Distracted Driver

English 1301

29 December 2013

Distracted Driving

I was walking to the gym, in the crosswalk on post. The cars stopped so I could cross. Three cars behind was a distracted driver. He took his eyes off the road to check his phone for a second because there were no stoplights or signs on this strip of road that would have given him a reason to stop. When he looked up it was too late and he crashed into the stopped car in front of him. Every day in the United States more than 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver (“Distracted Driving”).

I know I have seen people texting many times while driving. You can see their eyes looking down away from the road and sometimes you can even see the glow of the phone on their face. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind (distraction.gov). And 31% 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 (“Distracted Driving”). Why do we feel the need to answer our texts while we drive? With the technology at our fingertips, we as a society have created a sense of urgency to answer texts or emails immediately when they are received. It seems that we have lost the ability to be patient and have developed an “it won’t happen to me” attitude.

I know I have also seen people talking on the phone while driving. This is the second biggest distraction for while driving. When you talk on the phone your thoughts are on your conversation with the other person. You are unable to pay full attention to the road. This can cause you to not be able to stay in your lane, or to be delayed in your response to other drivers around you. Over 650,000 people are using their phones while...