Distracted Driving by Emily Dowdy

Picture yourself letting your son or daughter take your car to meet friends at the mall. Your child never texted you saying he or she got to the mall. You start to become worried and call him or her multiple times, but your child never picks up. Suddenly, you get a phone call from the police department saying, “I’m sorry, but your child has been killed in a traffic accident.” Your heart is crushed when you realize your child won’t be able to achieve all the goals and dreams her or she had. You won’t be able to attend his or her wedding or see him or her walk at graduation. This is the reality of what many parents and families go through every day. Distracted driving is now becoming very common in the type of world we live in today. Distracted driving not only takes teens lives but takes adults too. Without solving this issue, we will continue to increase the lives we lose to careless driving. Our world is so into technology and social medias that it makes society as a whole easily accessible to become a distracted driver.

Distracted driving has been around since cell phones have been invented. The amount of accidents is increasing as more advanced features on phones have been introduced. The first telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell (“Alexander Graham Bell”,1). This phone was a small pole that had a place to talk into and connected was an end to hear the other speaker (Zigterman, 1). Telephones were a breakthrough in technology. Although the telephone was not mobile and did not cause any car accidents, it created the snowball effect that leads to the problems we have today over distracted driving. Next, the phone made an upgrade in 1959, and the car phone was invented (“The First Mobile Phone?”,1). This phone was not easily accessible and was mainly only used in limousines and commercial vehicles (1). Since it was mainly in limousines and commercial vehicles, the person operating the phone was not the driver, which made it safe to use (1). Finally, the first commercial cell phone was created by Motorola in 1983 (Bellis,1). This created urge for people to own a phone that they could use anywhere, including a vehicle. At the time, the cell phone could only be used for phone calls, but a couple years after it was created, a new addition was added to the cell phones: text messaging.  By the 1990s, text messaging was introduced, but was limited due to it being new (“Let's Get Started”,1). Around 2008, texting became the preferred way to communicate (1). That is when the start of this growing problem was created. Since then, companies have created devices for our phones that make it easier for us to see and use our phones while driving. One device attaches itself with a suction cup to the windshield, so the driver can easily look at their phone hands free (Miller,1).  Many car companies have even created ways for our phones to connect to our cars, so we can just touch the screen rather than our phones. These new creative ways are meant to decrease the chances of using our phones, but only increase the driver’s distraction. The devices make us focus on making the right call or text rather than increasing our focus on the road.

Many families each year are torn apart due to distracted driving accidents. This can lead to depression and anxiety for the family members who have to go through this. Many times, these accidents involve one car hitting another car potentially killing people from two different families. This not only increases the amount of lives we lose, but the amount of broken families we have. Having someone taken away in an unexpected way is hard on families and anyone around them. It can change people and many people react in different ways. If people would learn to put down their phones down it would not only be helping themselves, but the people in their close circles too.

Distracted driving accidents do not only affect families, but also affects anyone involved in the cleanup and destruction of the accidents. There have been many times where distracted drivers run into poles, medians, and businesses or houses. This causes the state government to set aside money in order to fix the road destruction. For businesses and houses, this can disrupt someone for many months. An accident could take a family out of their house while it is being repaired. This is hard for them since it throws off their daily routine and many families have to figure out where they can stay and pay for it. Businesses that have been damaged take many weeks in order to be back to normal. This makes the business lose operating days and can take away from their profits. Customers the business has can also be disrupted since they might not go to that place for services or needs. No person is positively affected by distracted driving.

One of the most common examples of distracted driving accidents is when new young drivers get behind the wheel but refuse to put down their phone. These drivers are so connected to their phones that it increases the danger of themselves becoming a distracted driver. These drivers are found to be texting, and snapchatting while driving. According to Edgar Snyder & Associates, 11 teens die every day due to texting while driving (“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving”,1). This means there is an average of around 330 teens death per month due to texting while driving. Last October, a teen, who did not have a valid license, was texting while driving (“Minn. Teen Charged in Fatal Texting While Driving Crash.”,1). This driver was so distracted at the little phone screen that she did not realize the fast approaching intersection light had switched from green to red (1). Because of this, she ran the red light at full speed and t-boned another vehicle (1). In the other vehicle was a father and his daughter who had no chance and were fatally killed in the accident (1). This accident could have been prevented if the teen would have waited to get on her phone until she was out of the driver’s seat. Not only do teen drivers text while driving, but they also snapchat while driving too. According to Wilshire Law Firm, “Snapchatting while driving will distract you visually, physically and cognitively from the task at hand (operating the vehicle) and increase your likelihood of causing an accident” (“Snapchatting While Driving Is Dangerous.”,1). On June 17, 2017, a teen driver was snapchatting while driving, and fatally hit a bicyclist (“Prosecutors: Snapchatting Teen Killed Bicyclist.”,1). The young driver “told the trooper that she glanced down for a second and the accident "just happened”” (1). If this driver was fully focused on the road instead of looking down to check her phone, even just for a second, she would have seen the cyclist in the road, and would have been able maneuver around the person.

Another example is when “experienced” drivers feel like they have had enough experience behind the wheel in order to multitask. “Almost half of all adults admit to texting while driving in a survey by AT&T provided to USA TODAY, compared with 43% of teenagers” (Copeland,1). Although many of them have been behind the wheel longer than teens, it does not make them less prone to becoming a distracted driver. Many of these drivers are parents who have teen drivers. Some of these parents may get on to their teen drivers about using their phone while driving but refuse to put the phone down themselves while driving. This gives their teen drivers an example of what is acceptable to do behind the wheel.

