The Issue:
Cell Phones and Driving
The issue of cell phones and driving affect drivers of all ages. Teens, however, seem to be injured more often and have a higher percentage of teen car crashes that are the results of talking on their cell phone or texting and driving.
Statistics
"In 2009, 11 percent of the people who died in distracted driving crashes were 15 to 19 years old. Out of all the teens who died in crashes in 2009, 18 percent died in crashes that involved distracted driving. Fifteen percent of teen drivers who were involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the crash."
16 year olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
Organizations trying to solve this problem
In Fort Myers, Florida two organizations, Stay Alive… Just Drive!, Inc. and Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition are going forces to help reduce the percentage of teen crashes. They are coming together to create a guide to help parents coach their teen to become safe drivers using the proven principals of GDL.
Another Organization working to solve this problem Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Center (CDC) works to prevent teen crashes and other related deaths and injuries They give you steps to help keep your teen safe.
-Make your teen's supervised driving period longer.
-Help your teen develop the skills they need and spend as much time as you can by providing supervised practice driving hours.
Part 2 - Solutions for the Issue
Something else that should be done to help solve or curb the problem. One of my own ideas is to start talking with my friends who drive and get together and start a group at school about driving safely and etc. We don't have anything like this at my school. I' sure that all teachers and administration would agree with having a club and support it. It would be a good thing to have in school since so many teenagers drive themselves to school nowadays.
What can I personally do to make more people aware of the issue? I can personally make people aware of the issue of teen crashes by getting my friends together and letting them know of the dangers. We can make sure that we follow the driving laws and make students aware of the consequences that come when you have a crash. I could also give out tips on how to drive safely.
Websites used
1. http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/stay-alive-just-drive/2012/mar/13/traffic/
2. http://www.cdc.gov/features/teendrivers/
3. http://www.teendriversource.org/stats/researcher/detail/57
4. http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/newdriver/saveteens/append_c.html
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.” The same goes for driving. The more you do it the better you get. Per mile driven teenage drivers aged 16-19 are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash due to speeding (Prevention). Teens especially 16 year olds have less experience than other drivers. Due to the lack of experience teens…
- 541 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
III. Relevance: Why should you care? This topic relates to you because ‘’it is the number one cause of crashes for people within the ages 18-25.’’ (University of Utah)…
- 554 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Despite the fact that it deadens a driver's reactions more than alcohol, and in its consequences is as destructive and devastating as drunk driving, attitudes to driving while using a hand-held mobile phone and driving under the influence could not be more different. Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped. But teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged, because distracted driving is on the rise. While over 90% of teen drivers say they don't drink and drive, nine out of 10 say they've seen passengers distracting the driver, or drivers using cell phones.…
- 1166 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Driving is a very dangerous and often hazardous thing to do. This is especially true for people ages fifteen to nineteen. There are so many crashes each year for teen drivers that it’s a miracle anyone makes it past twenty years old unharmed. In 2009 alone three hundred and fifty teens were treated for a car related accident.…
- 306 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Follow the restrictions set forth by the state concerning when a teen can and cannot drive as well as how many passengers may be in the vehicle while the teen is driving.…
- 341 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
How would you like being in a car driving then all of sudden you get in a crash and die. 4,of 5 teenagers aged 13 to 19 died in auto accidents,6,000 of those 4,000 are the results of distracted driving. Being a safe driver is important because it impacts the individual and the community.…
- 613 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Did you know that 20% of crashes involve teen drivers? Well, they do and something needs to be done about it. A couple of suggested ideas are that the driving age should be changed to 18, or to have graduated licenses (GDL’s). Instead of waiting until teenagers turn 18, it would be better to have GDL’s so that they have more driving experience, they would have a shorter waiting period than waiting until they are 18, and there would be more checkpoints to see how capable they are to drive. These are all reasons there should be GDL’s.…
- 527 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Teens are the ones who are mostly in crashes due to recklessness, drugs, being on the phone, under the influence, and road rage.…
