Phones and Driving Don't Mix Well

Thousands of accidents happen every year, and a high percentage of them involve distractions, on either end of each driver involved. Adding phones to the risk only increases the chances of crashing. D.U.I is a lead cause of accidents, but it is safer than texting and driving, statistically. It has become restricted and illegal in certain parts of the world, and for good reason. Many deaths and injuries are caused by simple mistakes. The risks are extremely high and only increase as new drivers appear on the road. Phone-related accidents have become common since 2010 (Zebra pg.1) and are even more of a risk forward from then. With more technology-invested generations of new drivers and even adults that use phones a great deal more today, accidents involving phones are more prone to happen, becoming very common.

The statistics do not support using a phone while driving. In fact, 1.6 million crashes on average per year are caused by phone use while driving while 390 thousand injuries are caused by these crashes and 3 thousand deaths are averaged between them respectively. (Edgar synder and assc. pg.1) The amount of people that are distracted while driving is even higher than the accident rate, with surveys conducted having an average of 30% of answers admittedly stating distraction while driving is common for these drivers. Unfortunately, watching Netflix, youtube or other streaming apps while driving is something done regularly, which is extremely dangerous to other people around them. It is 8 times more likely for a crash to occur when reaching for any object while driving, and even eating and drinking increases the risk by 3 times. Eating and drinking while driving is much more common than watching streaming apps. However, recklessness like that causes many accidents, which could have been avoided by being responsible.

1 out of 4 accidents are caused by texting and driving, which means other hand-held phone use causing accidents is entirely too dangerous considering it can have an 8 times more likely chance of causing accidents than regular driving respectively. With the 400 percent increase of not looking at the road, using a phone isn't the best idea. Thousands of accidents that happen even without distractions are the same level of lethality, which would warrant thinking twice before reaching for your phone. That is the theory, at least. Hopefully, there will be a way to show these drivers that the risks are far too high for a miniscule benefit of texting someone back immediately. Proper education on the dangers of distracted driving and how easily losing your life could be is important. Help others around you and warn them what could happen.

Life is precious, and losing it over texting back or looking at an email is not worth it. The risk is very high and thousands of people who had their lives ahead of them have been put down, when it could have been avoided. Statistics do not lie, and ignoring the risks will not end well. Study and research on these accidents is done for a reason- they keep happening. Living is more important than texting. Even laws can't protect you in the moment where the accident is going to occur. If you don't personally text and drive, you must still worry about others who refuse to cooperate. Encourage others to wait to text back if you want to save lives. Don't use your phone and drive.

"Distracted Driving Statistics 2019: The Zebra." Compare Car Insurance Rates and Get Free Quotes | The Zebra, The Zebra, 9 Apr. 2019, www. thezebra. com/distracted-driving-statistics/.

"Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving." Edgarsnyder. com, Edgar Synder and Associates, 2017, www. edgarsnyder. com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics. html.