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Maykelin Membreno
1st period
English III
Distracted Driving

Introduction

Driving may be a dream come true, but it can easily turn into a nightmare that you never

wake up from. This states that although everyone dreams of being able to drive there are certain

rules and laws that need to be followed or someone could end up seriously injured or even dead.

In the United States, people are killed and injured in crashes everyday, which are reported to

involve a distracted driver. Distracted driving activities include using a cell phone [talking or

texting], eating, drinking, talking to passengers, applying makeup and other grooming activities,

using a navigation system, watching a video and changing music selections (ProQuest Staff).

Distracted driving can be visual [taking your eyes off the road], manual [taking your hands off

the wheel], or cognitive [taking your mind off the main task of driving] (ProQuest Staff).

Distracted driving activities include many things, yet the most dangerous of all distractions

would be texting while driving because it includes all 3 types of distractions visual, manual, and

cognitive. Even though some people believe distracted driving laws are pointless, tougher

laws are needed to combat distracted driving because distracted driving is a threat to both

drivers and passengers, it will reduce the number of accidents, and people will not lose

their lives.

Distracted driving is a threat to both drivers and passengers. Any distracted driving

activity is dangerous, it puts the driver, passengers and everyone else who is sharing the road at

risk. According to the article The Risks of Distracted Driving with one out of every 20 drivers

using a handheld cellphone at any given time, safety for all road users is a key concern (AAA
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Exchange). Peoples lives are put in danger when a driver decides to use their phone. Not just

drivers and passengers but even the public who walk on sidewalks and cross the roads are in

danger of being injured. Taking your eyes off the road for more than 2 seconds doubles your risk

of crashing. People believe that hands-free phones are safer than handheld phones like for

example using a bluetooth. Though a research study by AAA Exchange proves that hands-free

phone offers no safety at all. Just because it is hands-free does not necessarily mean that it is

risk-free, a bluetooth is still considered a distraction since it also takes the person's mind off the

road. Everyone can not focus on the road and talk at the same time. Someone could tell the driver

some really bad news that affects them emotionally and the road will no longer be their main

focus anymore.

Mental distractions can dangerously affect drivers behind the wheel. Just because a

driver's eyes are on the road and hands are on the wheel does not mean they are safe (AAA

Exchange). It does not matter whether a driver's eyes are on the road and hands are on the wheel

because if their mind is focused somewhere else then they are not safe at all. Safety is not 100%

guaranteed unless the driver is 100% focused on the road. Someone may be having a bad day and

their so mad, but decide to get in a vehicle and drive. Their eyes are on the road which makes it

look like they are actually focused on the road but they are really not. Their mind is thinking

about that bad day they had and how they wished it could have been better, as they are about to

make that lane change they hit another vehicle. Since that person was so busy thinking about

their bad day, they completely forgot about checking their rearview mirrors to make sure there

was no vehicle close to them , so that they can make a safe lane change.

A 2008 AAA Foundation report reviewed dozens of studies and concluded that any cell

phone use roughly quadruples crash risk(AAA Exchange) . Every time a driver uses a cellphone
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they put themselves in a high risk of crashing. Taking your eyes off the road for than two seconds

is dangerous because the vehicle is still moving and you are unaware of what is going on around

you. A vehicle could be coming up in front of a driver and he would not see it because he was too

busy texting on their phone and that is when he hits the other vehicle. The one who caused the

accident then gets mad because the other vehicle got in the way, but it is all the distracted

drivers fault in the end. If he were not so distracted by that phone, he would have known the

vehicle was changing lanes and would have avoided the accident by slowing down a little to let

the vehicle pass or change to a different lane. Distracted driving is a threat to both drivers and

passenger because it puts their lives in danger.

