TEXTING & DRIVIN (Jawad R.)

Mini-Bio:

The year was 2009, a car fanatic 16 year old senior just started to experience driving around town. Though he only had a learners permit at the time. He had felt a temporary rush he was looking for through speeding which clearly was not enough for him . As the years went by he began to look for his first car . As he was endlessly searching and scrolling through choices he saw on car websites he was in awe looking and doing research on his so called "perfect first car"; and by perfect, it had to have an alarm system which included a panic button , a sunroof, and a cruise-control. The search took two years for his perfect first car . When he found his ideal first car, it was an eternal blue pearl colored Honda Civic coupe, and since it was the top of the line model from its time (2001), It had more gadgets than he had imagined. On top of what he had imagined what his first car should look like, it had accessories such as a coat hanger, cruise control and an engine that was racing derived otherwise known as VTEC which stands for Variable Timing Electronic Camshaft.The person who was in search of a thrill since 2009 was I. It was not until literally 3 days before Christmas (in 2011 I think), around 7:30 in the evening I got pulled over by a local Sheriff officer for doing merely 80 in a 35 zone while texting on a hilly curb going upward Rancho Palos Verdes, I immediately threw my phone somewhere around the car. After he pulled me over at that very moment, he then approached my car. As I was very scared and fidgeting like the world was going to end. He started asking me questions like why was I speeding why do I have a toy underneath my bumper checked underneath my hood, looking for evidence to get be busted with, and asked me that was I street-racing (all because the color of my car and make and model of the car and especially for that bumper toy I had hanging below the car) .While thanking god that the officer did not pull me over for using my cellphone while driving he cited me for speeding, I took home a ticket that later turned out to be at 480 dollars; Considering this was my first offense , traveling uphills on a curb in exxess speed of 80 MPH in a 35 zone; and because this was considered to be reckless driving, and also because of my age ( I was 19 at the time), I was not even eligible for traffic school. In which case however, I still have only partially learned my lesson. Around this time the year of 2012 or 2013 I learned a huge lesson. The take home lesson I took with me was to not to ever text and drive. When the accident happened, I had a fender-bender with an old Jeep Grand Cherokee, and at that very moment it had given me an epiphany that never to text and drive at the same time as long as I live.

MAIN:      

 I have decided to focus on the issue of texting and driving.Texting while driving has made a huge impact on me especially since after the accident (fender-bender) I had endured with the Grand Cherokee. I am aware of people when they are texting and driving by either when the phone is on the same level as their steering wheel , or they look down ( what I used to do ) and affected me in a way that I vowed myself never to do it again. As years go by , I am being much more aware on how to look out for drivers who are texting and not paying attention to the road infront. Even though texting and driving is a norm within the society , it is something that can very much get us killed. Texting and driving is becoming an epidemic issue to the point that both Dr. Wilson and Dr. Stimpson stated in the article that the dramatic rise in texting volume since 2005 appeared to be contributing to an alarming rise in distracted driving fatalities. There was one time when I was in the middle of the road making a left turn in the middle of Vernon nearby Downtown, and what I experienced was a mere too close a call. When the car was approaching in a speedy manner ,he was facing me then in a blink of an eye he had swerved to the other lane. To proove a point , dire consequences can take place when one is not paying attention to the road ,or how are they are driving while they are texting.
What happens when you text and drive or not paying attention to the road, or even texting while driving? One can imagine what consequences can be endured. During the time I was texting, my attention span was within the vicinity of my car and the car infront of me. So when I saw a green light ( which was not my green light but the left arrow green light ) I just went for gas pedal while still glued to my phone. When a person is texting while driving , their attention span becomes shortened and have bad judgements. Because of incidents like these happen ever so often with younger generations that a test was conducted by Emily Gilklichand his colleagues had proven that indeed the Scores were significantly correlated to self-reported 12-month accident rate, and inversely correlated with age, with 18–24 year old drivers having the highest rates of cell-phone related distraction. This is where texting and driving becomes a problem.

not drunk driving (my topic) but an incident like this could happen If one was to text and drive. 

Texting and driving becomes a problem when a person is constantly on their iPhones glued to the screen even when they are driving around town, not paying attention to what is happening in front of the road. texting and driving became an issue when smartphones came about.These drivers are used to texting and driving that even when a research was conducted by Drews and colleagues using a simulator that   Moreover, text-messaging drivers were involved in more crashes than drivers not engaged in text messaging.(Drews. et. al). When it to driving ,the drivers feel like it will be the end of the world if they do not answer their phones , whether through text , checking Facebook statuses , tweets and instagram. It is a problem that can be decreased or resolved by being on the lookout as there are ways to prevent usage of cellphones or related device when driving an automobile.

" Even though texting and driving is a norm , it is definitely not safe and it is something that is taken on a very serious level"-- Martha Gutierrez

"Now that most people have smartphones, people have become more dependent on their phone. It can be easy access while texting and driving, and thats a problem that can be as dangerous as drunk driving" ---Zach Powell

There are ways we can help prevent and/or decrease distracted driving. Over the course of few years, Legislation limiting drivers' cell phone use has had little impact, possibly due to low regulation and enforcement. Behaviour change programmes, improved vehicle safety, and public awareness campaigns have been developed as potential preventive efforts to reduce accidents caused by distracted drivers.(Overton et. al). Sometimes showing clips of videos demonstrating how driving while texting impedes performance behind the wheel of a car.

Works Cited
Drews, F. A., Yazdani, H., Godfrey, C. N., Cooper, J. M., & Strayer, D. 

L. (2009). Text Messaging During Simulated  Driving. Human Factors: 

The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 51(5), 762-770.

Gliklich, E., Guo, R., & Bergmark, R. W. (2016). Texting while

driving: A study of 1211 U.S. adults with the Distracted Driving Survey. Preventive Medicine Reports, 4, 486-489.

Wilson, F. A., & Stimpson, J. P. (2010). Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States, 1999 to 2008. American Journal of Public Health, 100(11), 2213-2219.

Overton, T. L., Rives, T. E., Hecht, C., Shafi, S., & Gandhi, R. R. 

(2014).Distracted driving: prevalence, problems, and prevention. 

International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 22(3), 

187-192.