Driving with a Distraction

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As if driving with distraction wasn't dangerous enough, put a teenager with a cell phone behind the wheel and it gets much worse. Vehicle crashes are one of the top causes of death for 15-20 year olds (Thomas, 2009). Emma Vieira, 19, of Colchester, Vermont, left a woman in a coma and killed a dog as a result of an accident back in August of 2011. Vieira was texting at the time of the accident. About 6,000 deaths are caused by distracted drivers every year (Merchant, 2012). Many people, novice teen drivers and older experienced drivers alike, do not take the law of no texting while driving serious enough. Texting while driving should be avoided at all cost because it takes a drivers attention off of the road, it is dangerous to the public, and it can result in life changing consequences.

Drivers often perform non-driving activities that divert their attention from driving. This could be from conversing with a passenger, dialing or hanging up a cell phone, or having a phone conversation (Singh, 2010). When drivers are busy reading, drafting, or sending a text message they are not fully paying attention to their surroundings. Texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road (Thomas, 2009). Anything, at any time could happen and it could easily happen in the few seconds drivers eyes are on their phone instead of the road.

Teens tend to be the group with the most risky driving habits (Thomas, 2009). Emma Vieira of Colchester, Vermont, happened to be one of many teens to text while driving. She turned her attention from the road to her phone for only a few seconds and in that time she hit a woman and her dog. At 30 mph, Vieira had about five seconds to see and avoid Drewniak but failed to see the woman even as she hit her (Ryan, 2012).

Texting and a lack of attention caused Vieira to endanger another person's life. A Melbourne Monash University study found that young drivers who text take their eyes off the road four times more than other drivers and would veer out of their lane 63 percent more frequently (Thomas, 2009). Looking down from the road for a second seems harmless but not when driving involves full attention. 46 percent of teens say they text message while driving (Thomas, 2009). That is 46 or 51 percent of the teen drivers on the road that are not directing their attention to the road, causing dangers to not just themselves and others, but also leaving them briefly out of control of their vehicle.