Compare And Contrast Driving And Distracted Driving
Comparing Distracted Driving and Drunk Driving
As smartphones have become more commonplace and accessible to people in recent years, distracted driving has emerged as a huge threat in our society. From arguing teens in the back seat to a child that dropped his sippy cup, there are a multitude of reasons we become distracted in our vehicles.
For decades, drunk driving was one of the primary concerns when it came to vehicle collisions on U.S. roads. Choosing to drive after having only one or two drinks can prove to be a damaging and even fatal decision as even a small amount of alcohol can slow down the functions and responsiveness of a person.
We can all agree that either of these choices would be poor, but let’s look at distracted driving …show more content…
Cognitive would mean taking a person’s mind off their driving. This can happen just by using your GPS. The manual component is more of a physical action like taking your foot off the gas or your hands off the wheel. And the visual component is self explanatory; meaning when your eyes are not on the road. Texting and driving is the most common form of distracted driving. When you text and drive, all three components are conjoined. A driver can be even more distracted depending the context or nature of the messages they are receiving. If a text is hurtful or angering, the driver may become even more distracted. On the opposite end, a text or phone call that delivers very exciting news can cause a driver to become distracted on the road. One way to see the big picture on this is to think about the fact that an average text takes five seconds to send. And if a person takes their eyes off the road for the full distance of a football field while driving 55 miles per hour, that is the same as sending the average text …show more content…
And while most states include stating you cannot text while stopped at stop signs or traffic lights, Tennessee’s law says the driver is only required to stop texting while the vehicle is in motion (TN Department of Safety and Homeland Security, n.d.). In Tennessee, if a person breaks the texting-while-driving law, it is a class C misdemeanor. The problem is that the maximum fine for texting in driving in our state is$60 and that includes court costs. One good thing is that all first-time offenders have to go through a driver education course and demerit points are added to their driving
As smartphones have become more commonplace and accessible to people in recent years, distracted driving has emerged as a huge threat in our society. From arguing teens in the back seat to a child that dropped his sippy cup, there are a multitude of reasons we become distracted in our vehicles.
For decades, drunk driving was one of the primary concerns when it came to vehicle collisions on U.S. roads. Choosing to drive after having only one or two drinks can prove to be a damaging and even fatal decision as even a small amount of alcohol can slow down the functions and responsiveness of a person.
We can all agree that either of these choices would be poor, but let’s look at distracted driving …show more content…
Cognitive would mean taking a person’s mind off their driving. This can happen just by using your GPS. The manual component is more of a physical action like taking your foot off the gas or your hands off the wheel. And the visual component is self explanatory; meaning when your eyes are not on the road. Texting and driving is the most common form of distracted driving. When you text and drive, all three components are conjoined. A driver can be even more distracted depending the context or nature of the messages they are receiving. If a text is hurtful or angering, the driver may become even more distracted. On the opposite end, a text or phone call that delivers very exciting news can cause a driver to become distracted on the road. One way to see the big picture on this is to think about the fact that an average text takes five seconds to send. And if a person takes their eyes off the road for the full distance of a football field while driving 55 miles per hour, that is the same as sending the average text …show more content…
And while most states include stating you cannot text while stopped at stop signs or traffic lights, Tennessee’s law says the driver is only required to stop texting while the vehicle is in motion (TN Department of Safety and Homeland Security, n.d.). In Tennessee, if a person breaks the texting-while-driving law, it is a class C misdemeanor. The problem is that the maximum fine for texting in driving in our state is$60 and that includes court costs. One good thing is that all first-time offenders have to go through a driver education course and demerit points are added to their driving