Proposing a Solution on Texting While Driving - Essay Example

period. In other words, it amounts to something like a driver covering a length of football field at a speed of 55 mph without looking at the road. In another study carried out in 2008 it has been mentioned that over 800,000 Americans were texting or making calls, during the same year over 6,000 Americans were killed because of distracted driving and cell phone usage is one of the major reasons. Considering the extent of loss to the life that cell phone usage, specifically texting, there has been a Federal ban on texting while driving for commercial vehicle drivers.

The defaulters may be subject to fines up to USD 2,750. But even after this ban the scene has not changed significantly. In order to propose a solution to address the issue of texting while driving it may be meaningful to understand the cause that leads the drivers to text. One of the national insurance agencies in America conducted a survey of over 1500 drives, nationwide. As per the findings of the survey, the key reason for people to use cell phones while driving is (Deleon) “social etiquette” demands that people be in constant contact with each other, so people feel pressured to responds immediately to text messages and phone calls.

” This issue may be very difficult to be addressed comprehensively by adopting just one solution. Such issues can be addressed by two types of solutions, these are i) technology based solutions and ii) by bringing about a behavioral change in the actors concerned, in this particular case drivers are the key actors. In this paper, I would like to propose a solution that aims at kindling a behavioral change in the drivers. The justification for adopting such an approach is centered on the reason for which the people get urged for texting.

The key audience in this proposal is the policy makers and society in general who are usually the drivers of social and behavioral change amongst people. If the audience, as I would propose in the next section, adopts the behavioral change strategies, I believe that there would be a considerable improvement in the statistics pertaining to texting while driving. It is also important to note that the proposal that I present is even though relevant for all drivers, but has specific benefits for commercial vehicle drivers.

These are the ones exposed to high risks. The proposal is presented in the table below: Strategies of principle In order to induce a behavioral change amongst commercial drivers, I propose that the telecom companies should mandatorily send Statutory Warning about the dangers of texting while driving (TWD) before each text they send such as “TWD multiplies the risk of crash incidents by 23 times.” or “You might not be able to see the person whom you text if you text while driving.” Similar warnings may also be placed on strategic places inside the car.

It is the job of the policy makers to ensure that each cellphone operators comply with this regulation. Consequences of actions The consequences of this solution are anticipated to be: Subconscious learning by every cell user about the fallouts of TWD Advocate and Amplify the cause and risks of TWD Fall in the number of TWD accidents Analogies Advertisers, social marketers and policy makers have successfully applied Statutory Warnings in order to modify behaviors with respect to other unhealthy habits such as smoking, HIV/AIDS, toys using LASERS etc.

Texting while driving is already being seen as a one of the unbending issue for all