“Incidents of “road rage” were up 51% in the first half of the decade, according to a report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,” writes Andrew Ferguson in Road Rage (553). It’s sad that due to road rage many innocent commuters suffer the consequences. It has also happened to me while driving; because I’m driving to slow, the person behind me starts to blow the horn. And, it makes thing worse because then I will get mad and drive even slower. In Road Rage, Ferguson points out that in a recent survey that the Coalition for Consumer Health and Safety did, 64% of the people mentioned that they are driving less mannerly and more recklessly than they did about five years ago (553).
If people would simply buckle up, that alone could cut the costs down dramatically. Studies show that learning about wearing a seat belt in school is not particularly getting the job done with people who are under twenty five years old. Everybody knows that when a car crashes into something, whatever is hit stops the car. What most people do not know is that if a seatbelt is not being worn, a body will continue to move at the same speed that the car was moving. This is how people get thrown from cars through the wind shield, hit their heads on steering wheels, and maybe even get thrown out of their window.
Approximately 1.4 million accidents occur during phone conversations and two hundred thousand from texting.3 Texting drivers may be as impaired as a driver who is legally drunk. Laws should be changed or enacted to prevent senseless accidents, and unnecessary deaths. About five thousand people die annually texting while driving.3 Three-hundred thousand people are hospitalized for injuries obtained from accidents cause by phone use in the vehicle.4 Again no state in the U.S. completely bans all cellular phone use in the vehicle for all age groups.1 Without firm, enforced laws or probations regarding phone use in vehicles this issue will continue to grow worse. 1. 2012, Texting And Distracted Driving Infograaphic, retrieved on 2014, January 27, from:
Teen Drivers Name Course Institution Date Abstract Teen driving is one of the emerging issues across many states in the world. With the increase in the number of vehicle production, many teens are driving in most roads across the states. However, this has not come without consequences. Many teens are dying because of driving related problems. Car accidents among teens have emerged as one of the serious concerns of this century.
Many of us have witnessed drivers dialing and talking on cell phones, resembling drunk drivers swerving all over the roads. Strong regulations are needed because drivers using phones are seriously impaired and because laws on negligent and reckless driving are not sufficient to punish these driving talkers. Laws on traffic safety vary from state to state, and drivers distracted by cell phones can get off with light punishment even when they cause fatal accidents. Running red lights, failing to stop for a school bus and drunk driving are just a few examples. An increasing number of studies show that driving while talking on a cellphone can be dangerously distracting.
What are the safety concerns about seat belts/ air bags/ brakes? I have included the fundamentals of a car that would be created in the time of 2009-2010, and compare with past car designs probably from the year 1996 to 2005. I have compared traffic rules from other countries with Bangladesh, which also may be the cause of car crashes but it does not hold relevance to the safety issues that I have mentioned but it is included for further knowledge. Many mechanics and engineers have stated that safety measures in certain new models of the cars are 100% effective. This is something we can debate over but I have also included the thoughts of people towards that statement, whether they agree with it or not.
However, this also proves to be a deadly distraction while using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. So far this year in the United States, there has been an estimated amount of over 500,000 crashes involving drivers using cell phones and texting. (Council, 2011) With the growing number of electronic devices deployed over the last decade, these new devices provide an even greater opportunity for distraction and growing the risks that are attributed to more and more crashes and fatalities. According to a study conducted at the University of Utah by Professor David Straver, drivers who talk on a
I was once one of those people, driving with a coffee in one hand, the steering wheel in the other, and my cell phone nestled between my shoulder and my ear. That is until a dear friend of mine was killed in a car accident. He was broadsided by a young woman distracted by the conversation she was having on her phone. The young woman is just one of the more than an estimated 322 million wireless subscribers in the United States as of 2011, and that comprises 102% of the population (CTIA). The Nationwide Insurance survey in 2007 showed approximately 73 percent of those drivers with cell phones used them while driving (Sundeen).
Do you like talking on a cell phone while driving? Have you ever considered that talking on the phone while driving raises the risk of crashes? In years past when people innovate cell phone technology, people start use it while they're driving. Despite, there are no doubt about using cell phones while driving contributes to accidents; but, people don't care about this problem. They keep use it while they driving; even though they have known the numerous affects of using it in car.
It is a good idea to have a curfew for young drivers because it ensures the well being of everyone on the road, and in several ways. First of all, curfews help to keep teen drivers from driving when they are less attentive to the road, like when they are tired. “Driving for just three hours at night is similar to being intoxicated, and even two hours after dark is like being buzzed.” (Squatriglia). Therefore, teens are far more likely to get in car accidents after curfew. To drive after dark, one must know how to handle dangerous situations, knowledge only gained through experience, which young drivers do not have.