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.
7/13/12 In the United States distracted driving is cause to more than 8,000 automobile accidents a day. The drivers that are most likely to be offenders to this are the youngest and the most inexperienced on the road. Out of the drivers involved in the accidents caused by distractions 16% of them are under the age of 20. So what are these driver distractions you may ask, they include texting, usage of a cell phone or smart phone, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, self grooming, reading, including maps, usage of a navigation system, watching a video, or adjusting the radio, cd player, or mp3 player. Types of distracted driving varies, there are visual
Hundreds of teenagers and adults across the nation reach for their phones and decide to text while driving. They are making the decision that at that moment a text message is more important than their lives A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get in a crash where as a drunk driver is 13 times more likely to get into a crash. Texting while driving delays reaction time, increases risk of serious injury, and brain power is decreased by 40 percent. Something as simple as a text message can decrease your reaction time. Laboratory simulation studies generally concur that using a cell phone does slow reaction times and degrades tracking abilities.
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
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
“Traffic deaths from drunken driving have fallen steadily, with those involving teenagers 16 to 19 declining by 39.1 percent from 1982 to 1990, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)”. (Clark, 1992). Even though drinking and driving is a crime thousands of teens continue to get behind the wheel and kill thousands of innocent people in alcohol related crashes every year. There are drunken accidents because teens don’t take drinking and driving seriously. Teens just want to feel the pleasure and they want to feel good but don’t think about the other people or even there selves that they can kill on the road.
“At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. This explains why twenty five percent of all car accidents in the United Stated were caused by cell phone related distractions while operating a vehicle. A recent study shows that you are actually about eight times more like to be involved in an accident while talking on a cell phone, and four times more likely while texting, than you would be driving with a blood alcohol level of .08.” (http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html). This just adds to the ridicule of using a cell phone while driving. If society and the laws are so against drinking and driving, why would they more then willingly allow and/or partake in an action that can be twice as deadly.
Florida does not do enough to prevent distracted driving. According to the National Safety Council, texting while driving causes about 1.6 million crashes per year. Distracted driving has become a widespread issue. State legislators, school boards, police divisions, and community leaders all around the state, even the country, should attempt to put an end to all of these destructive incidents. There’s only a $30 fine when you’re caught texting and driving.
Although we have educated and preached to our children about drinking and driving, the statistics in 2001 showed an estimated 2.8 million college students drove under the influence. That’s half a million more than in 1998. An alarming statistic from Mothers Against Drunk Driving is that more college under-graduates will die from alcohol related causes than will receive a masters or doctorate degree. Another statistic, one I found sickening and very upsetting was,” During a typical weekend, an average of one teenager dies each hour in a car crash. Nearly fifty percent of those crashes involved alcohol” (MADD).
We cannot legally purchase a handgun, gamble in a casino, or adopt a child until the age of twenty one. These are a high level of responsibility and our leaders and patrons feel they are at equal levels. Our Minimum Legal Drinking Age has reduced traffic accidents and fatalities. 100 of 102 analyses inquired in a 202 meta-study found that a higher legal drinking age associates with lower rates of automobile accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated a 13% decrease in car fatalities in 1975-2008 saving approximately 27,052 lives since then.