Dangerous Driving Habits

Many of Today’s Drivers Have Dangerous Habits

The majority of traffic accidents are caused by dangerous driving habits acquired and practiced by drivers. A recently new dangerous habit is the use of a cell phone while driving. The most dangerous driving habit is driving after consuming alcohol. Another habit that many people tend to have but don’t view as dangerous is listening to music while driving. It’s imperative that drivers understand these issues need to be taken seriously. The statistics continue to rise, but if we would take time to think about the lives being put in danger, perhaps we wouldn’t allow ourselves to be so heavily distracted. It only takes seconds for something terrible to happen. Every day I discover how dangerous drivers’ habits are-problems we see that exist every day.
A dangerous driving habit that has recently increased is the use of cell phones while driving. Imagine a person using a cell phone while driving (one hand on the steering wheel and the other grabbing the phone near his ear), talking about last night’s party or about the baseball season that has just started. During this period of time, the driver’s attention is focused in the conversation. This decreases the driver’s skills to react in time to possible dangers on the road. A person using his cell phone and driving at the same time might not be able to avoid colliding with the car in front that used their brakes to avoid a pot-hole or an animal crossing the road. One possible solution to this dilemma is a newly formed law forbidding the use of cell phones while driving. The best way to educate drivers on the severity of this issue is to raise awareness on the danger of cell phone use while driving. However, cell phone’s aren’t the only outside factor influencing poor driving habits. Driving while intoxicated poses a serious threat to not only the driver, but to other’s on the road.
Drunk drivers are a menace at every hour of the day, but during the night they are more dangerous due to the lack of visibility. Severe measures should be taken with people found to be driving under the influence of alcohol. Drivers should be on a strict probation if arrested , such as classes for a long period of time, instead of a slap on the hand .The problem with drunk drivers is that their common sense and reaction skills are delayed, leaving them only partly conscious to focus on driving. The most common drunk drivers are those who are leaving a party or a disco. Drunk driving is illegal in every state. It is not only illegal, but unsafe to operate an automobile if you are under the influence of alcohol. When a person drinks, the alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream; various tests have been designed to measure the level of alcohol in an individual’s bloodstream, such as the breathalyzer test. In most states, if a person has a blood alcohol level greater than .10%, that person is legally presumed to be too intoxicated to safely operate an automobile. As much as drinking and driving poses a threat on its own, mixing it with other factors, such as listening to the radio, can increase the dangers one can occur on the open road.
Listening to fast music in a car may make people drive too quickly as well - increasing their risk of having an accident. Those drivers listening to up-tempo music are twice as likely to go faster or run through a red light as those who were not listening to any music at all. A thousand deaths a year are associated with speed. For instance, if a person driving a car that is not paying attention, and does not stop at a stop sign, and another driver is listening to music. May not see the driver not stop at the stop sign, and cause a terrible collision.
To solve these problems authorities cannot do very much other than trying to regulate some of these issues with laws and disciplinary actions. All of these dangers are potential accidents waiting to happen, but can be easily avoided if people are aware of the dangers these habits represent to themselves and those surrounding them. Driving while using a cell phone decreases efficiency and endangers the driver to not be fully aware of the perils on the road. Drunk drivers however endanger not only themselves, but everyone that surrounds them. New laws making the individuals pay for damages to public and private property works as a discipline to encourage awareness and reduce dangers on the road. Many times people get distracted by music and do not listen or see other driver’s signs, or they get so relaxed that their reaction time is diminished. Drivers need to be aware of being too emotional or relaxed, as their concentration, skills, and time to react are all factors that need to be sharp at all times in order to be a good driver.