Texting and Driving

When I get into my car every morning, I connect my phone to the radio via Bluetooth. I cannot drive without music. After I’ve selected the playlist I feel that day, I put my phone down to back out of my driveway, but it’s already taken some of my concentration before I reach the first stop sign. I got a text message. Like most of us, I have to check it, but I’m careful, so it’s safe, right? Not necessarily. This is the world we live in. People are so memorized by their phones and the thought that someone wants to communicate with them that it’s almost uncontrollable.

My whole life I was drilled about the consequences of distracted driving. “Never text and drive,” they said. I have been a licensed driver for over three years now and those talks didn’t help much. I still multitask when I drive. I usually talk on the phone when I drive because my house is small so there isn’t much privacy and I would rather be watching television than be on the phone.

Some people text and drive because they actually believe that they are important enough that they can’t miss a text message, but “the truth is nobody is that important or that in demand that they can’t practice safety and good commonsense behaviors,” says Dr. Debra Condren, a business psychologist and executive.

I think that the people who realize that their texts aren’t important compared to someone else’s life text and drive because it is an addiction that is hard to overcome. “There’s this sense that we’re so important that every single moment has to be filled; we can’t even pull over or we’re going to miss five minutes of driving time or 10 minutes of driving time. The pace is at this breakneck speed,” says Condren. I think it is ridiculous that people think that they are important enough to put lives in danger just so they can text. That is a really selfish way to think and it makes us sound completely vain. There is always someone in a suit, heading to work, on their blackberry. The priorities we make for ourselves have changed so much since the invention of smart phones.

I try to be like Karen North, who was interviewed by CNN. She has her teenage children answer her texts while she drives. I usually have my girlfriend text someone while I am driving us somewhere, but not every time like I should.

I’m not making excuses for my actions, but I text and drive because I like to be connected to others. I enjoy the company of talking to someone, even if it’s through texting. I don’t think it’s very safe, but it’s a habit. I get frustrated when I see people on their phones and they’re not even paying attention to the road. I usually try to text at stoplights or when I am not in traffic, but it doesn’t always work that way. Every once in a while, I find myself putting my life or the lives of others at risk, so I will either put my phone down or hand it to my passenger.

The CDC conducted a survey and found that “31 percent of U.S. drivers ages 18-64 reported that they had read or sent text messages or email messages while driving at least once within the 30 days before they were surveyed,” which is a decent amount of people texting and driving but I wonder if the CDC clarified with the people interviewed if they were stopped at a traffic light, stop sign, or if they pulled over while sending the texts.

The statistics involving distracted drivers that I have found in my research do not surprise me at all. Every time I am in my car, I either text while driving or I see multiple people doing it. I often find myself avoiding the other drivers because they are not paying attention. They seem to be talking on the phone more than texting but it is still a common issue.

I believe we all use our phones while driving because we live in a time where, according to Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry at UCLA, “we want to stay connected” and some people actually feel anxious without their phones. I am one of those people that get anxious without my phone and it’s not something I am proud of. I use my phone as a child would use a security blanket. It is my escape from awkward and uncomfortable situations.

The CDC reported that distracted drivers kill 9 people and injured 1,060 people, roughly, every day. This is a wakeup call for me because I didn’t realize that so many people died each day from distracted driving. They also found that 69 percent of the people interviewed stated that they talk on the phone while driving. Although that is a high percentage, I do not think talking on the cell phone should be such a big issue because a simple Bluetooth device could reduce the distraction.

It’s very sad that so many deaths and injuries have occurred just because someone else was paying more attention to their phone than the road. The quick and firm statement “on the road, off the phone” is the best way to simplify the conversation with people about texting and driving. There has been research that proves teens are a big part of the problem but people point fingers real quick at my generation before they look at their own faults, which is wrong.

I didn’t realize that texting and driving would cause a driver to be 23 times more likely to crash, according to Snyder, who is an accident attorney. I figured it probably quadrupled your chances of having a crash, but that is scary. I believe that talking on the cell phone is a big issue but it can be worked around. They have Bluetooth headsets, head units, and devices that will clip to the sun visor. I think that if people weren’t so stubborn about purchasing the devices, accidents wouldn’t happen so much because of talking on the cell phone.

In my research, I found out that when we send a text, we typically look at our phones long enough to travel the length of a football field. I have had instances like this where I found myself far away from my last position which I can remember on the road because I was texting. I will glance back and forth between the road and my phone so much that I only remember enough to know that the road is clear. I do not remember anything else about it.

