Distracted Driving Research Paper

Words: 1275
Pages: 6

Texting and driving, or distracted driving, is a highly prevalent and dangerous behavior involving sending or reading text messages while operating a vehicle. With the widespread use of smartphones and the potential consequences of distracted driving, addressing the issue of texting and driving has become a critical concern for public safety, prompting the need for awareness, education, and preventive measures. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2021, distracted driving was a large contributor in road accidents, leading to 3,522 fatalities and approximately 362,415 injuries (NHTA). Texting and driving should be treated as seriously as driving under the influence because it is preventable, applies to a wider demographic, is …show more content…
Habit or not, texting and driving is an action that needs to be stopped, and proper consequences can help people break away. DUI offenses are often associated with measurable blood alcohol content limits, providing law enforcement with a clear threshold for impairment. Determining the level of distraction due to texting is less straightforward, making it challenging to establish comparable legal standards. While it is currently not in use, with all of the technology available today it is possible to create a setting or device that either limits one's ability to use their phone while driving, or logs phone usage while driving accessible by law enforcement. A significant point present in the discourse on this topic is that drinking and driving causes significantly more fatalities than texting and driving. If texting and driving are so prevalent and dangerous, then why don’t the statistics represent that? As mentioned in the previous counterclaim, it is currently difficult to identify when a crash is actually caused by distracted driving or simply human error, making the number far less accurate than