- 393 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In 2007, the latest year for which data are available, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death among 13-19 year-old males and females in the United States. A total of 3,466 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. This is 60 percent fewer than in 1975 and 15 percent fewer than in 2008. Thirty-three percent of deaths among 13-19-year-olds occurred in motor vehicle crashes, 39 percent among females and 31 percent among males. 16-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age. The crash rate per mile driven is twice as high for 16-year-olds as it is for 18- and 19-year-olds. About 2 out of every 3 teenagers killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2009 were males. Sixty percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2009 occurred in vehicles driven by another teenager. Among deaths of passengers of all ages, 18 percent occurred when a teenager was driving. Statistics show that 16- and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger. Eighty-three percent of teenage motor vehicle crash deaths in 2009 were passenger vehicle occupants. The others were pedestrians (7 percent), motorcyclists (4 percent), bicyclists (2 percent), riders of all-terrain vehicles (2 percent), and people in other kinds of vehicles (2 percent). Fifty-five percent of motor vehicle crash deaths among teenagers in 2009 occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. In states with GDL programs that include at least five of the most important elements, there was a 20% reduction in fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers. In 2006 (latest data available) crashes involving 15- to 17-year-olds cost more than $34 billion nationwide in medical…
- 666 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
One of the major things teens do while driving is having a lack of attentiveness. whether it is changing the radio station or thinking about something else other than driving, it is very dangerous. Teenagers have an attention span of about five minutes, even with the most healthiest teens they can not focus one one thing for more than twenty minutes. Inattentiveness can lead to a change in vehicle procedure, such as an increase of speed and potentially speeding through a stop sign or traffic light causing an accident. With speeding it can cause the teen to follow too close to the driver in front of them. If the driver has to brake quickly or is slowing down to make a turn the teen will not have enough time to brake, and they will rear-end the driver.…
- 480 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
1. The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group. 16% of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving…
- 675 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In the article, “Teen Driving,” it is stated that “A disproportionate number of teens die in motor-vehicle accidents each year, although they make up just under 7% of Americans who drive, teens account for 14% of all driving fatalities.” (pg.1). Teen driving has become a dangerous issue among adolescents and young adults in the recent years. In which, the youngest drivers are dying more frequently than ever before. Also in the article, “Teen Driving,” it is asserted by many traffic-safety advocates that “even in states with graduated licensing programs, young people are getting their licenses without proper preparation” (pg.4). In which, many states are allowing young people to take the roads too early, even way before they have received sufficient instruction and practice. As a result to this, young drivers endanger not only themselves but others as well too. It is recognized by researches that most adolescents’ driving behavior depends on who is in the car with them, the distractions they do while driving, and ignoring the dangers they expose to.…
- 811 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
But the truth is anyone at any age can get in accidents. Driving can be dangerous for anybody not just teens. 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. More than 98% of adults admit they know it's wrong. "Texting while driving is not just a teen problem," says John Ulczycki of the National Safety Council. "Teens text. But you're looking at around 10 million teen drivers, but about 180 million other adult drivers." The AT&T survey follows a study this month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found 31% of drivers in the USA reported texting or e-mailing while…
- 798 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Teenagers by the age fourteenth are able to start driving classes. When they pass the test process they get a temporary license, which allow them to start driving with an adult on their side until they make the correct age. This is sometimes not respected, and they just go out to the streets alone without following the rules. At the age sixteenth these children finally get their driver’s license. I think one solution to this problem may be to prohibit driver’s license to these children until they get older. In the driving school they should teach driving deeper and increase the time they spent on it, that way they have more time to learn more deeply about the rules of driving safely. Actually on the day of taking the practical test, instructors should make sure they…
- 700 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Teens today have been in many crashes or died because of the carelessness of themselves or others. The main reason for this is because they are not paying attention when driving and not being careful. Cell phones are major distractions when driving. A report from the University of Utah say when motorists talk on cell phones they drive like an elderly person because their reactions are slower. The quarterly journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society said that when they tested teens on a driving stimulator and talked on their cell phone, they are breaking slowly like an elderly person.…
- 637 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays