MIS IN ACTION
1. Many people at state and local levels are calling for a federal law against
texting while driving. Use a search engine to explore what steps the federal
government has taken to discourage texting while driving.
Government
Action
The
Department of Transportation is taking steps to address this national epidemic.
The plan includes education, funding, technology and legal measures designed to
discourage distracted driving.
First
an important step is teaching teenagers that texting while driving is
dangerous. Second, the DOT is also providing funding to states to step up
police enforcement of state-wide bans and launch public awareness campaigns. At
least 39 states, including Massachusetts, have passed anti-texting laws or
comprehensive bans on cellphone use while driving.
Third
the DOT is also calling for legislation to require automakers to include
dashboard technologies that prevent distracted driving, while encouraging
manufacturers to voluntarily install such technology. Further, the agency has
pressed congress to pass a nationwide ban on cellphone use behind the wheel.
Unfortunately,
many drivers continue to use cell phones while sharing the road with other
drivers, passengers and bystanders. Victims of distracted driving accidents may
suffer from permanent disability and the loss of earning capacity for
themselves and their families. If a distracted driver caused you injury,
contact a personal injury attorney to discuss your legal rights.
2. Most people are not aware of the
widespread impact of texting while driving across the United States. Do a
search on “texting while driving.” Examine all the search results for the first
two pages. Enter the information into a two-column table. In the left column
put the locality of the report and year. In the right column give a brief
description of the search result, e.g., accident, report, court judgment, etc.
What can you conclude
Location
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Report Texting while Driving
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2012 Texting Pedestrian Study
Researchers
from the University of Washington monitored 20 of Seattle’s busiest
intersections and observed
|
·
Pedestrians who text are four times
less likely to look before crossing the street, cross in crosswalks, or obey
traffic signals.
- They
also found that texting pedestrians take an average of two seconds
longer to cross the street.
|
2011
Distracted Driving Statistics
Most adults who drive admit to engaging in
distracted driving behaviors, according to a HealthDay poll from November
10-14, 2011. More than 2,800 American adults responded to the poll.
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- Approximately
86% of drivers said they ate or drank while driving at some point, and
57% said they do it “sometimes” or “often.”
- Over
1/3 of drivers (37%) have sent or received text messages while driving,
and 18% said they do it regularly.
- Forty-one
percent of adult drivers have set or changed a GPS system while driving,
and 21% do it “more frequently.”
- Many
adult drivers (36%) have read a map while driving, and 10% do it
“sometimes” or “often.”
- One
in five drivers have combed or styled his or her hair while driving. One
in ten does it regularly.
- Have
you ever seen a driver putting on makeup? Approximately 14% have done it
once, and 7% do it frequently.
- About
13% of adult drivers have surfed the Internet while driving.
- Results
of the poll showed that younger drivers were more likely to engage in
distracted driving. Men were more likely to drive while drowsy, drive
after drinking, read a map, use a GPS system, and use the Internet.
- A
large percentage of the people said they know distracted driving is
dangerous, but do it anyway.
|
Driver
Electronic Use in 2010
|
- According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, the percentage of drivers who were using a cell
phone (texting or manipulating it in some way) increased to 0.9% in
2010.
- The percentage of drivers using a cell phone
while holding it to their ears was 5% in 2010
- The level of hand-held cell phone use was
higher among female drivers than it was for male drivers.
- Younger drivers ages 16 to 24 were more likely
to use a hand-held cell phone.
- More than three-quarters reported that they
were likely to answer calls on all, most, or some trips while driving.
They also said that they rarely consider traffic situations when
deciding to use their cell phones.
- There were 3,092 deaths in distraction-related
accidents in 2010, but the number is likely much higher.
- Most drivers said they are willing to answer a
call or text while driving, but most of these same drivers said they
would feel unsafe as a passenger in a car where the driver was sending
or receiving text messages.
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Texting
While Driving Statistics
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- About
6,000 deaths and a half a million injuries are caused by distracted
drivers every year.
- While
teenagers are texting, they spend about 10 percent of the time outside
the driving lane they’re supposed to be in.
- Talking
on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as
slow as that of a 70-year-old.
- Answering
a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. That is enough
time to travel the length of a football field.
|
2009
Cell Phone and Distracted Driving Statistics
|
- In
2009, 5,474 people were killed in the U.S. because of accidents that
involved distracted driving. Another 448,000 were injured.
- Of
the 5,474 killed because of distracted driving, 995 involved reports of
a cell phone as a factor. However, the number of fatalities caused by
cell phone use could be much higher. For those who were injured, 24,000
involved reports of cell phone use as a distraction.
- The
under-20 age group had the highest percentage of distracted drivers; 16%
of drivers under 20 years old involved in fatal crashes were distracted
while driving.
- The
30- to 39-year-old age group had the highest percentage of cell phone
use in fatal crashes.
- More
people are driving while distracted when they are involved in fatal
crashes. The percentage of fatalities associated with distracted drivers
increased from 10% in 2005 to 16% in 2009.
- In
2009, 867 fatal crashes were reported to have involved cell phones as a
means for driver distraction (18% of all fatal distracted-driving
crashes).
- People
driving light trucks and motorcyclists had the highest percentage of
total drivers reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes (12%
each).
- A
teen driver riding with one other passenger doubles the risk of being
involved in a fatal car crash. With two or more passengers, the risk
increases to five times as likely.
- Research
reveals that 46% of drivers under 18 admit to texting while driving.
Driver distraction is a factor in 25- to 50% of all car accidents, with
61% of teen drivers admitting to risky driving habits.
- In
2009, the South had the highest percentage of cell phone use while
driving at 6%. The Northeast came in at 4%.
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Pennsylvania
Cell Phone Car Crash Stats
In Pennsylvania, although there are no
laws regarding talking on the cell or sending text messages while
driving, there are emerging statistics that show the connection between cell
phone use and car wrecks.
|
- There
were 23,059 crashes involving 16- to 19-year-olds in 2008, resulting in
194 deaths. Driver distraction contributed to about 10% of them, but the
number could be much higher.
- In
Pennsylvania, there were 1,298 cell phone related accidents in 2008. Of
those accidents, 9 resulted in death.
- From
2003 to 2006, car accidents from cell phone use lead to 50
deaths across the state of Pennsylvania.
- Cell
phone-related car accidents shot up 43 percent in western Pennsylvania
from 2003 to 2006.
- A
normal, undistracted driver fails to notice an important road event
(like another driver mistake) 3% of the time. An adult dialing a cell
phone misses that event 13% of the time, and a teenager dialing a cell
phone misses it 53% of the time.
- According
to PennDOT, from 2002 to 2006 there were 5,715 car accidents linked to
the use of hand-held cell phones in PA.
- PennDOT
also reports 367 accidents in the same time period involving hands free
cell phones or Bluetooth communication devices.
- In
2004 alone, hand-held cell phone use contributed to over 1,170
Pennsylvania car crashes.
- Accidents
involving talking or texting on a cell phone rose from 168 in 2003 to
228 in 2005 in the Western Pennsylvania region. That’s a 36 percent
increase in over two years.
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From table search result above can be
conclude that now human most depend on technology like phone, and become
addicted where-ever they should use the phone even while driving,or walk.
Texting while driving is a growing trend, and a national
epidemic, quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume
they can handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers don’t
lie.
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