It’s obvious that teens make up a large portion of distracted drivers but I feel like people are very quick to put all of the blame on young kids instead of looking at the general population. Snyder’s statistics state that “one-fourth of teenagers respond to at least one text message every time they drive and 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents report having multi-message text conversations while driving.” I noticed that they have the statistics on distracted driving for teens and parents but not a specific group of adults without children. Are they more likely to text and drive because they don’t have to set an example?

Anthony Perry, a Washington business man, told CNN that he is not “that good at texting and driving, but he does it anyway.” I am not shocked in any way that Perry said that he sends text messages while driving, knowing the risks, and knowing that he isn’t good at multitasking. People, including myself, consistently text while driving, and we know the risks that we are imposing on ourselves, our loved ones, and people we don’t even know driving next to us, but we feel like our text are more important than they actually are. We don’t want to miss something exciting and be disappointed about it. I know that this statement sounds ridiculous but I really struggle with it. I try to only text at stop lights but it isn’t always possible.

According to Paul Samakow, an attorney who wrote an article for the Washington Times Communities, “the reason texting while driving is so dangerous is because it involves three out of three types or categories of distracted driving, while being under the influence of alcohol or marijuana only distracts the driver in two ways.” I always thought that driving while intoxicated was the most dangerous thing you could do because your judgment is not reliable when you are drunk. But the dangers of texting and driving makes more sense now because I had never heard of the three different categories of distracted driving, but I am still not convinced that driving while intoxicated isn’t as dangerous as texting and driving.

In his newspaper article, attorney Samakow states that “statistics tell us the number of collisions, injuries, deaths, and financial costs to society support the conclusion that texting while driving is on the increase. Drunk driving statistics in all these categories are mixed, but overall are decreasing.” I can see how texting and driving injuries and fatalities are rising because even though it has been an issue for quite some time now, texting and driving is still a fairly new problem. Driving under the influence has been around long enough to hit its peak and die down because most people are realizing that it is really dangerous and there are also many consequences to a having a DUI on your driving record because it has the potential to be a felony.

I am frightened by the thought of how dangerous driving is because according to Samakow “driving a car is something that most of us do many times each day. But for that reason, we forget how truly demanding it is to drive safely, while we believe we are the best driver. We, particularly teens, believe we are invincible, and that tragedy will not strike us,” and your life is not only in your hands but in the hands of the drivers around you as well. I believe that if we all imagined our loved ones crying around our hospital bed or grave that we would think twice before texting and driving.

I believe that students who text while driving aren’t as cautious as students who don’t, but on the contrary, I do text while driving sometimes, but I’m cautious enough to speak up if the driver of the vehicle was driving erratically. And I also would never let an intoxicated person drive away, much less actually get into their vehicle with them.

I have come to the realization that because, as Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry at UCLA, puts it “our brains are hardwired to text,” we text and drive because we want to feel connected to others and we are ignorant of how likely it is that we will cause an accident.

Even with all the statistics and stories thrown at us, we will only stop one by one as we begin to have our own personal experiences because most people don’t believe statistics until they are a statistic. The only major experience I have had from texting and driving is a rear end collision where I was at fault. It was a minor collision, I had absolutely no damage to my vehicle, but my insurance company is now being sued for “personal injuries,” which they know are fake but it can’t be proven, and my premiums have increased. I have learned from my mistake and I am trying to stop texting while I drive. Although it is hard to break the habit, I have to because I can’t afford another accident, and I couldn’t live with myself if I harmed someone.

In the world we live today, technology has made a lot of advances and each time it gets better and better. The advances are not a problem, the real problem is found in ourselves and the influence that those advances have in us. One of the biggest step that science has made has been the creation of the cell phone.

The cell phone can be a very useful tool while it is been used wisely. It could bealso threat to our life if we do not know when to use it. People have made of the cell phone one of the most importantand priorities in their life and this creation is stilling our time without us realizing it. However, there are several things that require our complete attention, if not, the consequences can be very harmful.Driving is a commonactivitie that we perform every day. At the same time, while driving we feel tempting to text or chat with our friends without realizing the consequences that it could bring to our life.

The magazine “Time” made a survey led by Justin Worland on November 6, 2014, to one thousand drivers. The main point of the survey was to ask to those drivers what their opinion about texting while driving was. It was found that 98% of the surveyed said that the practice of texting while driving was dangerous, and still, 75% said they do it anyway. If you read or watch the news you should know that texting while driving is a bad idea. This article also reported that celebrities are lending their names to public awareness campaigns, and more than 40 states have banned the practice.David Greenfield, a professor in University of Connecticut Medical School who led the study, said regarding this article that, “There’s a huge discrepancy between attitude and behavior, there’s that schism between what we believe and what we do.” It means that even though we know texting is dangerous, we do it anyway (Worland, 2014).