Distracted driving effects more than just the victim. It effects all families involved, people who repair what the distracted driver might have hit, any business or home owner that might have been hit, and that’s just a few examples. Distracted driving, unlike what many people believe, is not only limited to texting. This includes all social medias like Snapchat and Facebook. Distracted driving is an unneeded action that can change many people’s lives forever. This is not only a problem with the young drivers, like many people think. It is more frequent with older, experienced drivers. This is a problem with any generation driving. Without stopping this epidemic, we will only increase the amount of lives we lose to something so easy to stop.

            Currently, many scientists and researchers are trying to find ways to solve distracted driving (Lewis, 1). Many have discovered how the brain works while we are distracted at the wheel (1). This has led to many discoveries and possible solutions to solve this epidemic.

            Many talented scientists and engineers have created different ways for a cell phone to become the solution to stop distracted driving (“Apps to Fight Distracted Driving”, 1). Recently, Apple launched the feature called Do Not Disturb while driving. This feature works by making “your iPhone stays silent and the screen stays dark” (“How to Use the Do Not Disturb While Driving Feature”, 1). This prevents the driver from receiving calls, texts, and social media notifications. It even has a feature that will send a preprogrammed text to some trying to text them. The driver will only get the notification if the sender sends the word urgent. The idea is for the driver to pull over if he or she receives a notification. Once turned on, the feature will continue to block these things until the driver reaches their destination. If there is a passenger with the “Do Not Disturb” feature on, it will pop up with a message for them to click on saying they are not driving. While this feature has good intentions and may work for some, the driver could easily pretend they are the passenger and click the “I’m not driving” button making the feature pointless. There also has not been any research stating if this feature has done any improvement of stopping this epidemic.

            Another way cell phones are now able to stop distracted driving is by downloading an app (“Apps to Fight Distracted Driving”, 1). There are many different apps on the Appstore that are intended to stop distracted driving, such as Overwatch, Motovate Safe Driving, and Mojo (“Distracted driving100 Results Found”, 1). Overwatch lets parents monitor their child’s actions while driving by sending a report to the parents after every drive (“Overwatch - Teen Texting and Driving Safety on the App Store”, 1). This lets parents and teens have discussions over distracted driving and why it is very important not to. Motovate Safe Driving and Mojo track what the driver does with their phone when he or she is driving (“Motovate Safe Driving on the App Store”, 1). This includes swiping, having a “hands-free” phone call, and typing (1). After each driver completes their route to their destination, each app sends the driver a list of what they did that was considered distracted driving and will give the driver a score out of 100 on their drive (1). Motovate Safe Driving lets the driver compete with their friends and family to see who can get the highest score (1). Mojo lets the driver spin a wheel to win prizes after 300 distracted free driving minutes are earned (“Mojo: Rewards for Safe Driving on the App Store”, 1). These apps are letting people win prizes just for practicing safe driving (1). This shows how hard the companies are working towards stopping this epidemic. These apps try to reiterate the idea that distracted driving is unneeded and is not a positive to do. The DMV website even has a section over distracted driving apps and why they like the idea and use of them.  The DMV believes “By incentivizing safe driving, or even directly blocking you from using your phone, distracted driving apps aim to keep your attention off of your phone and on the road” (“Apps to Fight Distracted Driving”, 1). Although these apps might work for some families, there is no clear evidence that these apps are making a huge change to the epidemic.

            Another way the government has tried to end this epidemic is by creating different laws related to the issue. Each state has different laws set in place by their state government. For example, in Texas there is a statewide ban “on using a wireless communications device for electronic messaging while operating a motor vehicle” (Texas Department of Transportation, 1). This includes the major distraction of texting. Under the state ban of wireless communication, there are stricter laws in some counties. These laws include no one under the age of eighteen can be on their cell phone at all while driving and no texting or talking in a school zone. These laws are formally enforced by police officers. They do this by spotting people who are breaking any of these laws set in place and pulling them over to give them a citation. Currently, there are not a lot of police officers patrolling every day in the same area (Libaw, 1). Meaning some days there are areas that are not monitored (1). Having unmonitored areas lets drivers off the hook if they do decide to text and drive. Another negative is that the highest citation for driving and using any wireless communication in Texas is “a fine of $25-$99 for first-time offenders, and $100-$200 for repeat offenders” (“Texting & Driving / Hands-Free Laws in Texas - A Full Overview”,1). Many people get fined, but it is not a severe punishment. If the punishment was more serious for offenders, there might not be as many repeat offenders. If the first time punishment was increased, it might scare drivers into not participating in the dangerous behavior; meaning less people using a cell phone and driving. This way of solving it with just a few revisions is the best solution for this epidemic.

            Distracted driving relates to Camus’ ideas with the idea of not valuing life. When someone texts and drives, for example, they are putting their own life at risk not to mention all of the innocent bystanders that may get hurt in a collision. Camus thinks life is not worth living and believes life is a waste if we do not see how absurd it is. Distracted driving is absurd since it is random and chaotic when there is no pattern to who gets into an accident or not, while being distracted (“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving”, 1).  For example, person A is always a distracted driver, but never gets into any accidents. On the other hand, person B pulls out their phone one time to answer a call and gets into a crash. This is the random lottery that distracted drivers place upon themselves when they use wireless communication behind the wheel.

            Distracted driving is an epidemic that can affect anyone. Because distracted driving is very random and most everyone has a wireless communication device, this creates more opportunities for any driver to become a distracted driver. With increasing the laws against wireless communication and punishments, there can be a solution to this problem. Without solving this issue, we will have more innocent lives lost to an increasing epidemic.

Works Cited

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