Name: Natalia Bogdanov
From: San Diego, California
Votes: 1
Deaths
brought on by car accidents have drastically increased within the
past few years. In 2016 about 40,200 people died from a car incident.
40,200 deaths is nearly unprecedented, as it has not occurred since
2007. As stated by the New York Times, “it will be the first time
since 2007 that more than 40,000 people have died in motor vehicle
accidents in a single year” (Boudette).
The issue resides in multiple factors including more drivers, more
distractions, and more traffic. I have found that the substantial
increase in distractions in today’s society, has had the most
significant effect on the increase in car crashes and deaths due to
crashes.
Educating
students on the dangers of distracted driving prior to receiving
their licence is pivotal. It is very important students realize how
serious these accidents are, and that will hopefully stop any bad
habits from forming beforehand. The problem is, most
of millennials don’t see the detriment texting and driving entails.
According to NSC, In today’s society “nearly
30% of drivers ages 21-34 said texting has no impact,” (NSC). This
belief that using our phone while driving is safe needs to be
completely discredited. This belief is responsible for so many deaths
and injuries.
With
the popularization and frequent usage of cellphones; distracted
driving has hit an all time high. Going on you’re cell phone almost
seems habitual already, and to most millenials it is. According to
Global News wire in 2017 “One
quarter of Millennials look at their phone more than 100+ times a day
versus less than one tenth of Baby Boomers. And nearly half of
Millennials look at their phone more than 50 times a
day,”(GlobalNewsWire). The likelihood of the population in the US
checking their phones while driving has proven to increase. USC
Annenberg conducted a study and found that “millennials
were the biggest offenders when it came to texting or emailing while
driving always or often with 17 percent compared to 4 percent of
non-millennials,”(Anneberg).
Personally, I have seen most of my friends, ages 16-20, use their
phones regularly while in traffic. Pretty much all of them I have
seen check social media or answer texts at least a handle full of
times. Most of the distracted driving is even uploaded to their
social media accounts.
It’s
proven that as the years pass more and more accidents on the road
occur from distracted driving as cell phone usage increases as well.
To combat this we as a society need to first, not use our cellphones
while driving and opt for hands free. Second, we should spread the
word and educate millennials about the dangers of distracted driving.
If we don’t discredit this belief that driving while texting is safe,
many more victims will be harmed, injured, and deceased.
Works
Cited
Boudette,
Neal E. “U.S. Traffic Deaths Rise for a Second Straight Year.”
The
New York Times,
The New York Times, 15 Feb. 2017,
www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/business/highway-traffic-safety.html.
“Findings
from USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future Show Differences in
Opinions vs. Behavior about Distracted Driving.” USC
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism,
annenberg.usc.edu/news/2014-2015-school-year/year-review/findings-usc-annenberg-center-digital-future-show-differences.
GmbH,
B2X Care Solutions. “Smartphone Obsession Grows with 25% of
Millennials Spending More Than 5 Hours Per Day on the Phone.”
GlobeNewswire
News Room,
“GlobeNewswire”, 18 May 2017,
globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/05/18/987607/0/en/Smartphone-Obsession-Grows-with-25-of-Millennials-Spending-More-Than-5-Hours-Per-Day-on-the-Phone.html.
“On
The Road.” Distracted
Driving,
www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/distracted-driving/research.
