After observing her father do it for several years without causing an accident, Angela began a habit that would later cost her life. She had been using her phone while on the steering wheel for some time since she obtained her driving permit. As fate would have it, she one day became too engrossed in the conversation with her friend and failed to realize that she was approaching the red sign. The conversation ended abruptly as her car rolled and landed on its roof. She was lucky though. She survived with few bruises and she swore never to ever use her phone while driving. As a human being, this somehow solemn promise had to fade away as the memories of the accident slowly disappeared from her mind. Just exactly one year and one month later, she was involved in another accident under the same circumstance and she was unlucky. She never lived to tell the experience. This is one of the thousands of accidents that are caused by distracted driving by use of cell phones every year.
Texting while driving is one of the leading causes of deaths in road accidents today. The government website that gives statistics on distracted driving put texting as the most alarming distraction as it requires manual, visual, and cognitive attention. The alarming numbers of deaths and accidents caused by texting while driving makes it an essential aspect for consideration. Curbing this habit will improve the safety of our roads and enhance sober driving (Gupta, Burns & Boyd, 2016) . Texting while driving causes deaths and injuries to third parties who are on several occasions, careful road users. Lose of life through such circumstances cause distress to family members who remain to be orphans, widows, bread winners, or widowers. Eradicating this habit that has been in existence for as long as the existence of handset is an uphill task that will take time and resources but efforts should be made to ensure that the numbers decrease to manageable levels. Handling this issue with the seriousness it deserves will help to unlearn the learned texting while driving habit.
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Problem Analysis
Texting while driving is a learned habit that a person gets accustomed to with time. The problem begun as technological growth enhanced. There is no law that has been made as an attempt to ban texting and driving or general use of mobile phones while on the steering wheel. Although people of different ages are always found using phones while driving, teenagers account for the highest percentage of these drivers. One of the causes of distracted driving is the obsession on the use of phones. This has made it difficult for the current generation teen drivers to avoid their phones for some time. Once they receive a message or email in their phones, they get tempted to check and even reply. They end up driving for several miles blindly causing harm to not only themselves but also other road users (Gupta, Burns & Boyd, 2016) .
Texting while driving is becoming a national epidemic considering its increasing trend in America. Soon it might become the top killer. Statistics show that approximately eleven teens are killed in texting while driving related road accidents every day causing more than 500 thousand accidents accounting for more than 25% of the total car accidents (“The dangers of texting while driving,” 2015). Although many have been able to text and drive with no accident, research has equivocally proven that texting while driving is a costly risk. Many car accidents recorded by the CDC have associated them with texting by teen drivers. On average, the teens comprise of a high percentage of inexperienced driving and given their texting habit, the roads become unsafe for more mature and careful road users.
Another cause of texting while driving is the cheap access to internet. Mobile applications that allow individuals to send messages have increased and the associated cost has significantly decreased. Groups in Facebook and WhatsApp among other social media platforms have brought together people from diverse areas who can share information directly to other members. Real time updates are passed and those driving tend to get taken away in the conversations. Some even take photographs of themselves driving and update group members on where they are driving to.
With the emergence of cheap texting services, the modern phones have greatly increased the number of accidents as a result of texting. The current generation phones are touch screen with no keypads as opposed to the phones that were used ten years ago. These phones require full attention given that the keyboard format has also changed. The screens are sophisticated and the more time required to write a message increases the chances of getting involved in an accident.
Another cause of distracted driving is the high demands by the job market. The working class tends to update their colleagues or bosses through text messages. Others who are expecting a client will always check their phones to ensure that they do not fail to respond to them in time (Rumschlag et al., 2015). It is also normal to have people who are expecting uncertain news to be frequently distracted by their phones as they will tend to check or send a message to make inquiries. The current vehicles are designed in a manner that attracts the interest of the teen drivers hence being the majority of the cars on the road. With their little driving experience, they get little control of the cars as the current computerized vehicles easily transmit driver errors hence giving high likelihood of causing accidents.
One of the effects of texting while driving is that is reduces a person’s concentration. It is difficult to carry out two activities correctly at the same time. Texting implies that a driver gets his or her hand off the steering wheel and navigation becomes difficult especially when faced with the need to make urgent driving decisions. A human mind is also unable to coordinate driving and texting successfully since at one point, one of the activities will fail.
