Dangers of texting and driving - Essay Example

Dangers of Texting and Driving Introduction Texting while driving has become a major concern worldwide due to its highly probable fatal results. Texting while driving can be defined as the act of communicating on a mobile communication device via short message services or electronic mails. Since the early years of the 21st century, mobile communication devices have gained wide usage and have almost become the standard mode of communication. Their use has brought undesired concerns. It has been established that a large number of the accidents that occur on roads worldwide is as a result of low or lack of attention by the driver. There have been different campaigns aimed at sensitizing the public on the risks of texting while driving. Different legislations too have been passed in different countries to curb this act but still accidents occur every day as a result of texting and driving. In some countries, sections of the population have opposed these laws claiming that they are infringing on their fundamental rights. According to the Federal Communications Commission, at least nine lives are lost every day through accidents which are as a result of inattention by the driver as they were replying to a text message or an email on their phones (Federal Communications Commission, 2014). This research essay will look into the dangers of driving while texting and give reasons for responsible use of electronic communication devices while driving. It will also look into the legislations that have been passed to curb texting while driving and finally give a conclusion of the entire essay. Dangers Involved The basis for the risk in texting while driving is distraction of drivers’ attention from focusing on the road. The few seconds when a driver types some text on their phone is equal to driving for the exact number of seconds while blindfolded. There are real dangers involved in this with loss of human life being the ultimate risk. This act is unacceptable by its very nature of posing a risk human life. Klauer et al, conducted a study on the risks of a crash or near crash for both novice and experienced drivers when their attention is distracted yielded a positive relationship between number of distractions from secondary tasks while driving and risk of crash or near-crash. It was established that the risk increased at a significant rate among novice drivers than among experienced drivers. The secondary task distractions considered included picking a mobile phone, replying to a text or email and reading the same. However, the research did not include browsing the internet while driving (Klauer, et al., 2014). This gives a clear indication that texting while driving poses a real danger of an accident or a near- accident regardless of a driver’s competence. This act not only poses danger to the driver but also the pedestrians walking by the roadside (Rumschlag, et al., 2015). Consequences of this act reverberate across several areas of the society which include medical services sector, motor vehicle insurance sector as well as the country’s labor force. Responsible Use of Electronics While Driving There has not been much research conducted on the benefits of texting while driving. This is because the adversities of texting while driving overshadow its benefits. However responsible use of electronics while driving is recommended almost everywhere so as to avoid distracting a driver’s attention. One of the recommendations by Sherin et al, is that if a driver has to use their mobile phone, either to make a call or to send a text, they should pull over (Sherin, et al., 2014). However, pulling over has its safety risks as well. There is a special group of people who have to use their mobile phones or PDAs while driving and they include security officers and response personnel such as firefighters. These groups are critical in that they are responsible for maintaining security and enhancing peace of mind among the general public. Such groups of people should be thoroughly trained as well as their multi-tasking abilities assessed to ensure that they can properly handle secondary tasks even while doing another critical task. Texting while driving has also been claimed to save resources such as cutting unnecessary trips as well as preventing disasters. However, these benefits are occasional and cannot be used to rationalize frequent behavior of texting while driving. This is an area that should be adequately covered by law so as to distinctively establish when it is allowable to text while driving. Regulations and Citizens’ Freedoms Most countries have passed laws that prohibit drivers from texting while driving. These laws are based on the responsibility of governments over the safety of their citizens. Campaigns have also been mounted to sensitize the general public on the dangers associated with texting while driving. In the United States, most states have banned the use of mobile communication devices while driving. However, in the state of Texas, this ban has brought about a lot of contention with the human rights watch groups. These groups claim that banning the use of a communication device, simply because one is driving, infringes on the citizen’s rights to communicate freely. Morals and laws of natural justice would dictate that an individual’s rights are to be enjoyed up to a point beyond which they infringe on another individual’s rights or pose a risk, danger or threat to the other individual. Texting while driving automatically poses a safety risk to the driver and passengers or pedestrians or both groups. Thus this act should not be tolerated at all even if it seems to curtail the right of a driver to free communication. In this view, the public should accept the different technologies that have been developed to either reduce a driver’s distraction if they want to text as they drive or to totally ban texting while driving. Technologies such as voice recognition can be used as this can be compared to having a conversation while driving which does not pose much of a safety risk (He, Chaparro, Nguyen, Ni, & Cao, 2014). Conclusion Since texting while driving has generated a lot of concern among the public as well as the road safety authorities, a comprehensive approach to solving this problem should be embraced. Statistics do not lie and going by the figures given by the Federal Communications Commission, accidents or near-accidents that are preventable are unacceptable. Embracing current technology can enable the authorities achieve major milestones in curbing the problem of texting while driving. References Federal Communications Commission. (2014, December 8). The Dangers of Texting While Driving. Retrieved Noember 2, 2015, from Federal Communications Commission: https:/www.fcc.gov/guides/texting-while-driving He, J., Chaparro, A., Nguyen, B., Ni, R., & Cao, S. (2014). Texting while driving: Is speech-based text entry less risky than handheld entry? Accident and Analysis, 72(1), 287-295. Klauer, S., Guo, F., Simons-Morton, B. G., Ouimet, M. C., Lee, S. E., & Dingus, T. A. (2014). Distracted driving and risk of road crashes among novce and experienced drivers. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(1), 54-59. Rumschlag, G., Palumbo, T., Martin, A., Head, D., George, R., & Commissaris, R. L. (2015). The effects of texting on drivng performance in driving simulator: the influence of driver age. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 74, 145-149. Sherin, K. M., Lowe, A. L., Harvey, B. J., Leiva, D. L., Malik, A., Mathews, S., & Suh, R. (2014). Preventing Texting while driving: a statement of the American College of Preventive Medicine. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(5), 681-688. Read More