easily influences by friends, the media, and their own emotions. (Loughry, 2004) Drinking and driving is another leading cause of fatal car accidents among adolescents. When teens drive after drinking alcohol, they are more likely than adults to be involved in a car accident, even when driving less alcohol than adults.
It is often difficult to see into a vehicle to determine if someone is talking on the phone, and even if a highway patrolman stops an individual for breaking the ban, hundreds of others will likely go unpunished. This problem is similar to driving above the speed limit. Most people will do it at one time or another and only the most conspicuous violators are likely to be penalized. When drivers realize that a ban is rarely, if ever, enforced, they will be emboldened to make more calls and may ignore a ban altogether (Hamel
Texting and talking on the phone can be dangerous and affect your driving by causing you to concentrate on the person you are talking to rather than the road. Not only does it make you more unaware of the road mentally but if you do not have a Bluetooth headset or speaker phone then you will only have one free hand to drive with. If you are fully engaged in a conversation your emotions can change from one topic to another. It is never safe to drive while being upset about something. If you are fighting our having an important conversation while texting or talking on the phone make sure to pull over and wait till it is over.
People start to curse and get all infuriated. Also, I have seen car accidents from people just driving straight into the slow driver’s car. Safe driving rules state that the right lane is for slower moving vehicles and the left lane is the passing lane. You might think that this is just a belief and not reality but from outside research it’s awfully realistic. It’s such a problem that legislators are stepping in and trying to pass bills and laws.
Texting while driving is a highly controversial issue, and the people involved are concerned with delayed reaction times, causing more car accidents, and insurance liability. Drivers are taught to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. But it is very common to see people, especially younger people, trying to drive while glancing down at a cell phone or in some cases not watching the road at all. Michael Austin’s study “Texting While Driving: How Dangerous Is It?” states that a person’s reaction time while texting and driving is three times worse than it is if the person has been drinking. 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.
Why? For example, I can remember being able to walk at night without any neighborhood watches, not to mention not having to be afraid someone that may be driving by either pulling a gun out and shooting or just plain jumping out of a car to kidnap a person. When I say kidnap, I mean a child or an adult. I have to say, yes, this world has gone crazier than it once was, and more than likely these are the reasons the laws have become stricter than they use to be. But I can also say this as well, many of these broken laws are to do with the children of today.
A new and dangerous habit is developing in the United States and the practice of it is spreading rapidly. This social scourge is called distracted driving and it is especially affecting younger people. Distracted driving is when an individual is driving while using a cell phone, whether they are text messaging, emailing, or calling people According to a survey taken by Nationwide Insurance, eight out of ten drivers want to ban cell phone use all together. This is a deadly habit which should be banned in South Carolina. Multiple other states have already banned the use of cell phones while driving and for good reasons.