The Causes and Effects of Distracted Driving Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing problems in the United States. It is starting to be considered as serious as drunk driving based on the dangerous outcomes. According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “distracted driving was a cause of roughly 450,000 accident-related injuries and nearly 5,500 fatalities in 2009 alone” (para. 1). Drivers who allow themselves to become distracted while driving are not only endangering themselves, but other innocent bystanders. According to Esurances’ website (2013), “there are three main categories of distracted driving; cognitive, manual, and visual” (para. 1). Anything that prevents these three skills from
Texting has caused congress to pass a bill against texting that will ban texting while someone is driving in the United States. Numerous young drivers are being blamed for being the common offenders. According to Weller, Shackleford, Dieckmann, and Slovic (2008), the attachment young kids have to one's phone may be an important, but an overlooked risk factor for the engagement of potentially health-risking driving behaviors. Understanding that phone attachment may adversely affect driving behaviors. Cell phone attachment has the potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts designed to reduce distracted driving behaviors, especially in young drivers. Until people learn to not text and drive there will be many for fatalities. All because people cannot seem to put their phone done while they are driving.
Visual distractions occur when the driver is looking at anything other than the road. Drivers who check the kids' seat belts while driving are visually distracted. Electronic devices for the car, such as GPS devices and portable DVDs/digital entertainment systems, also distract drivers. In undemanding situations, drivers’ attention tends to wander towards objects or scenery that are not part of the driving task. It is estimated that drivers spend doing this varies from between 20% and 50%. According to a study by Car and Driver (2012), “the test subjects were monitored driving at both 35 mph and 70