The number of accidents will reduce if tougher laws are enacted. In Texas several cities

saw that the crash rate for wrecks involving a cell phone drop after implementing either a texting

or hands-free ordinance (Benning, Tom). Since Texas applied a texting and a hands-free

ordinance, the crash rate for wrecks involving a cell phone has decreased. This states that thanks

to either laws or an ordinance being put into effect, accidents are decreasing which is making the

roads safer from injuring or killing people in accidents. Hands-free means that you are not

holding the phone in your hand while you are operating the vehicle. It means you can not hold it,

listen to it, talk to anyone on it, or dial the phone; it must be completely out of your hands while

you are operating a vehicle. Even if you are at a traffic jam or even at a red light, you just can not

pick up the phone. Though this may be hard for some people, it is the law; if they do not listen to

the law then they better prepare themselves for some consequences.

Other cities in Texas saw that the rates went up and down but some indeed saw an

apparent drop in crash categories (Benning, Tom). In Texas the crash rate has dropped not just

for cellphone involved wrecks, but from any activity that a driver was distracted by. Drivers can
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be distracted by anything like looking at a accident that happened on the road and even billboard

signs are distracting. They are distracting because people are trying to read what the billboard is

saying so their eyes are completely off the road. Elzy Spruill, a citizen in San Antonio, Texas said

that he likes the law of the hands-free cell phone because it will makes the roads much safer. He

has been driving hands-free for almost a year and all though it is a little tough not being able to

using your phone considering the fact that cell phones become more popular each year. It is for

the best and safeness of the community.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2010

there was a total of 5,419,000 crashes due to distracted driving, but in 2011 it decreased to

5,338,000. If tougher laws are enacted then eventually distracted driving will not be much of a

problem any more because there will not be many accidents involving distractions. The number

increased dramatically in 2012 to 5,615,000 and in 2013 it went up to 5,687,000. That is simply

all because the laws are not tough enough so people ignore them, which made them make bad

decisions that ended up in an accident. All the attention is now on drunk driving and although

that is also a very severe issue in our community, distracted driving has increased more than

drunk driving. In 2002, there were 12,405 drunk driving crashes and it dropped to 9,296 in 2011

which is 25%. In 2011 there were more crashes involving distracted driving (5,388,00) rather

than drunk driving (9,296). Texting while driving and drunk driving are both similar because

they both cause distraction and impaired driving, causing the driver to not be able to brake on

time or head in the direction of oncoming traffic.If tougher laws are enacted to combat distracted

driving the number of accidents involving distracted drivers will decrease. As Figure 1 shows,

2010,2012, and 2013 were the most concerning years for distracted driving fatalities. Over

twenty thousand distracted driving fatalities occurred between the years of 2010-2013, and of
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those twenty thousands, over 29,000 occurred in the years of 2010, 2012, and 2013.
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People will not lose their lives if tougher laws are enacted. An estimation of about

660,000 drivers are attempting to use their phones while behind the wheel of a vehicle. In 2011

NHTSA estimated that 29,867 people were killed in vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.

Out of the 29,867 people that were killed in vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers 354 of

those people were killed because a driver was distracted by a cell phone. All crashes do not just

involve the driver and passenger it can also involve a pedestrian crossing the road or standing at

the sidewalk ready to cross the road. Although most crashes just involve the drivers and

passengers, but if they are driving in a city it is most likely that a pedestrian might be killed too.
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NHTSA estimated that 31,006 people were killed in vehicle crashes involving distracted

drivers in 2012. Out of the 31,006 people that were killed in vehicle crashes involving distracted

drivers 380 of those people were killed because drivers were distracted by a cell phone. In 2013

30,057 people were killed and 411 of those people died because of cell phone involved

distraction. The number of people killed by distraction involved crashes decreased by 949 , but

the cell phone involved distraction number seem to have increased. Driving while eating is also

a distraction because if a mess happens the driver is going to try to clean it up, nobody likes a

messy car. Considering if the car is also a new car of course they are going to make sure it is

always clean and that is when they are no longer concerned about the road.

At least 11 teens die every day as result of texting while driving. Teens are the ones who

are more addicted to their phones and seem to always buy the newest phones that come out. That

is why they are more likely to text while driving because they think that they are so good at it,

that they will not be in any accident but they do not know that accidents can happen in a blink of

an eye. Teens are 4 times more likely to be in car wreck than drivers over the age of 30. At least

5,500 teens die annually due to distracted driving car crashes and 14% of all vehicle accidents

involve teenage drivers. The average teen takes their eyes off the of the road 10% of the time

which jumps to 40% when a teen is texting while driving.

