Distracted Driving Don't Do It

Conner Knight

English105

Expository Analysis Final Draft

Distracted Driving (Don’t Do It!)

     You feel the buzzing in your pocket and pull out your cell phone to respond to the text.  Your phone rings and you look to see who is calling before answering. While looking down at your phone, you crash into a stopped car in front of you killing a mother and her young children. Was that text or call worth it?  On the flip side, imagine headlights from an oncoming vehicle veering in your direction or the car in front of you swerving and hitting the breaks just a few seconds shy of an accident.  These drivers have not been impaired by drugs or alcohol, but rather by cell phones. Being able to drive may be a rite of passage but it can very easily turn into a nightmare that you never wake up from.  The use of technology has grown steadily for many years, distracting us from things that are important.  Cell phones have put instant access to technology literally at our fingertips.  Forty percent of all automobile accidents are caused by distracted drivers.   To me this statistic is very alarming. The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all people about the danger it poses. This education does not apply only to those individuals who are of driving age. Children learn what they see and they should see driving without distractions while in the vehicle with their parents or family members who are of driving age.  

     Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. Distracted driving can increase the chance of a motor vehicle crash. There are three main types of distraction visual, manual, and cognitive.  Visual distraction is taking your eyes off the road.  Manual distraction is taking your hands off the wheel.  Cognitive distraction involves taking your mind off of driving.  Anything that takes your attention away from driving can be a distraction.  Tasks such as sending or receiving a text message, talking on a cell phone, using a navigation system, changing the radio station, and eating while driving a just a few examples of distracted driving.  Any of these distractions can endanger the driver, passengers, as well as other drivers. . Texting while driving is especially dangerous as it combines all three types of distraction.  Taking your eyes off the road for around 5 seconds is long enough to cover a football field if you are driving 55 mph.   Many people agree that distracted driving is dangerous, but not everyone will join the pledge against it.   I personally have signed a commitment to not be a distracted driver. If I am a passenger, I make sure that my driver is following safe driving practices as well. For my safety and those in vehicles around me, I am not afraid to voice my opinion if the person I am riding with is making poor choices. Speaking out can easily save the driver’s life, the passengers’ lives, and the lives of other people on the road.      

     The number one contributing factor in causes of death of crashes involving distracted drivers is the use of cell phones and texting. Each day in the United States, approximately 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver.  In 2016, there were 3,477 people killed, and 391,000 injuries in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.  Approximately 64 percent of all traffic accidents in the United States have a cell phone involved in them.  The use of cell phones while driving may require a variety of different movements such as searching for a phone in the vehicle, reaching for the phone to initiate or receive a call, dialing, texting, holding a phone near the ear while talking and driving, picking up a phone that has been dropped, and so forth.  All of these actions distract drivers from concentrating on their main focus of driving safely. Because texting requires visual, manual, and mental attention from the driver, it is by far the most serious distraction. This type of multi-tasking is not safe for anyone.  I feel the best way to end distracted driving is to educate drivers about the danger distracted driving poses.

     Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving.  All distractions put the safety of the driver, passengers, and bystanders at risk.  Examples of distracted driving are texting, use of a cellphone, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, reading or watching a video, using a navigation system, and adjusting a radio or CD player. There are many key facts and statistics showing the dangers of distracted driving and reasons to discourage its practice.   There are many upsetting statistics associated with distracted driving.  The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all people about the danger it poses.

         A simple distraction is all it takes.  Drinking coffee or changing the radio station may only take a second, but at that second, someone might unexpectedly run a stop sign and that distracted second will deduct from the driver’s reaction time. Talking to a passenger can immensely distract drivers.  Keeping an eye on the speedometer, the road, other, cars, road signs, and traffic lights in conjunction with holding a conversation with a passenger is quite a challenge.  Drivers should use caution and give their full attention to the road.  They should reduce or avoid the influence of talkative passengers, cell phone use and other distractions which interrupt careful driving.  Together, through these careful actions, drivers can reduce accidents.

     Drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. Ten percent of all drivers 16 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of crashes.  This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of crashes.  Studies show that drivers who are talking on the phone while driving are four times more likely to get in a crash and eight times more likely if they are texting. Multiple states have already banned the use of cell phones while driving and for good reasons. There are a few states that require the use of a hands free device while talking on the phone. Hands-free cellular devices are also just as dangerous as hands-held cell phones. This is true because it is not the lack of hands on the wheel that is dangerous but the lack of mental focus. The human brain is physically incapable of truly multitasking. Some states are using a graduated driver licensing systems for teen drivers as a method to help raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and to help prevent it from occurring.     A distracted driver has the mental impairment equivalent of having four alcoholic drinks. The human brain is physically incapable of truly multitasking making distracted driving the danger that it is.