Texting while driving may bring several results not only to your life, but the life of others who are not involved directly with the fact that you are texting. A car accident can lead to both physical and emotional damage. If you are the driver and have a big accident you probably would experience physical damage as well as the people involved.

An article published by Nolo (2016) tells the most common injuries in a car accident. “In a car accident, injuries to the face can be caused by almost anything — including a steering wheel, dashboard, airbag, windshield, side window, car seats or shattered glass”, states Nolo (2016). “These injuries have a range in severity from scrapes and bruises, to laceration and fractures, even temporomandibular disorders of the jaw and serious dental injuries”, continue saying. About back injuries Nolo (2016) states, “The impact of a car accident and the resulting torque on the bodies of drivers and passengers can cause back injuries such as a sprain, strain, fracture, disc injury, thoracic spine injury, lumbar radiculopathy, and lumbar spine injury.” The symptoms of back injuries can take a long time to appear and may last longer than neck pain causing longlasting pain and discomfort (Nolo, 2016).

An article named “Brain and spinal cord” (2015) about brain injuries states that a traumatic brain injury can occur when the head is stricken, suddenly jerked, or penetrated by a foreign object. The injury can be in the range of mild to severe. During a mild brain injury the loss of full conscious awareness will persist for a short amount of time. When a severe brain injury is inflicted there will be memory loss or extended unconsciousness for a prolonged period of time after the injury was inflicted. Brain injurie can result in loss of consciousness which can p from being slightly dazed to being in a coma for multiple days. The longer the period of unconsciousness, the more severe the brain damage will be. Also in Post Traumatic Amnesia which is the memory loss of events before and after the injury was inflicted. Generally the longer the periods of amnesia, the greater the damage will be; sates this article(“Brain and spinal cord”, 2015).

If any of the people involved in the accident get to survive, not only they, but also their family will have to deal with emotional damage, mostly known as psychological effects. A blog presented by “Uplifting families” (2015) states that following a car crash, conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression are extremely common. Likewise, many accident survivors develop numerous fears and phobias, especially in relation to travel, accidents or death. Feelings of guilt are also common, and often occur when the accident in question was fatal or harmful to others (“Uplifting families”, 2015).

“Texting and driving safety” website (2015) shows some statistic about texting while driving. It says that in 2011 that at least 23% of auto collision involved cell phones, which is 1.3 million of crashes. The minimal amount on time you have to spend while texting and driving is 5 second. If you are traveling at 55mph, this is equal to drive the length of a football field without looking at the road. Depending of which function you are using on the phone it could make the crash more likely. If you are talking or listening you have 1.3 times more risk, reaching for device 1.4 times, dialing, 2.8 times, and text messages up to 23 times more risk (“Texting and driving safety”, 2015).

As have been demonstrated, texting while driving represent a high risk to our life and the life of those who has not fault of our irresponsibility. It is necessary that each time we want to text, remember that it is only a matter of seconds to have an accident that can end with your life. If you do not love yourself and do not care about what could happen to you, then fine, that your choice. However, what it is not right is choosing other’s destiny, and that is precisely what you do when texting while driving. Life is beautiful, and if you want to live it, you have to take right choices. The time is now.

In Citra, Florida, 13 year old, Margay Schee was hit by a semi-truck traveling at 60 miles per hour1 . The truck driver claimed to have not seen Mrs. Schee. In Rudolph, Wisconsin, 58 year old, Julie Davis was killed instantly when she was hit while walking alongside a road with a friend1. Mrs. Davis was hit by a 19 year old going 70 miles per hour with no attempt at hitting the brakes1. Ashley Johnson of Asheville, North Carolina was 16 years old when she died from distracted driving1. She was driving to help tutor a student when she veered into another lane, crashing into an oncoming vehicle1.

At the scene, her phone was found with a received text message at the time of the crash1. “Just in 2010, 3,092 people were killed in crashes [like the incidents above] involving a distracted driver…” Distracted driving has become the number one killer of Americans in the past few years, having alcohol related accidents drop to the number two slot. Though these two issues stack up differently, studies show that they are nearly the same thing. Studies done at the University of Utah show those drivers on mobile phones are actually more impaired than drivers at a . 8 Blood Alcohol Level. In New York in 1910, jurisdiction adopted laws against drunk driving and since then this issue has been heavily enforced. With this new form of distracted driving, which compares greatly to drunken driving, laws should be set and enforced. Not only should laws dealing with this issue be made and met, these laws should be heavily enforced until all drivers and passengers understand the risks and consequences of such an act. Distracted driving can be broken down into three different types of distractions: visual, manual, and cognitive.