Accidents caused through texting while driving do not only affect the driver and the people in the car. Relatives are indirectly affected as they might go through numerous difficulties as a result of the loss of their loved one. If the involved person is a parent for instance, the children become orphans and some will be forced to become bread winners at their tender age if there is no other person to take care of them. In some instances, the texting drivers get a head-on collision with other car users as they drive off their lanes (Hosking et al., 2009). This may also cause death or permanent disability that will completely change their lives. Research has shown that texting increases a person’s reaction time and the ability to follow a car. Some of them end up knocking cars in front of them as they were not able to suddenly brake.
Solution
The most successful way of solving the problem associated with texting and driving is taking a similar predicament that face the teens who are the main culprits in distracted driving. The teens tend to understand and appreciate some particular approaches of solving problems facing them. In most cases, approaches that demand them to stop doing certain things always fail while those that require them to work with caution get significant success. Solving the habit of texting while driving, calls for the use of a multifaceted approach that focuses on discouraging drivers from using their phones when driving. This approach should be flexible as to factor in the high chances that the habit might still continue despite the measures. It should, therefore, seek for ways that will keep the drivers and other road users safe (Gupta, Burns & Boyd, 2016). The adopted approach must incorporate pre-driving training, fines and punishments for road safety violations, and other appropriate measures.
Given the deeply rooted nature of the problem, the approach should consider a mechanism that allows safe texting just like hands free calls. The pre-driving training should incorporate lessons on the dangers of texting while driving. During the training period, trainees should be taught on the dangers associated with texting and asked to ensure that they avoid it as much as possible (Hayashi, Russo & Wirth, 2015). In cases where a driver needs to make an urgent call, they should be able to pull over at a safe place and make the call. Simulations should also be done during the training period to analyze the trainees’ ability to drive while texting safely since it is possible that eliminating texting cannot be completely achieved. As drivers get used to the road, they tend to ignore the need for avoidance of texting while driving and soon find themselves texting. It is therefore, essential to have continuous training and assessment of drivers. This will ensure that the drivers get equipped with the use of the ever evolving mobile phone and car technologies. The training modules should be frequently updated to keep pace with the prevailing technology.
Since many countries do not have laws that punish drivers who use mobiles, many people have made it a habit to text when driving. It is high time that governments came up with laws or amend the existing ones to incorporate the problem of texting while driving. The punitive measures should use a multifaceted approach where drivers are mandated to enroll in continuous training and assessment programs and punishments given for texting. In addition, drivers who are convicted with texting offence should have a compulsory enrollment on the program for a specified period to reduce chances of future offences. Drivers who remain reluctant to attend such trainings should be penalized and considered as second time offenders if they cause accidents (Hayashi, Russo & Wirth, 2015). Withdrawal of licenses can also be applied in serious cases where the involved drivers fail to adhere to the set conditions for a number of times.
Just like the provision of safe calling, technological advancement should look into how a driver can reply to a message without getting distracted. Voice activated messages should be linked with car technologies. He et al. (2015) has reported that applications that are able to read messages will soon be completed and this is expected to bring a major revolution in road safety in regard to texting while driving. With technology advancement, a mechanism that utilizes hearing and speaking can be developed as a way of making texting easy and safe when driving.
Other few solutions that can help reduce the temptation of texting while driving includes turning off the mobile phone or switching it to silent mode every time one wants to drive. To avoid getting tempted to open or check it, one should put it far from where he can reach. In circumstances where a person needs to communicate while driving especially on issues that require immediate feedback, the passenger should help or look for a place that is safe to park then proceed to send the text. It is also important for a person to avoid sending messages to a person driving especially when they are aware.
Benefits
The current trend of accidents associated with texting while driving is already alarming. Implementing the above solutions suggestions will be of great impact in reducing such cases. Modification of training design by incorporating the hazards of texting while driving will serve as a caution to drivers as the need for attention on the road is inculcated early enough. Most of the people who text while driving must have seen their parents or a person older than them texting and felt that it was fine to text. If new drivers learn to avoid the habit, chances of having the future generation completely doing away with the habit is high. This implies that the number of accidents will drastically reduce since a higher percentage of collisions are as a result of distraction by texting by teens.
Figure 1 : This figure shows the increasing number of teens who send texts on a daily basis when driving in 2009 and 2011.
