Distracted Drivers by Martha Lugo

INTRO

          It is important to drive safe. The responsibility of drivers is to make sure to get safe to whatever place they go. On the road and in cars, we can find a lot distractions, and those distractions are temptations for our hands and eyes.  Not only distractions cause accidents, a health problem is also a risk of driving. Distracted driving can cause the death of the driver, passengers, walkers on the streets, etc... The most deaths on the road by distractions are caused by teenagers and elderly people. Driving is not fun; driving is a responsibility. When we drive, our life is in our hands and eyes; we need to keep our hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road. While driving, we can see cars weaving from one side to the other, or go too slow too fast, and they even disregard signs on the street.

HISTORY

              In Texas, the deadliest accidents are caused by distracted drivers. The use of cellphones while driving is the highest distraction and the cause of accidents, “In 2012, there were 90,378 traffic crashes in Texas” and “this crashes resulted in 18,468 injuries and 453 deaths” (“Distractive Driving Key Messages”).  The phenomenon of driving distracted has been on the road as long as we started driving. The distractions have developed over the past the years. In 1950, cup holders appeared in cars. In 1983, a Dodge Caravan was made with a cup holder and food holder, in which Americans feel more accommodated while driving because they can eat, drink, and drive at the same time (1).

“By the end of 1994, The New York Times reported that you could buy your very own GPS-equipped car Oldsmobile…”, and people were thinking this is a great tool for people to not get lost, but it is also a distraction for the driver (Fruhlinger). Now, distractions for drivers are everywhere; some examples are: GPS, DVD players, plugs for cigarettes, and cellphones, etc…

  

SOCIAL EFFECTS

The social effects while driving varies, depending on the age of the person who is driving, the weather, the entertainments inside of the car, and road the driver is on. Teenagers are the most causes of accidents that results in deaths. These young people are more susceptible to distractions, specifically electronic devices, because they think they can drive and text or answer phone calls at the same time. These issues are affecting our community in different ways. They can cause the death of children riding bikes because they are driving distracted, and that will affect that family members of the victim, and the teenager life and family’s lives, will have been affected too, because he/she will go to jail.

 One real example of death while driving distracted is the one recently happened this March, 2017. Three teenagers from Houston, Texas, were killed in a crash by a distracted driver. These three teenagers went to South Padre Island for spring break. On their way back, the driver was checking her GPS, and she get into the wrong lane hitting the oncoming 18-wheeler, authorities told KHOU-TV. Brianna Robinson, 19, her sister Jade Robinson, 17, and Brittanie Johnson, 18, died after the 2 p.m. collision near Corpus Christi on U.S. 77 (Salinger).  The fourth passenger, Shelby Coleman, 18, was critically injured but stable, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (1).

          Another example of accidents that involve several distractions is the one where Princess Diana lost her life. This accident had a huge impact all over the world. The driver was drunk and trying to avoid the paparazzi in bad weather on a dark night. He hit the bridge and that was a fatal accident for all of them (Brown et al).

These are examples of distractions while driving:

·         Falling sleep              

·         Driving someone else's car            

·         Few years driving experience                 

·         High speed                                    

·         Putting seat belt on

·         Something unusual in the back of the car/truck        

·         Anxiety

·         Distress                      

·          Anger for something or with someone

·         Rushing to home/work       

·         Babies crying on the back of the car/truck

·         Kids fighting on the back of the car/truck       

·         Loud music

·         Poor vision                  

·         Rainy weather/foggy                    

·         Flashing signs

·         Talking on the cell phone /texting           

·         Fighting with the passengers

The ten highest distractions causing accidents while driving are:

·         Using or reaching a cell phone

·         Adjusting audio or climate controls

·         Looking others people car

·         Others occupants talking/fighting with the driver

·         Driving with anger for something or with someone

·          Eating/ drinking

·         Putting makeup on

·         Dressing their self’s

·         High speed

·         Bad weather (Benton)

      People think they can multitask while driving. They don’t realize they can hurt someone: “An estimated 9% of all persons who drive during the day do so while dialing or talking on a cell phone or sending or receiving text messages” (Benton). Unfortunately, the use of cell phones becomes the highest risk of accidents while driving; this device is necessary in our daily life, but it could be the end of our life if we use them in inappropriate times or places.

SOLUTIONS

              A safety app for android cellphones called CarSafe, is offered to the public:

This app contains a detector, in which alert the driver when he/she dangerous driving conditions and behavior. It uses computer vision and machine learning algorithms on the phone to monitor and detect whether the driver is tired or distracted using the front-facing camera while at the same time tracking road conditions (e.g., drowsy driving) (e.g., tailgating) and "blind spots” only found in expensive top-end cars. (Taipei, Taiwan)

                Another solution could be to take a safe driver course. These courses teach how to be a better and safe driver, but not only that they also reduce the risk of accidents and avoid tickets.

 Another solution could be to make cellphones stop working while cars are in movement, and alcohol detector inside of a car. The first solution it may not work because the Carsafe app is only found in expensive cars.  Accidents won’t happen only in rich people; poor people have accidents, too. A safe driver course is the best solution for people because that is for everyone; it makes people think better while driving. New drivers should take a course before they start driving.

CAMUS AND ABSURDITY

Camus would think about the distracted drivers and decide it is absurd for him because when people drive they should know what they are doing. This topic is important to talk about; it makes us realize how small distractions can cause huge impacts for us and our family members, and our society will be affected too if one of this distractions cause a fatal accident. While driving, we should avoid distractions in our cars and on the road. Sometimes is impossible to avoid such a distraction, such as listening to music, texting, or eating while driving.

CONCLUSION

              Driving is not fun; driving is a responsibility. It is important to know how to drive safe in order to save our lives and others on the road. The responsibility of drivers is to get safe to the places where they go. In order to drive safe, people need to get enough sleep and rest. On the road and in cars, we can find a lot distraction and temptations for our hands and eyes. Not only distractions cause accidents, health problems are also a risk of driving. The most deaths on the road by distractions are caused by teenagers and elderly people. When we drive, our life is in our hands and eyes; we need to keep our hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road.

Work Cited  Alerting Drowsy and Distracted Drivers Using Dual Cameras on Smartphones.” CarSafe App, ACM, dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2465428. Brown, William J., et al. “Social Influence of an International Celebrity: Responses to the Death of Princess Diana.” Journal of Communication, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 10 Jan. 2006, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02912.x/full. Distracted Driving and Risk of Road Crashes among Novice and Experienced Drivers — NEJM.” New England Journal of Medicine, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1204142#t=articlehttp://. Fruhlinger, Josh. “A Brief History of Distracted Driving.” ITworld, ITworld, 2 Dec. 2013, www.itworld.com/article/2822874/mobile/130453-A-brief-history-of-distracted-driving.html “Http://Www.jstor.org/Stable/185719?Seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Malinowski.” Pastebin, pastebin.com/af2QHpfg.  Lynberg, Matthew. “Risky Driving.” NHTSA, 26 Jan. 2017, www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving. Salinger, Tobias. “Three Houston Teens Killed in Distracted Driving Crash.” NY Daily News, 21 Mar. 2016, www.nydailynews.com/news/national/houston-teens-killed-distracted-driving-crash-article-1.2572373. “TEXAS TRANSPORTATION BY THE NUMBERS: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility.” July 2014, pp. 1–23., doi:http://www.tripnet.org/docs/TX_Transportation_by_the_Numbers_TRIP_Report_July_2014.pdf.