Distracted While Driving
Distracted While Driving
Virtually anyone who has a driver’s license has been introduced to the idea that distracted driving causes accidents. However, the consequences of distracted driving are far more than just predictable and often taken lightly. Predictable events can be avoided. Since these are predictable events they are preventable. The choices that drivers make affect more people than they may realize, thus making them responsible for the consequences that result from those choices. On a daily basis more than 15 American deaths and another 1,200 injuries are attributed to drivers that are distracted while driving on the very roads most of us use every day (Harvard Men’s Health Watch, page 7). Distractions can be controlled at a minimum by drivers that make the choice to drive responsibly. There are three types of distractions that have been labeled as the “triple threat” to driving; Visual distraction, manual distraction, and cognitive distraction are the makeup of this triple threat (Harvard Men’s Health Watch, page 6). Paying more attention to texting than to crossing the street or driving a car portrays a visual distraction that can result in dire consequences. Texting has proven to take at least part of the driver’s visual focus away from the task of driving in order to read or send a text message (Gardner, page 1). Contents of text messages usually require the driver’s visual focus, even if for just a few seconds. The visual awareness is negatively affected when this happens because the driver is no longer watching the road and cannot react to unforeseen events in a timely manner. Elevated risks of being in an accident that involves texting while driving presents a serious public safety hazard. “This problem may become more severe as more texting teens become licensed drivers, and more adults add text messaging to their battery of cell phone communication abilities” (Gardner, page 1). The more attention that is paid to texting means
Virtually anyone who has a driver’s license has been introduced to the idea that distracted driving causes accidents. However, the consequences of distracted driving are far more than just predictable and often taken lightly. Predictable events can be avoided. Since these are predictable events they are preventable. The choices that drivers make affect more people than they may realize, thus making them responsible for the consequences that result from those choices. On a daily basis more than 15 American deaths and another 1,200 injuries are attributed to drivers that are distracted while driving on the very roads most of us use every day (Harvard Men’s Health Watch, page 7). Distractions can be controlled at a minimum by drivers that make the choice to drive responsibly. There are three types of distractions that have been labeled as the “triple threat” to driving; Visual distraction, manual distraction, and cognitive distraction are the makeup of this triple threat (Harvard Men’s Health Watch, page 6). Paying more attention to texting than to crossing the street or driving a car portrays a visual distraction that can result in dire consequences. Texting has proven to take at least part of the driver’s visual focus away from the task of driving in order to read or send a text message (Gardner, page 1). Contents of text messages usually require the driver’s visual focus, even if for just a few seconds. The visual awareness is negatively affected when this happens because the driver is no longer watching the road and cannot react to unforeseen events in a timely manner. Elevated risks of being in an accident that involves texting while driving presents a serious public safety hazard. “This problem may become more severe as more texting teens become licensed drivers, and more adults add text messaging to their battery of cell phone communication abilities” (Gardner, page 1). The more attention that is paid to texting means
References: Distracted driving: Fast lane to disaster. (May 2012). Harvard Men’s Health Watch, 16(10), 6-7. Distracted Driving Problem Extends Beyond Texting. (February 2012). Professional Safety, 57(2), 24. Gardner, L.A. (November 2010). Wat 2 do abt txt’n & drv’n (aka: What to do about the problem of texting while driving?). CPCU Ejournal, 63(11), 1-13.