Visual is the distraction that takes the driver’s eyes off the road. Manual is the distraction of taking the driver’s hands off of the wheel. Cognitive is the distraction that occurs when the driver starts thinking of things other than the road ahead. Texting while driving is the most alarming distraction because it involves all three types of distractions at once. With many diverse distractions falling under each of these three categories, Congressman Eliot L. Engel from New York eagerly joined the U. S. Department of Transportation’s “efforts in curbing distracted driving. The bill, H. R. 1772 Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2011, “directs the Secretary of Transportation to make distracted driving prevention incentive grants for each fiscal year to states that enact laws that prohibit and establish fines for texting and/or handheld cellphone use while driving6. ” This Act came about when the President, Barrack Obama, signed a law having to deal with “Moving Ahead in the 21st century”. This action trickles down from the federal government and onto the state and local governments.

The federal governments provide the grants, and in return, the state and local governments provide the enforcement of the federal guidelines prohibiting distracted driving. Representative Engel also agrees with Secretary Ray Lahood, United States Secretary of Transportation, when he says, “distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic6”. With an 11% increase in distracted driving deaths for the year of 2011, Representative Engel is accurate in agreeing that distracted driving is a deadly epidemic. “This grant program will provide approximately $17. million to states that have laws banning distracted driving in the fiscal year 2013…an additional $5 million to develop paid advertising to support state enforcement of laws against distracted driving2. ” Engel and Lahood see these grants as large investments in the future through education on texting and driving. With the technology of smart phones and phones in general, Global Positioning Systems, advanced radios, and passengers, new drivers are not getting properly educated and disciplined on the consequences of distracted driving because these advancements are all they know when it comes time for them to drive.

Lahood says, “This new grant program will provide states that have distracted driving laws with important resources to help save lives and prevent injuries2. ” During the National Distracted Driving Summit, it was announced that remarkable statistics have shown baring texting and driving has raised positive outcome with more than 550 companies vowing to implement rules against distracted driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pilot programs in Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York indicate that enforcing restrictions on cell phone use is yielding positive results8.

Also during this Summit, those who oppose this law were able to relay their thoughts. The overall effectiveness of anti-distracted driving laws were brought up. The number one disapprover of this Act, Adrian Lund, president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, says, after studies, “Texting bans haven’t reduced crashes at all…crashes have actually increased8. ” Lahood fired back, calling the study “completely misleading” and that Lund’s research did not include all information8.

Other than the few, Highway Loss Data Institute and The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who do not approve of the distracted driving laws, the Act of 2011 has many strong supporters8. With celebrities such as the talk host Oprah Winfrey encouraging viewers to sign a document saying they will not text and drive, and the Jonas Brothers asking fans to join them in their pledge against the practice; the word is being spread about the dangers8. Though the publicity is able to reach a certain percentage of drivers; that percentage and the remaining percent should not be neglected and should be reached through other means of knowledge.

With facts and persuasion, thirty states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have all banned texting and driving, along with eight states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands banning the use of any hand held devices. Law enforcement has been able to go through with these laws by defining driving, personal wireless communications, primary offense, public road, and texting: “‘Driving’ means operating a motor vehicle on a public road, including operation while temporarily stationary because of traffic. Personal Wireless Communications Device’ means a device through which personal wireless services are transmitted. ‘Texting’ means reading from or manually entering data into a personal wireless communications device, including doing so for the purpose of SMS texting, emailing, and instant messaging. ‘Primary Offense’ means an offense for which a law enforcement officer may stop a vehicle solely for the purpose of issuing a citation in absence of evidence of another offense5. “‘Driving’ means operating a motor vehicle on a public road, including operation while temporarily stationary because of traffic. ‘Personal Wireless Communications Device’ means a device through which personal wireless services are transmitted. ‘Texting’ means reading from or manually entering data into a personal wireless communications device, including doing so for the purpose of SMS texting, emailing, and instant messaging. Primary Offense’ means an offense for which a law enforcement officer may stop a vehicle solely for the purpose of issuing a citation in absence of evidence of another offense5. ” With these definitions laid out for all drivers, there leaves little room to argue the law. With rules and guidelines set for drivers, the states also have guidelines to follow in order to receive financial support for their individual pursuits to decrease distracted driving accidents.

