Texting While Driving Many accidents are blamed on distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage. However, some opponents feel that creating a law against cell phone use infringes their personal rights. Others think that banning someone from using their cell phone is equivalent to telling someone that they can’t adjust their radio or talk to someone else in their car. However, using a cell phone, whether talking or texting, while driving can be extremely dangerous; it should be made illegal because it is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you. It can lead to the death of loved ones, and can be compared to the same level of danger as drunk driving.
| The Dangers of Drunk Driving Did you know that when you drive under the influence the likelihood of getting into an accident is 1.4 times more probable than if you did not? The Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol related. Teens often abuse the power of alcohol resulting in a dangerous situation like DUI. The dangers of drinking and driving can ruin your life forever and can result in fatal crashes where you or others can be killed. Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
In the U.S. texting while driving is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Everyday in the United States there are about nine people who are killed and over 1,000 who are injured by distracted drivers. In 2015 according to NHTSA, 660,000 people reported that during the day they used their electronic devices while driving. Distracted driving alone caused 3,477 deaths, 3,196 deadly car crashes, and a total of 391,00 injuries (Clerkin). A simple solution to this deadly problem is to enforce stricter laws or even banning texting and driving to save thousands of lives each year.
At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, husband-and-wife members of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King's car speeding on the freeway. The officers pursued King, and the pursuit attained high speeds. Confrontation Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground. Bryant Allen was manhandled, kicked, stomped, taunted and threatened. "Passenger describes L.A. Police Beating of Driver, Calls it racial," New York Times, March 21, 1991.
Raise the driving age Do you know that statistics show that car wrecks are the top killer of teenagers? The mininum driving age should be raised to 17 everywhere because too many teens are killed in car accidents, they are not responsble, and they abuse their driving privileges. Too many teens are killed in car accidents. Young teenagers are always pileing their friends in the car with them. The risk of a teen getting into a wreck increases by 44 percent with one teenage passenger and quadruples with 3 or more passengers.
One of these organizations is known as “Text Kills.” “Text Kills” visits high schools nationwide to demonstrate how texting impairs judgment while driving (TextKills). Through a simulation exercise, teens are put in a stationary automobile in which they ride with a cell phone in the passenger seat. The results of this simulation proved that when the cell phone made a beeping noise, even though it was not theirs, students grabbed it instinctively, taking their eyes off of the road. Students report that during the exercise they crashed many times, and felt like they were not in full control of the vehicle. One student states, “It’s very distracting.
These days texting while driving is being compared to driving while being drunk. In a recent report conducted by CBS News, crashes caused by drivers using cell phones rose from 636,000 in 2003 to 1.6 million in 2008. As a result, many accidents have taken place in the last ten years due to the use of texting while on the road. Texting while driving is being such a target as the biggest distraction. Unlike talking to someone else in the car, speaking on a cell phone demands much greater continuous attention which takes the drivers eyes off of the road at times and their mind from driving.
Distracted driving has become an increasingly immense problem on our nation’s roadways as cell phones have become more common in our day-to-day lives. Cell phone use while driving is the No. 1 distraction behind the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2010, driver distraction was the cause of over 18 percent of all fatal crashes with 3,092 deaths, and crashes resulting in injury with 416,000 people (FCC). According to the National Safety Council, 23 percent of all crashes each year involve cell phone use, resulting in 1.3 million crashes nationally (FCC).
Which implies that the driver was not aware of the traffic, corners, width of the road or any pedestrians close by. As a matter of fact, the principal cause of distraction while driving is cellphone use. This is why I believe that the law should be arranged accordingly to properly address this matter immediately. For example in my state, Florida, the total handheld device ban should be applied to all drivers, disregarding their age or license type. Having any device in your hands while driving is extremely dangerous and can lead to many serious consequences.
The state of Florida is in need of a law that prevents drivers from texting and driving. As the state of Florida we are considered the 46th state to have received this law. Texting and driving is considered illegal in the state of Florida because it’s better to have safe drivers that distracted drivers who can put others at risk. Yes the act of texting and driving is illegal but we don’t do too much to actually stop drivers from still doing breaking this law. In early October of 2013 Florida was alongside the rest of the states that were prohibiting texting while driving.