Texting Messages while Driving - Case Study Example

Driving While Texting Bryan Akins English 112 Matthews October 14, Driving While Texting Technology has integrated deeply in the lives of humans. The degree of incorporation of technology is so extensive that it has been transformed from a luxury to a perceived necessity. Cell phones are also such inventions that have made man slaves by controlling their minds and actions. Immediate interaction with friends and family through a diverse range of modes (video calling, text messages, picture messages, and voice messages) has proven to be contagious for mankind. Such interactions bear consequential instances if they are not used in a responsible manner. Texting messages while driving has been an on-going debate since number of years. The school of thought that disagrees with texting messages while driving consider it so severe that they want the action to be given the status of a crime while others don not give much importance to the issue. In the light of the adverse effects of texting while driving, it should be banned to promote road safety for the people. Severe violations of driving ethics cause damage to life of people, and the impact of the negligence of one is born by either party involved. Driving is a task that requires utmost attention and concentration of the driver. Quick reflexes are often needed to keep safe from any accident whereas texting messages causes the occupation of one’s hand and mind. Caird, Scialfa, Ho and Smiley (2005) stated that texting messages while driving impairs the reflexes and affects the reaction time of the individual thereby making it difficult to regain control of the vehicle if an unforeseen incident arises. Foundation for Traffic Safety (2009) conducted a survey that concluded that 9 out of 10 drivers consider texting messages as a danger to themselves and others on the road. Presently, there are many regulations regarding the use of handheld devices while driving but most of them are limited to marginal amount of penalty that prove insufficient to curb this problem. For instance, already 30 states in the US have legislation prohibiting texting while driving in place. However, evidence suggests that the law is not strong enough to stop people from doing this. Despite the best efforts from the part of governments and law enforcement agencies, there was a 28 percent increase in the number of accidents over the period from 2005 to 2008. It is often argued that the activity of text messaging has been presumed to be dangerous at an unrealistic level since there are numerous other activities that cause distraction and makes the driver lose focus, for example loud music, attractive billboards and advertisements etc. The argument stands partially valid since the mentioned factors also prove to be a hindrance for a driver. However, none of these mentioned factors compel the drivers to use his hands, alongside looking at the small screen to read the text. The fear of being ceased by the traffic police often makes the driver keep the phone lower that requires him to bend his head down (off the road) to read the message. Needless to say, that getting one’s head off the road even for a few seconds can result in life altering situations. Agency Group (2011) reported that around 5,500 people lost their lives and 0.5 million got severely injured in 2009 in different accidents due to distracted individuals driving cars. The identified reasons for increasing car and truck accidents reveal the role of employers, parent and consignees who make frequent and unexpected calls to the drivers of both commercial and private vehicles. At the moment, professional truck drivers claim that they are forced to use talk for immediate decisions on route query or diversions. Employers are responsible for the car accidents as they induce the employees for feedback even while they are driving. Parents also contribute their share to the tragedy by making confirmation calls to school bus drivers about the safety of their children back home. However, insurance companies now are strategically devising plans to reduce the ‘talk and drive’ or ‘texting drive’ issues by increasing the premium amount of drivers’ insurance proportionately against the number of tickets issues for handheld devices during driving. According to experts, texting is more dangerous than talking on phone. According to studies, drivers who resort to text messaging take 400 percent more time off the road. In addition, they are 70 percent less likely to keep proper lane. While the driver who talks on phone is able to watch the road, the one who is texting has to look at his or her hands, thus, unable to watch the road ahead. Despite all these frightening facts, people do not seem to change their habits. Magid (2009) provided useful information about the level of distractedness that becomes apparent from driving while text messaging; such drivers are recorded to depart from their lanes 10 times more than a regular driver. The advocators argue that a skilled driver can never be affected with such distractions and is able to possess control of the car in all situations even if he is texting. Firstly, some drivers might be skilled enough to handle multitasking while driving but their texting gives a wrong message to the youngsters who are more active in this activity. Magid (2009) quoted some other research findings; 46 % of the teenagers accept the fact that they text while driving. Secondly, a skilled driver might have full control of the car, but he cannot judge the level of control that is possessed by some other driver (who might be texting) on the road that might cause turbulence on the road for everyone else. There are three types of distractions that are the result of texting while driving. They are visual, manual, and cognitive. First of all, resorting to texting means being not able to watch the road. Thus, it is identified from studies that the drivers who send text messages take 400 times more time off the road to send messages. The second issue is manual distraction. There are two kinds of texting drivers observed. The first category uses one hand for texting and lets one hand maneuver the steering. In the other case, the drivers use both hands for texting and let their legs handle the steering. In both the cases, the control over the vehicle is substantially reduced, and the possibility of accident dramatically rises. The third distraction is that of cognition. The person is not able to attend to two tasks at the same time. Studies prove that when the driver resorts to texting, his total attention is diverted towards texting, and driving is given less importance. Due to all these reasons, texting becomes the most dangerous kind of distraction while driving. Road safety can only be achieved if all the drivers drive their cars safely, rather than just a few. When police officers find it easy to catch those who talk on phone while driving, it is difficult for them to find those who are texting. It is generally pointed out that enforcement of a texting ban is not an easy task as it requires officers to identify an act that usually takes place in a driver’s lap. Texting while driving is a dangerous activity that can prove to have consequential factors for others, as well as oneself. The number of deaths caused by texting while driving is far more than the deaths caused by drunk driving and all other kinds of distractions like talking on phone, drinking and eating, changing CD and so on. Despite all these findings and governmental initiatives to control the problem, the number of people resorting to texting while driving is on rise at an alarming rate. The process of texting while driving reduces the reaction time of an individual and affects the individual to make decisions instantly. The advocators of texting raise numerous other factors that contribute to reducing road safety like loud music and billboard advertisements. Although, these factors also effect driving but they do not demand the occupation of the hand and mind as much as texting. Even skilled drivers can fail to regain control of the car if others drivers are not being careful. The menace of drunk driving took many years to be comprehended by people and the same can be predicted for texting while driving. Therefore, this activity should be discouraged at all levels to reduce its occurrence. References Agency Group, (2011, May). US department of transportation releases new faces of distracted driving video. FDCH regulatory intelligence databases, 06 Caird, J. K., Scialfa, C. T., Ho, G., & Smiley, A. (2005). A meta-analysis of driving performance and crash risk associated with the use of cellular telephones while driving. Proceedings of the third international driving symposium on human factors in driver assessment, training and vehicle design, pp. 478–485. Foundation for Traffic Safety (2009, October), Text Messaging and Cell Phone Use While Driving, Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/textingFS091012.pdf Magid, L. (2009, August),Shocking stats, video on texting while driving, CNET News, Retrieved 12 October 2011 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10320712-238.html Read More