Those who commonly cruise our major roadways across this great nation are abundantly aware of the potential pitfalls of texting behind the wheel. Perhaps the most vital concern of driving in this risky fashion is that if one is lucky enough to survive an accident on the road that could have been avoided their car insurance rate is going to increase. At Thehartford.com/auto-insurance car insurance is costly as is and one should always seek to keep their rate at a constant level while driving defensively and staying cognizant of the other drivers that are in front, back and on the sides of them.
While sitting in slow-moving traffic it is easy to occasionally rationalize that it’s merely no big deal to respond to some friend who just texted you about that night’s party or write a message on Facebook recognizing your cousin for their upcoming birthday. These responses must be put on hold until they can be communicated in a manner that doesn’t jeopardize your own safety and the safety of those you share the road with! Texting while driving although appearing at times to be to be trivial and a seemingly petty offense not worthy of the massive fines law enforcement are levying these days can have serious detrimental effects and could put yourself and others at severe risk. Texting and driving distracts you from the road in three unique fashions and puts you and those around you in harm’s way.
First off, it prevents you from keeping your eyes on the road. While gazing at another screen it is impossible to fully concentrate on what is going on in your proximity thus increasing your likelihood of crashing considerably. In 2011 alone almost one-quarter of all crashes involved cell phones, equating to approximately 1.3 million car accidents in total that could have been preventable. A recent infographic also reported that crashes are 23 times more likely when a driver is texting! Secondly, when texting while driving your hands are off the wheel making it impossible to react to oncoming stimuli that encroach on your trajectory. No matter how skilled a driver is, defensive driving must always be in the forefront of their conscience, because one must worry about the other folks on the road often moreso than their own individual responsibility to keep the street safe for all. If you take your hands off the wheel even for a split second, you may not have the time to adjust when another car swerves from an adjacent lane to avoid some obstruction in their way. The third facet is texting while driving greatly impairs your cognition when you should be solely focused on arriving at your destination safely and not distracted about how to most effectively communicate a message via a hands-free device or simply by pulling over and sending the message before getting back on the road.
This is an issue that needs to be stringently enforced. Loop holes exist in the law as well, because with new iPod technology somebody can technically be changing a song on their musical device and not utilizing a phone. The issue becomes even more convoluted when an iPhone is the culprit, because these devices both enable us to communicate with our peers, but also allow us to select what tracks we prefer to listen to while cruising. Although no law is currently on the books prohibiting iPod use, it is illegal to text and drive on one’s iPhone thus law enforcement officials and highway patrolmen need to provide extra scrutiny across the country prohibiting drivers from using all hands-held devices behind the wheel. Hopefully some day, Apple will come out with the latest greatest iPod that is fully voice commanded, but that era is not yet upon us. Our posterity is likely the most at risk since they are so used to having this technology at their disposal and send countless texts, tweets and other social media messages around the clock. According to a recent Virginia Tech study eleven percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 admitted after being in a crash that they had been sending or receiving texts when the accident happened. It doesn’t take a sage elder to recognize the number is likely far higher and that many teens were apprehensive to divulge they had culpability.
Grave Dangers of Texting Behind the Wheel
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