Distracted Driving: Why Texting and Driving Should be Illegal

Technology has advanced tremendously in the realm of communication, the smartphone is not only a means of communication but an essential tool now for people's careers, entertainment and staying on top of current events. As useful as they are they understandably receive a lot of our attention. A time they should be ignored however is while we are behind the wheel. Texting while driving takes both your hands and eyes away from the road and one is distracted even further while they respond to a notification. The proliferation of the smartphone has led to an unfortunate increase in texting related accidents, especially in teens. Cars are huge dangerous machines that can be fatal tools when handled irresponsibly and a person responding to a text or email is a major distraction that can cause damages to yourself but also the pedestrians and other drivers on the road. These damages are statistically the leading cause of accidents for teens and among the most fatal causes for accidents.

The cars of today have come a long way from the first gas powered automobiles of the late 19th century. When Karl Benz, the Benz in Mercedes-Benz, first drove his newly developed Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886 it ran on a single cylinder engine and could reach a maximum speed of 10/mph (Defree). Today, technology has enabled the Koenigsegg Agera RS to reach a top speed of 277.9 mph making it the fastest street- legal production car (Gibson). It's easy to forget just how immense car are when they can take across us cities and seem so compact. Surprisingly, the average weight of a car to be is 1.4 tons or 2,871 pounds. This is from looking at the mid-size models of all the major car companies, with mid-size cars being those falling between compact cars and full size cars and SUVs. The average SUV weighs in at 4,799 pounds which is 40% more than the average car. They don't seem that big when you step inside them. They maybe even feel a bit cramped when you have a lot of passengers. But when the engines starts up and we accelerate to speeds of 60 or even slower road speeds of 40 cars can be very dangerous. In fact any car moving at any speed can be enough to kill a person. At lower speeds the fatality has more to do with the health of the person and manner in which they are hit. Such as elderly person being knocked backwards and hitting their head by a car backing up at only 5 mph. the chances of survival are quite high , decreasing incrementally until about 30 mph. at which they likeliness of death is then at 50 %. The seemingly small increase to 40 mph pushes that number up to 90% (Kill Speed). The physics of a car crash are simple, the energy is transferred from the vehicle to whatever it hits, whether that's another vehicle or a stationary object like a pole or person. A car weighing in at one and a half tons traveling what, to a drivers seems slow, speed of 30 mph is carrying a massive amount of energy. Which when impacted with another person can cause injuries that if the victim were to survive would change their lives forever.

Driving a car even a short distance means you wield a nice amount of power over pedestrians and anything else that doesn't measure up to the your cars size. So it is imperative that when you're behind the wheel of a car the road should have your full attention. In the event that something strays across your path that wasn't meant to you should be alert enough to respond to any sudden roadway dangers and make a decision that will ensure you and those around you are safe. A driver's reaction time is doubled when they are texting and driving. In

Jim Forsyth's article on a small study at Texas A&M University analyzed the impact of texting on an actual road. In the study 42 drivers between ages 16 and 54 drove on an 11-mile (17 km) test course. Once while sending or reading received text messages and then again while their focus was entirely on the road. The researchers also asked participants to brake when they saw a flashing yellow light during both scenarios and recorded their reaction times. Without texting the driver's average reaction time was between 1-2 seconds, but while they were texting it increased to 3-4 seconds. This was regardless of whether the driver was typing or reading a text. The study also found that if a driver was texting they 11 times more likely to miss the flashing light. A few seconds isn't a long time but the difference even one second would make is enormous. On highways where people average anywhere from 70-100 mph cars cross football fields in the same amount of time. Striking a person at this speed would undoubtedly result in their death. But a collision with another is much different much messier and much more hazardous situation altogether. Statistics place distracted driving as being the cause of 20

% of all fatal crashes and cell phones are one of the main distractions.

Texting and driving has very real consequences. In the United States a majority of states have bans on cell phone use while driving. 16 states prohibits the use of hand held devices while driving and 47 states ban texting while driving. No state has a total ban on all cell phones but 38 states and D.C. forbid any cell phone use by teen drivers and beginner drivers (Essex). The legislation is well deserved. As the usage of cellphones has increased so has the number of teens who get injured or, even worse, die as a result of texting while driving (Ricks). Researchers at Cohen Children's Medical Center estimate that there are 3,000 at least teen deaths in America each year from texting and 300,000 injuries. With the number of teens who drink and drive taking a sharp decline in recent years it is now the leading cause of death. Driving under the influence of alcohol results in a projected 2,700 deaths and 282,000 injuries suffered from car crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2013 to 2016 the rate of unintentional accidents led in injury related deaths for teens (Howard). And of those accidents car crashes accounted for 62 %. These are staggering numbers and it's upsetting to know that they could be avoided with safe driving practices. While laws can be passed and enforced they can only do so much. Still their existence proves that texting and driving is very much a growing epidemic that will continue to affect more people than it has today. Should people realize the laws aren't there to simply inconvenience them but to protect them as both drivers and pedestrians perhaps they will become more effective.

When a person gets behind the wheel it is ultimately their decision to practice responsible driving habits. It is hard to imagine that a person who regularly drives would be oblivious to the dangers of texting and driving. Whether is through nationwide data being reported or the coverage of local accidents a person will see the dangers of this bad habit eventually. Hopefully with the passage and enforcement of laws they will be more inclined to put their phones down for a brief moment. If that isn't enough maybe the sobering knowledge of just how powerful their vehicle is would be enough, a car is intimidating figure while it is stationary and while moving it's even more deadly. Such a powerful device should be used responsibly.

Works Cited

Deffree, Suzanne. "Karl Benz Drives the First Automobile, July 3, 1886." EDN, AspenCore, 2012, www. edn. com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4376656/Karl-

Benz-drives-the-first-automobile--July-3--1886.

Essex, Amanda. "CELLULAR PHONE USE AND TEXTING WHILE DRIVING LAWS."

National Conference of State Legislatures, National Conference of State Legislatures, 30 Apr. 2028, www. ncsl. org/research/transportation/cellular-phone- use-and-texting-while-driving-laws. aspx.

Forsyth, Jim. "Texting While Driving Doubles Reaction Time." Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 6 Oct. 2011, www. reuters. com/article/uk-driving-texting/texting-while- driving-doubles-reaction-time-idUSLNE79500W20111006.

Gibson, Dean. "The Fastest Road Cars in the World 2018." Auto Express, Dennis Publishing Ltd, 31 July 2018, www. autoexpress. co. uk/best-cars/89044/the-fastest-

road-cars-in-the-world-2018.

Howard, Jacqueline. "A 'wake-up Call' about What's Killing America's Young People." CNN, 1 June 2018, cnn. com/2018/06/01/health/youth-injury-death-rate-cdc- study/index. html.

Ricks, Delthia. "Study: Texting While Driving Now Leading Cause of Death for Teen Drivers." NewsDay, 8 May 2013, http://www. newsday. com/news/nation/study- texting-while-driving-now-leading-cause-of-death-for-teen-drivers-1.5226036.

Safe Speed. "Kill Speed." Kill Speed, Safe Speed, 2007, www. safespeed. org. uk/killspeed. html.