Instilling this knowledge early will also help individual drivers to build their driving skills. Research has shown that use of mobile phones affect the skills of drivers as they spend most of their times driving out of their lanes.
Introduction of punitive measures for offenders and drivers who ignore continuous assessments serves to reduce the number of drivers who repeat the offences. When offenders are left free after being spotted using their mobile phones, they tend to repeat the mistake Hosking et al. (2009). Withdrawal of licenses and compulsory enrollment in continuous training and assessment will instill a sense of responsibility on the road hence reducing the use of mobile phones. The overall benefit of these strategies is the reduction of automobile accident costs. The cost of deaths, injuries, and damage of property as a result of accidents caused by distracted driving is overwhelming to both individuals and the government. If drivers are made to avoid the use of phones while driving, accidents that cause damage to other people’s property or injuries that result in high medical cost will significantly reduce. These costs can therefore, be saved and used in other development activities in the society.
Conclusion
The number of accidents associated with texting while driving continues to escalate as no strict measures have successfully worked. Bills have died at the legislation stage and the menace has continued to worsen. Texting while driving is a many-sided issue that requires special attention for effective solution. The ever evolving technology and emergence of exciting social media platforms have made the teenage drivers who are the highest percentage of inexperienced drivers the main culprits. Their obsession with use of mobile phones makes it difficult for them to drive without checking on their phones. Lack of standard guideline on texting while driving has made it difficult to eliminate the vice on the roads today and this call for the need to have the congress make laws that serve this menace.
With the increasing number of teenage drivers, the problem is likely to increase if no strict measures and proper solutions are enacted. The first and most effective solution is to have a pre-training that strictly encourages drivers to avoid texting while driving. This habit is learned either from parents/guardians or peers and it can be unlearned if the right strategies are incorporated in driving schools. Drivers should have clear negative effects of texting weighed against the benefits so as to appreciate the need to avoid it. The law enforcers should also ensure that no offender walks away with the offense by giving fines or punishments. Some countries have devised ways of punishing offenders by making them help in mortuaries. Such experience makes offenders do away with the vice by all means possible.
Continuous training and assessment also helps the drivers to constantly check on their texting habits. This will help them to avoid their phones hence concentrate more on the road. If this strategy in implemented well, the cases of accidents associated with texting will be significantly reduced. On personal level, switching off the phone and putting it far when driving will greatly help a driver to gain personal driving discipline. It also helps the passengers to learn the good habit and as they also drive, they ensure that their phones are off and get no distraction from their phones. The contemporary society has made communication an important aspect in their lives and cannot be avoided during driving. The situation however, has today reached a level that is untenable and must be remedied efficiently and effectively.
The proposed multifaceted and multilayered solution however, can with proper modalities for implementation and sustainability gradually reduce the problem to manageable levels. The eventual absolute solution can only emanate from the technological creation of viable ways and means to safely text while still driving. A proper approach involving all these means and ways should be developed , adopted and implements as the problem of texting while driving is slowly getting out if hand. It is noteworthy that elimination of this vice must originate from the driver. One should be able to appreciate the need for safe roads and be willing to go an extra mile to achieve it. This is because it is the driver at the end of the day that makes the change irrespective of how much the government does.
References
2015. “ The dangers of Texting while driving.” Retrieved from <https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/dangers-texting-while-driving/>
Gupta, P. B., Burns, D. J., & Boyd, H. (2016). Texting While Driving: An Empirical Investigation of Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors. Information systems management , 33(1), 88-101. doi:10.1080/10580530.2016.1117884
Hayashi, Y., Russo, C. T., & Wirth, O. (2015). Texting while driving as impulsive choice: A behavioral economic analysis. Accident analysis & prevention , 83,182-189. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2015.07.025
He, J., Choi, W., McCarley, J. S., Chaparro, B. S., & Wang, C. (2015). Texting while driving using Google Glass™: Promising but not distraction-free. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 81, 218-229. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2015.03.033
Hosking et al. (2009). The effects of text messaging on young drivers. Hum Factors , 51 (4), 582-592. Doi 10.1177/0018720809341575
Rumschlag, G., Palumbo, T., Martin, A., Head, D., George, R., & Commissaris, R. L. (2015). The effects of texting on driving performance in a driving simulator: The influence of driver age. Accident analysis & prevention, 74, 145-149. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2014.10.009
