Texting 1

Driving under the Textfluence

Tabitha Smith

CGD 218

David Bouvin

May 17, 2010

Driving has always had its distractions and influences that have impaired drivers

and caused accidents. Every day, 32 people in the United States die, in motor vehicle

crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 45

minutes.  But, there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from

alcohol-impaired driving. Some examples of effective measures are:

 Aggressively enforcing existing 0.08% BAC laws, minimum legal drinking age

laws, and zero tolerance laws for drivers younger than 21 years old in all states

 Promptly revoking the driver's licenses of people who drive while intoxicated

 Requiring mandatory substance abuse assessment and treatment for DWI

offenders

[ CITATION impaireddrivingcdc \l 1033 ]

Each day, more than 16 people are killed and more than 1,300 people are injured

in crashes involving a distracted driver.  Distracted driving is driving while doing another

activity that takes your attention away from driving; these activities can increase the

chance of a motor vehicle crash. Distracted driving activities include things like using a

cell phone, texting, eating, drinking, and talking with passengers. Using in-vehicle

technologies (such as GPS systems) and portable communication devices can also be

sources of distraction[ CITATION cdcdistracted \l 1033 ].

The main types of distractions are:

Visual—taking your eyes off the road;

Manual—taking your hands off the wheel

Cognitive—taking your mind off what you are doing

While any of these distractions can endanger the driver and others, texting while driving

is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction.[ CITATION

cdcdistracted \l 1033 ]

Texting while driving has become a very serious problem. In 2008, nearly 6,000

people died in crashes involving a distracted driver and more than 500,000 people were

injured. The scope of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of a fatal crash has

increased from 8 percent in 2004 to 11 percent in 2008.[ CITATION cdcdistracted \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION putitdown \l

1033 ]

My first approach is the logo of the Put it down campaign. The”put it down” campaign

has been organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation. M The key message is to

put down the distraction and pay attention while you are driving. Engaging in other

activities while driving does not allow one to have full attention on the road. One of the

most commonly recognized distractions is cell phone use. Cell phone subscriptions have

grown exponentially from 1988 through 2009. About 89 percent, or approximately 277

million of all Americans, have a cell phone, according to CTIA – The Wireless
 Texting 4

Association. For many, it is the only kind of telephone they possess. In a recent NHTSA

survey, most individuals (77 percent) reported that they talk on the phone while driving at

least some of the time.[ CITATION putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ]

Drivers honestly do not realize the dangers that are posed when they take their

eyes and minds off the road and their hands off the wheel and focus on activities other

than driving.[ CITATION putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ] Drivers need to become more

responsible and realize the dangers they are not only posing on themselves but onto

others as well. Unlike impaired driving, driving while distracted is harder to be regulated

and proven.[ CITATION putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ]

Our youth drivers are at the biggest risk of driving while texting and causing a

traffic accident injury or even worse a death. Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20

years old have the highest capacity of distraction-related fatal crashes. Their lack of

driving experience can contribute to critical misjudgments if they become distracted. Not

surprisingly, they text more than any other age group and the numbers of young drivers

who text is only increasing. Parents can set a good example by also not texting while

driving.[ CITATION putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ]

“Put It Down” is a broad, public-private partnership of community and health

groups, safety advocates, businesses, law enforcement, legislators, public officials,

concerned citizens and those who have lost loved ones because of a distracted driver.

These partners realize that eliminating distractions while driving will save lives and

reduce costs associated with crashes caused by distracted drivers. And because everyone

is potentially affected when drivers are distracted, everyone must be part of the solution.

[ CITATION putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ]

History has also shown for other issues like seat belt use, that when high visibility

enforcement programs were implemented to enforce state laws, numbers of seat belt

users increased dramatically. With a proven track record of success, we are confident that

this strategy will have the same effect on distracted drivers.[ CITATION

putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ]
 Texting 6

[ CITATION statimage \l 1033 ]

My second approach is poster of a few statistics. I choose this poster because I

felt it was very informative. It is also interesting that driving while under the influence of

alcohol and driving while talking on the cell phone are both 4 times more likely to cause

an accident. While “texting while driving” you are 8 times more likely to cause an

accident.[ CITATION statimage \l 1033 ]

The second element to the poster is the age breakdown. As you will see,

the largest age group texting while driving is 16-19 year olds. It gradually decreases to

the age of 34. The overall age bracket of distracted drivers due to texting is 16-34. As

you can see this is not a small group of the American population and because of these

numbers legislation has a lot of work ahead of them. We need to target this age bracket

and make them aware of the danger they put themselves and others in when they distract

themselves texting while driving.[ CITATION statimage \l 1033 ]

The third element to this poster is the map of the United States showing the laws

by state banning texting while driving. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have

laws banning text messaging for all drivers. Another 8 states ban text messaging by

novice drivers and 1 state has a text messaging ban on novice and school bus drivers.

Twenty-two states do not have any laws prohibiting text messaging.[ CITATION

statimage \l 1033 ] I have found some updated statistics. In early 2010, 21 States have

enacted graduated drivers licensing (GDL) laws. As of May 13, 2010, six States, the

District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands ban hand- held cell phone use for all drivers,

and 25 States, the District of Columbia and Guam ban texting by all drivers.[ CITATION
 Texting 7

putitdownkeymess \l 1033 ] As you can see even with updated statistics we do not have

many states enforcing laws to help get texting while driving under control and save lives.

[ CITATION

PSAVideo \l 1033 ]

My third approach is a YouTube video. The video starts out with three teenagers

in a car and the driver of the car is texting and as she is looking for who she wants to send

the message to and veers out of her lane and hits an oncoming car and starts a series of

collisions. The video was originally supposed to be a trailer for a 30 minute film called

COW. Tredegar Comprehensive School and Gwent Police (Gwent is located in south-

east Wales, UK) present a half hour drama entitled 'COW' --The film that will stop you

from texting and driving," It is all about Cassie COWan a nice girl from a Gwent valleys

family who kills four people on the road because she used her mobile and lost her

concentration for a few seconds.[ CITATION PSAVideo \l 1033 ]

Seeing a scenario, like the one Cassie goes through, played out right before your

eyes makes you realize how extremely dangerous it can be and what devastating
 Texting 8

consequences it can have.I hope that after watching this film motorists will think twice

before picking up their mobile phone when behind the wheel and realize that a quick

reply to a text message or answering a phone call is never worth putting theirs and other

people’s lives at risk.[ CITATION PSAVideo \l 1033 ]

I believe my third approach will be my most effective approach. When people

can see the real effects of their actions they tend to really think about the consequences.

We need to get more Public Service Announcements out to the public like the one I have

shown in this paper. The public needs to see the truth to make a change.
 Texting 9

Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from blogs.wsj.com: http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-

seat/2010/05/07/texting-while-driving-medical-groups-speak-out/

(n.d.). Retrieved from www.infographicsshowcase.com:

www.infographicsshowcase.com/driving-while-texting-infographic/

(n.d.). Retrieved from www.youtube.com: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

(n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from www.cdc.gov:

www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html

(n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from www.cdc.gov:

http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Distracted_Driving/index.html

(n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from www.distraction.gov: www.distraction.gov/campaign-

tools/

(n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from www.distraction.gov: www.distraction.gov/files/get-

involved/General/DD_MK_Key_Message.pdf