Increased use of Mobile while Driving can have Deadly Consequences
Distracted driving has long been a societal issue to some extent, but the increase of cellphones has taken distracted driving to new heights.
By definition, distracted driving is any activity that pulls a driver's attention from the road, and includes using a mobile device, eating, drinking, putting on makeup, shaving, brushing hair, reading, GPS use, or even playing with the car's radio or music player.
Mobile use, however, has become one of the more serious distractions. With the heavy use of texting, and now with smartphones rapidly replacing computers with users constantly checking Facebook, Twitter or other feeds, the use of mobile devices and driving has created some serious problems.
This week the devastating effects of texting and driving was highlighted in the media as a family told their tragic story.
On April 3, 2013, Alexander Heit, 22, was texting and driving and while distracted, he drifted into oncoming traffic. His car veered off the road and rolled over; he died shortly after the crash occurred.
The text that distracted his attention from the road said:
"Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw-"
According toKKTV News, Heit's grief-stricken family shared this story to serve as a "wakeup call" to people continuing to ignore the warnings of texting and driving.
TheU.S. Government Website for Distracted Drivingstates that because texting requires visual, manual and cognitive attention, engaging in texting takes away too much of the driver's attention.
Emailing, checking social media feeds and surfing the web also use the same brain functions. Sadly, many people mistakenly feel they can text and drive at the same time. Many of these messages are not urgent and nothing that couldn't have waited until a safer time to send.
KKTV news reported Heit's mother released a statement through police. She said texting while driving can "tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you."
In a Northern Virginia school, a conference recently took place to educate teens about the dangers of texting and driving. The Allstate Foundation set up a driving simulator and the teens were asked to participate by "driving" and sending a text at the same time on the simulator. Most of the participants "crashed."
Amber Winkeler, a junior at Fairfax County's Centreville High School toldMyFox DC, "Teens are always texting and driving. We're basically addicted to our phones, so it doesn't matter what we're doing."
Sadly, this addiction can not only kill the driver, but any passengers or claim victims driving in other cars.
In 2011, over 3,300 people were killed due to distracted driving incidents and 387,000 people were injured. The U.S. Government's Distracted Driving website also cited a Carnegie Mellon study that found driving and using a cellphone "reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent".
