Distractions Behind The Wheel: Text Messages
The popularity of mobile devices has had some unintended consequences in the lives of many people. Notably, automobile crashes arising from texting while driving has become an epidemic that has taken the world by storm in recent years. As the correlation between texting and auto accidents escalates, the question of whether or not to ban the exercise continues to get more contentious. Legislators who support the government’s move to make texting while driving stricter argue that it puts all drivers on the road at risk since one is unable to navigate the road properly while texting. Moreover, texting reduces the likelihood of a driver seeing a pedestrian on the road since humans are less noticeable than vehicles. By the same token, texting debilitates a driver’s reaction time as much as the legal limit of alcohol and increases insurance premiums. Dissenters, on the other hand, argue that banning texting while driving is the wrong solution that is deemed to fail soon. They argue that the ban is discriminative and fails to regulate other distractive activities which are equally dangerous.
Drivers who text while driving do not just put themselves, but all road users in peril. For this reason, the practice should be banned to reduce accidents on our streets. Notably, texting takes a driver’s eyes from the road for a considerable length of time and consequently leads to accidents that can be avoided. In particular, drivers operating heavier vehicles such as trucks are more likely to crash since they occupy more space and are likely to affect more road users. Recent studies have given a convergent that texting impairs almost all aspects of safe driving. Not looking at the road while texting is the most striking distraction that affects the control of vehicles. For instance, the average smartphone user texts with both hands and this cause the frequency of steering wheel corrections to be delayed. Texting affects the safety of other drivers since they are not prepared to react to erratic vehicle movements arising from the mistakes of another driver.
It is also reasonable to ban texting on our roads so as to comply with the rules and regulations of automobile insurance. Along with the increase in texting accidents comes an increased number of personal injury claims and lawsuits. While an insurance company is mandated to compensate a driver for any loss incurred during an accident, they do not consider any cases of negligence and carelessness. When a driver engages in texting, he or she breaches the terms and conditions set by the insurer. Texting is considered a negligent activity and consequently, the driver becomes liable for all damages arising from accidents of this nature. If texting and driving are included in a driver’s police report for a wreck for which he or she is held responsible, the rates increase significantly. Where the accident is severe, the motorist’s insurance policy may be revoked altogether. Many people think that they will not incur higher insurance premiums from texting unless they are involved in an accident. However, this is not the case since, in the eyes of the insurer, drivers who text on the road cost them more. To counter such losses, insurance companies react by citing higher monthly premiums for all their clients. It is, therefore, reasonable to enforce stricter laws against texting while driving since it affects all motorists equally.
Correspondingly, proposers claim that texting behind the wheel more than doubles a driver’s reaction time and reduces the ability of an operator to respond to sudden roadway dangers. According to a study by North America News, texting reduces the response time from two seconds to four seconds, with no significant difference between a driver reading a message and composing one. For instance, if a driver is free and a vehicle suddenly stops, he or she will not have enough time to react if they are busy texting. While the difference in reaction time may seem petite, it is significant because drivers can travel a distance equal to the length of a football field within that time. Besides, the researchers established that people who text while driving were likely to miss traffic lights by up to 11 times more than other drivers. Similarly, texting drivers have higher chances of swerving in their lanes, a phenomenon that is closely linked to accidents. Legislators who support the idea of making texting while driving a crime have, however, not dismissed the practice entirely. They have given motorists the option of pulling over at safe locations along the road to reply to the most urgent messages.
Dissenters, on the other hand, argue that texting while driving should not be banned and terms the move paternalistic. While the policies against texting on the wheel are well-intentioned, legislators to be cognizant of the fact that it is impossible to stop people from making bad decisions in life. According to those who oppose the policies, the focus on texting is the same blame on technological advances that have become entrenched in our society. Banning texting on the road is to suggest that our mobile phones possess a unique mystical ability to distract drivers while driving. The argument appears skewed because there are thousands of other activities that can equally distract motorists, yet they are not banned or criticized. While nonconformists are not promoting distracted driving, there is a need for lawmakers to be more rational while drafting new policies and laws. For instance, there is little evidence to conclude that restricting texting will result in a significant behavioral change in drivers. It is estimated that other activities such as eating, reading, listening to the radio, applying makeup, and unexpected brake lights cause accidents as much as texting. Under those circumstances, a fair and reasonable policy should not discriminate a particular type of distraction; be it texting, reading the newspaper, or even talking on the phone.
To conclude, texting while driving is a dangerous distraction and drivers have no business texting while on the road. As mentioned above, stricter policies should be drafted in regards to texting and other similar distractions that have reduced our roads into hotbeds of accidents, terror, and ultimately death. Distractions such as texting are responsible for a myriad of concerns for all motorists, including higher mortality rates, increase insurance premiums, poor driver’s reaction time, and posing a danger to other innocent drivers and pedestrians. Nonetheless, if our roads are to become safe, it is important to draft laws that cut across all driving distractions as opposed to those that single out texting. After all, nobody wants to get injured or die in a road accident that could have been prevented by simple measures.
