Distracted Driving It’s not justonly texting anymore Sadie Wirthlin In 1956, the first in-car audio system was introduced, and with it, so was distracted driving. Since then, drivers everywhere have been distracted with audio systems, dashboard gadgets, GPS systems, and, of course, phones while driving. But of all the things that drivers have been distracted with, perhaps texting is the greatest one of all . . . or, so we thought. Recent studies have revealed found that distracted driving is not only being caused solely by texting, but by other apps and tools on a cell phone. 46 states have creatednow have laws that banning texting whileand driving, but is it enough? Today, people can do just about anything on their phoneshere, and the is now access to a wide variety of apps is only expanding; sites such ason cell phones such as: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Maps, and Spotify pop up just about anywhere. But the app that’s catching everyone’s attention lately is , and now PokemonPokeé mon GOo. In just 13 hours after its release, Pokeé mon GO reached the top of the highest-grossing app chart in the US, a result of nearly 21,000,000 people playing the game every day. With the chance to catch a Pikachu or a Charmander on your way to work, it’s easy for players to get lost in the game. In the one month that Pokeé mon GO has been released, there have been a number of reported accident due to distracted driving, skateboarding and even walking. In midJuly, a 28-year-old man crashed into a tree late at night while trying to “catch them all.” With the car’s engine nearly in the passenger seat, the driver was lucky to have walked away with only minor cuts. This is only one of the nearly countless examples we have on how phones and apps cause distracted driving. Most of us recognize the danger that comes from using a phone while driving, but unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily stop us from doing it. In a survey done by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, over 90% of drivers nationwide know that phone distractions are dangerous while driving, but of those drivers, 35% still admitted to using their phones while behind the wheel. 2,500 high school students were given a survey and 70% of them said they use apps while driving. These distractions are causing fatal accidents and some might question how and when it’s going to stop. Deborah Hersman, president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council, believes that distracted driving is a “slippery slope,”, and if it’s a social media app causing an accident today, what is it going to be tomorrowit’s a serious problem that is far under-reported.? She believes drivers may be seeing this issue as a “blurry line”, when it really should be athere is a “bright , fine line.” In these recent surveys, teens considered the most dangerous driving to bise caused by alcohol (29%) and texting (25%);. oOnly 6% believed that actively looking at or posting on
social media iswas the most dangerous. Because It seemsof these results, Hersman believes that we have a long way to go in getting the message across that all phone use,apps, especially social mediaincluding apps, are unnecessary while driving and need to stop. Based on crash data, the National Safety Council estimates that about onefourth of all crashes can be attributed to distracted driving and the use of a cell phonecell phone use. Everyday, more than 8 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in distracted driving crashes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looking at your phone to read a text is equivalent to driving the length of a football field with your eyes off the road. Those few seconds that it takes to send a text or post an Instagram picture increase your crash risk by 23 times— and that doesn’t include any other distractions. Distracted driving accidents happen every day due to using a phone while driving, and uUltimately, people think that causingit an accident on the road from looking at that one text or checking that Snap Chat feed just once won’t happen to them as they look at one text or check a Snap Chat feed. , but Tthat ignorance, however, needs to stop. AccidentsIt can happen, they do happen, and it’s they’re not worth the consequencesit. There are too many personal stories about where this exact ignorance happened, and then there were fatalities involvedhas ended up taking lives. For more on helpingTo help eliminate distracted driving, check out StopDistractions.org. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/health/distracted-driving-not-just-textingpokemon-go/