Many other sources, however, argue that distracted driving laws are pointless. A new

insurance industry study has found that state laws banning the use of handheld devices to make

calls or send text messages while driving have not resulted in fewer crashes (Staff, Associated

Press Business). Even though there are laws banning the use of cellphones while driving it has

not resulted in fewer crashes. The study found that crash rates did not go down after laws were

enacted. What this argument does not take into account is that in Texas the crash rate has indeed
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gone down, when a texting/hands-free ordinance was implemented. If people obey the laws and

do not use their cellphone or try to handle a navigation system there will be less accidents.

Drivers should let the passenger hold their phone for them that way they are not tempted to use

it. The passenger can handle the navigation system and change the music that way the driver is

completely focused on the road and not worried about what is going on. That way drivers do not

get into an accident where they will injure themselves or even lose their lives.

The Frontier Center for Public Policy released a report with further evidence that

distracted laws are not just ineffective, they may be doing more harm than good(Kline, Jesse).

Kline suggests that distracted driving laws are actually doing more harm than good because

police are penalizing people for picking up a phone that fell even though they are at a redlight. In

Ottawa, police dressed up as homeless people just to see who they would catch using their phone

at a redlight. What this argument fails to consider is distracted driving laws are actually doing

more of a good by keeping the roads safe and warning people about their use of cellphone or any

activity that distracts them. Austin, Texas moved to its hands-free ordinance in January

police officer saw [only] three drivers using their cell phone ..drivers are starting to get the

message and stay off their devices.(Benning, Tom). Texas bans younger drivers from any

cellphone use while driving; it is one out of six states that do not have a statewide ban on

cellphone use behind the wheel. Although Texas may not have a statewide ban, people are

actually listening and not texting while behind the wheel because they know they will be

penalized for that. Whether someone is at a red light it does not give them the authority to use

their phone because you are not supposed to use your cellphone while behind the wheel, you are

still behind the wheel even when you are at a redlight.

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In Alberta, Canada a ban on handheld devices went into effect, but it seems that road

deaths were not just caused by alcohol, drugs and speed , it was the result of distractions which

went up. Even though there was a ban on handheld devices distractions still did not end. In fact

road deaths have been caused due to a distracted driver and it seems to be increasing more. What

this argument overlooks is that the number of traffic collisions decreased from 139,179 collisions

in 2011 to 136,595 in 2012 all due to a law that was implemented about distracted driving.

Even though some people believe distracted driving laws are pointless, tougher laws need

to be enacted in order to combat distracted because distracted driving poses a danger to both

drivers, passengers, and even pedestrians, it will reduce the number of accidents, and there will

not be many lives lost. In the past distracted driving was a threat due to the fact that thousands

of accidents were caused involving distracted drivers which caused death to innocent

people.Now it is even more of a threat because the number of crashes increased each year.

Distracted driving has become an increasingly dangerous epidemic in our nation. If tougher laws

are not implemented , in the future there will be a dramatic increase in accidents. Many lives will

be lost and we will be living in a world where an accident will happen at least every hour.

Works Cited Page

Distracted Driving. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, 13 Aug. 2015. Web.07 Oct.2015.

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Drivers Admit to Using Their Phone When behind the wheel-- Heres When. PR Newswire. 18

Nov. 2014: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 Oct. 2015.

AAA Exchange. The Risks of Distracted Driving. N.P., n.d. Web 07 Oct. 2015

ProQuest Staff.c Distracted Driving Timelines. Leading Issues Timelines. 2015: n.p. SIRS

Issues Researcher. Web.06 Oct. 2015

Benning, Tom. Does Banning Cellphone Use While Driving Reduce Accidents?. Dallas

Morning News. 22 Jul.2015: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Sep. 2015.

Kline, Jesse. "Jesse Kline: Distracted Driving Laws Cause More Harm than Good."National Post

Jesse Kline Distracted Driving Laws Cause More Harm Than good Comments.

N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.