In today's society, technology revolves around our everyday lives. Cell phones, and handheld devices have taken over our fast paced world. Although there are some positive aspects to the growing opportunities in technology, there are still many negatives involved. One of the leading causes of death in the United States today, are car wrecks (Driving While Distracted: Statistics to know). Even though accidents appear to be out of our control, in reality, most car wrecks are caused by lack of attention to the road. To prevent anymore fatalities caused by distracted driving in the United States, cell phone usage while behind the wheel should be completely banned.
Due to the nature of the consequences distracted driving brings, a solution should be found immediately. Being on the phone while driving, also known as DWY- Driving while Yakking, can be very dangerous for a driver and the cars around them because the driver isn't completely focused on just the road (Kiesbye). Sending just a simple text or even attempting to place a call while driving poses a serious threat to the safety of our roads. Although numbers of death have decreased within time, there are still many who have been affected/injured due to a distorted driver and the safety of our roads should be top priority.
"The number of people killed in distraction-affected crashes decreased slightly from 3,360 in 2011 to 3,328 in 2012. An estimated 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, this was a nine percent increase from the estimated 387,000 people injured in 2011 (Driving While Distracted: Statistics to know)."
Furthermore, after conducting research, they have found that distracted driving is basically similar, if not worse than drunk driving.
"However, compared with baseline, when participants were intoxicated they tended to brake with greater force, whereas participants reactions were slower when they were conversing on a cell phone (Strayer, Drews, Crouch)." These studies have shown that the reaction time and awareness of road decreases greatly while on a cell phone. In fact, reaction times can decrease and be equivalent to having a .08...