The Dangers of Driving and Texting

The Dangers of Driving and Texting
High Risks of Driving and Texting in Portales, New MexicoGroup’s Name:
Eastern New Mexico University
The Dangers of Texting and Driving Thesis statement
If the government can spend hundreds of billions on a project to develop an ultra-modern spacecraft, then it is equally important to spend more on the campaign dubbed ‘The Dangers of Driving and Texting’. Even if only two young souls will be saved from an early, preventable death then so be it. It is still worth the effort.
Legally speaking, impairment does not necessarily occasion from imbibing alcoholic beverages. In the present time, visual impairment has been transferred to usage of mobile phones while driving.  This paper therefore is proposes a campaign which is targeting drivers who cannot detach themselves from their electronic gadgets like mobile phones and laptops while driving. Billboards, placards, flyers will all be used to send the message home. The paper also targets the city council officials who allow drivers to continue with this trend in their respective jurisdictions and yet still allow them to go unpunished. To achieve its goal, the paper will first of all look at the background of the problem before trying to propose concrete solutions to curb texting and driving and consequently make the roads safer by elimination of avoidable accidents. Furthermore it is aimed at enlightening the young drivers on the dangers of texting while driving. The geographical region of consideration will be Portales New Mexico which has been experiencing numerous accidents recently as a result of texting while driving. Discussion  Drivers in both cases are distracted from the driving experience. Three kinds of distractions have been recognized so far (Barcharts, 2009):a) Having a driver’s eyes off the roadb) Absent mindedness while driving (lack of concentration on the driving experience)c) A driver having their hands-off the driving wheel A couple of years ago, Portales did not experience the carnage it is experiencing right now on its roads. They have incorporated these electronic devices into their driving culture. This is saddening because, the electronic gadgets have got no sense of control over the vehicle. Furthermore, the electronic gadgets cannot anticipate dangerous help the way a human mind can and therefore avert from accidents. Instead of controlling the electronic device, the human driver has ended up being controlled by the electronic device, and hence the term “distracted driver” (Griffith, 2010).  Accident Facts This is a grim figure and if not properly controlled the figure will definitely rise. Getting the proper statistics on texting and driving has not been an easy task owing to the fact that most of the officers have not been apprehending and recording the number of traffic offenders related to texting and driving. According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, drivers who engage themselves in texting while driving are 23 times prone to be involved in a car crash than non-distracted drivers. While carrying out their research, they noticed that the tasks that a driver engages in and therefore causes them to get their eyes off the road posed more danger to other road users (Guevin, 2009). They discovered that while a driver is texting, they get their eyes off the road for nearly 5 seconds which is enough time to drive through a football field at an average speed of 55mph. This shows that while drinking and driving is considered dangerous, texting and driving should be considered on the same scale too (WGNO, 2010). Summary of Facts It is a fact that texting while driving increase the chances of a crash up to 8-23 times. It is a fact that in 2009, alone, 5,474 people lost their lives and a further 448, 000 sustained injuries in accidents that were caused by distracted driving. Texting especially amongst teens has become the mode of communication amongst American teens and on average they can receive up to 3,300 texts on a monthly basis (an average of 6 texts every hour they are awake). A driver gets distracted for 4.5 seconds when they look up a text; at a speed of 55mph they could easily cross a football pitch while not concentrating on the road. A driver who texts while driving has got a slower reaction rate and will have problems staying on their lane and will also be likely not to see objects on the roads and even fail to observe the traffic lights. It is also a fact that the above occurrences are the leading causes of traffic accidents.
A sure recipe for disaster is to combine this lapse of time when the driver is distracted with the actual duration of a motor vehicle accident which takes a split second. It’s always crash and bang. By the time the driver is supposed to be reacting, it is too late and in the worst case a life is lost within that instance.
Despite the gravity of the matter, it seems that the most at risk group when it comes to text-related road accidents have failed dismally in taking the issue of texting while driving seriously. According to Godwin (2008) two thirds (67%) of drivers between the age of 18 and 24 years admit to texting while they are driving. These Statistics were based on a nationwide survey. This paints a grim picture of the safety of our roads here in Portales. The number of drivers with this dangerous behavior is bound to rise, given the fact that these people don’t just break the habit when they hit 25 years.
 Additional Facts Figures alone cannot express how grim the situation is. Expert opinion too is necessary. Doctors too have joined in this debate to curb texting while driving. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons together with the Orthopedic Trauma Association deal with the victims of road crashes some which are as a result of texting while driving (Welsh, 2010). The injuries that they deal with are very horrifying and this has led them to see the habit of texting while driving as a deadly truth. They are of the view that many drivers consider themselves immune to mishaps that may occur as a result of texting while driving. The truth is, no one is immune to such mishaps.The situation of the roads in Portales is wanting, the roads in the city are not ‘lonely’ roads, they are highways; and busy highways at that. Therefore, they require proper concentration because a driver ca...