The major requirements within the long list of requirements are establishing a minimum fine for the first violation with increased fines as the number of violations increase, prohibition of youth cell phone use, prohibition of a driver younger than 18 from using personal wireless communication devices, and required distracted driving issues to be tested as a part of the State’s Driver’s License examination5. One controversy that has come with this Act is the question of how the government plans on paying for these grants; where will all this money come from when given out to states.

With these grants coming out of taxpayer’s money, these grants have become an issue. Representative Black, Republican -Tennessee, led the opposition to the distracted driving grants, already approved by senators. Using the 10th amendment, she insists “the federal government should not be manipulating state law through taxpayer funded distracted driving grants10. ” Representative Black explains to the House that what is best for one state might not be best for another state, therefore causing many of the problems in this plan.

With this issue brought up, Rep. Black points out and highlights that distracted driving laws should just be left up to each individual state and not mandated from the federal government. During Representative Black’s speech to the House, she brought up many good points; such as all of the grant money coming from taxpayer’s money, but the overarching point of this act and these laws were not recognized. With matters such as drinking and driving or texting and driving, they will not be conquered without major enforcements.

The federal government is trying to take this matter into their own hands out of the desire to stop distracted driving, increase the education on distracted driving, and to decrease the number of wrecks and deaths due to distracted driving per year. Representative Black makes the point about letting the states decide because laws vary state to state and even with these guidelines coming down from the federal government the states are still able to go about decreasing distracted driving in their own manner with the small list of guidelines given by the federal government.

The federal government is not trying to control each state and local government but merely help get hard hitting issues under control, therefore granting money to do so. The majority of studies show that drivers as a whole understand that texting and driving is dangerous but without any more thought commit this act anyways. An online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% know it’s dangerous. Through the campaign “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. ” Over thirty basic statistics are shown.

A texting driver is twenty three times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver says Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in 2009. In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U. S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving11. With H. R. 1772 Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2011, the grants developed will not only enforce discipline through citations and law enforcement, but will raise public awareness.

This Prevention Act is needed for the education of current and upcoming drivers, recommitting citations, law enforcement, and the decrease in texting and driving, and the decrease in wrecks and deaths due to distracted driving. H. R. 1772 Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2011 was introduced to the congressional committee in the 112th Congress on May 05, 2011. This bill’s description given to the congressional committee was to “amend titles 23 and 49 [which both deal with National Highway Traffic Safety], United States Code, to reduce injuries and deaths caused by cell phone use and texting while driving, and for other purposes. After many hearings led by Representative Eliot Engel, Democratic -New York, the bill and its supporters are waiting for it to be reported by the committee, passed to the House, then passed to the Senate, and finalized by the President’s signature12. According to govtrack. us, this bill has a zero percent chance of being enacted. The Prevention Act is a re- introduction of H. R. 3994, Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009, brought up in the 111th Congress that had a negative three percent impact (-3%)12.

With the sponsor of this bill being a member of the minority party, a negative two percent (-2%) adds into the likelihood of this bill being passed12. The only positive actualities of this bill and its sponsors is the bill’s cosponsors, Donna Christensen (Democratic – Virgin Islands) and Carolyn Maloney (Democratic – New York), who are also a member of the minority party, has a high leadership score, adding a positive three percent (+3)12. A key fact given by the legislation is that only four percent (4%) of all House of Representatives bills in 2009-2010 were actually enacted12.

The U. S Department of Transportation has yet to be able to make distracted driving illegal on its own because the jurisdiction falls under each state. Even though nothing has been passed by Congress, many states have stepped up to pass tough laws against distracted driving. With optimistic thinking, Representative Engel still pushes forward and continues to campaign his hope for change on our highways and in our auto vehicles through Congress.

A recent law was mandated in Fort Lee, New Jersey prohibiting pedestrians from texting. This law was highly ridiculed, but the local government’s thought process was “if we cannot stop drivers from texting, we better make sure that pedestrians do not text so they can keep their eyes peeled for reckless drivers. This concept seems outlandish, but without the support of the federal government through the Distracted Driving Prevention Act some places around the country cannot enforce such laws alone.

If legislation approves this bill statistic will plummet tremendously leaving the highways, vehicles, and drivers in a safer environment when teenagers like Ashley Johnson are driving to tutor other young adults or elderly ladies like Mrs. Davis taking their daily walk. Distracted driving is common, tempting, and deadly and through H. R. 1772 Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2011 lives can be changed, lives can be saved.