Texting while driving is becoming one of the leading causes of fatalities on the road. 

This is related to the time the driver is distracted while looking at his/her device and the distance travelled at high-speeds. In fact, replying to a message or even glancing at it for a moment can set you back 4.6 seconds while driving at a mere 55km/h, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a precious amount of time that causes the difference between life and death. While the quantity of drunk driving incidents have decreased by more than 50% over 30 years, the amount of non-alcohol-related driving incidents have surged, rising an impressive amount of 78% stated on the site www.potsdam.edu. Distracted driving plays an important role in those numbers showing the downside of the popular social device. As a consequence, many are hoping that the government will implement laws to reduce the number of accidents or make it less favorable by increasing the fines related to distracted driving which could go up to 1000$ according to the Star. 

So, next time you drive, take the time to silence your phone because a text is not worth your life.  

When you take your driving classes in Quebec, the first thing the teacher talks about is how bad texting and driving is. Do you think they do this because they have nothing else to talk about? Texting and driving is a real problem with teenagers these days. According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis study, 300 000 injuries, 300 of those being death, are due to using a cellular device while holding the wheel. Can you believe that? Studies show that you are 23 times more likely to be injured when texting than if you have complete attention to the road². According to federal reports, looking down at your phone for a text takes 4.6 seconds. That doesn’t seem like much, but when you are rolling at 55 mph, that’s the length of driving through a football field. Next time you are driving to your friend’s house, don’t text them where you are, because you might be texting the reaper.

²: http://www2potsdam.edu/alcohol/files/driving-while-texting-six-times-more-dangerous-than-driving-while-drunk.html#.VLWQmyuG-Sp

Did it ever happen to you that you were driving peacefully in your car and you suddenly received a text message? Even if you know that answering immediately is wrong, the feeling is stronger than you and you have to answer. Don’t worry you are not alone, but this behavior can lead to multiple deaths and injuries. If we take a look at some Harvard studies from the Center for Risk Analysis study, each year there is more than 3 000 deaths and 330 000 injuries related to text and driving. This unbounded number made text driving the number one cause of accidents involving the most deaths and injuries on the road. If you take out your phone and start texting while driving you are putting yourself in a situation that gives you 23 times more chances to be implicated in a car accident. Would you take the chance of letting a text message decide on your future?

People using their phones on the road now have to face consequences such as fines and demerit points. According to Robert Benzie in “Texting while driving could lead to 1000$ fine, 3 demerits”, in British Columbia, in Quebec and in New Brunswick, the average's fines are up to 172.5 plus three demerit points except Alberta whom only has a 172$ fine; The probability of killing people while using a phone should be punished way more severe than only a few dollars’ fine and three demerit points. Isn’t a life more important that? 

Texting while driving cause more than 3000 deaths each year according to a Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study. Waiting to text someone would prevent more a thousand deaths each year and reduce your debts. Would you rather wait to be parked or try to kill someone to text your friend?

Distracted driving is now the number one cause of automobile accidents on the road, but even if you make it out alive, are the fines that pile up worth it? Currently in Ontario, according to the Toronto Star, texting while driving can lead to fines going as high as 500$. However, Ontario Transport Minister Steven Del Duca plans to introduce a bill that would not only double the fines, but also add three demerit points to the driver's license, in an effort to, according to him, reduce the amount of distracted driving-related accidents. Do you really want to pay that much for something that can be so easily avoided? Additionally, staying out of accidents doesn't mean staying out of paying. Vince Hawkes, an O.P.P. Commissioner, stated in a 2014 Toronto Sun article that officers would be scouring important highways during a busy weekend, in order to crack down on distracted driving. So think about it, even if you consider yourself a pro multitasker that can easily handle texting and driving, you'll be paying soon enough, one way or another.

 

The fines that the police officers give to people for texting and driving are so small and without any real consequence that almost no one is dissuaded from doing it. However, the Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca aims to raises the amount of the fines to 1,000$ and three demerit points. He wishes to adopt this law as quickly as possible to prevent the biggest amount of deaths due to texting while driving. The bill, previously between 50$ and 600$, would now range between 300$ and 1,000$. Also, three demerits will be taken away, instead of none. According to Vince Hawks, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner, 78 deaths where connected to distracted driving as opposed to 54 death caused by impaired driving. Compared to other provinces, in Quebec, fines range in between 115$ to 154 $ with three demerits and in Alberta it’s 172$ with no points (From: Texting while driving could lead to a 1,000$ fine, 3 demerits). Hopefully, the increase in the cost of fines will dissuade drivers to text and drive. It might save their life.

 

 

1 https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/files/Driving-while-Texting-Six-Times-More-Dangerous-than-Driving-while-Drunk.html

 

Texting and driving has become a major threat, one that surpasses even drunk driving. With drunk driving accidents being halved in the past 30 years according to a Harvard center risk analysis study, we cannot say the same for cellular-caused accidents. In fact, accidents not related to alcohol have jumped by an astounding 78% becoming the single highest reason for fatal car accidents (Potsdam, driving while texting six times more dangerous than driving while drunk). Measures are being taken by the Ontario government to help circumvent the problem, they are increasing the penalties for drivers that text to 1000$ in fines and 3 demerit points. “By comparison, in British Columbia, fines are up to $167 plus three demerit points; in Alberta it’s $172 with no demerit points; in Quebec, it’s between $115 to $154 and three points; and in new Brunswick, it’s $172.50 and three points.” (the star, texting while driving could lead to $1,000 fine, 3 demerits) In fact, a survey run by NHTSA questioning drivers if they were in accord with there being laws to ban texting and driving, shows that 80% of drivers are in agreement and three quarters of the surveyed audience believe that the ban should affect everyone indiscriminately of their age group (Potsdam, driving while texting six times more dangerous than driving while drunk). Texting and driving plagues the roads and everyone from drivers to safety administrations to governments wants it to stop.

We live in a society where cellphones are omnipresent. We spend more time on our screens than with the people we love. Keeping phones away while driving is easier said than done. People need to realize that this is a deadly issue. In fact, you are 23 times more likely to have a car crash while texting and driving, according to a study by State University of New York at Potsdam. This is because, as stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it takes, on average, 4.6 seconds for a driver to check their phone, a crucial amount of time in which a lot can happen if you’re going fast enough. Is it really worth it? According to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, distracted driving can not only cause up to 3000 fatalities per year, but also over 300 000 injuries. How many people must get hurt for us to wake up and put an end to this? 

 

The dangers of texting while driving.

While texting can, in modern day society, make us feel connected with the whole world by a simple click, texting while driving truly connects us to death and pain, as its consequences on your driving skills take you 23 times closer to the crash, may it be final. Is it really worth the risk? According to a study by Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, it certainly is not, as every year, this scourge of the road causes over 3,000 deaths and 330,000 injuries! Apparently, a lot of people think that these fatalist statistics do not concern them as they believe in their abilities. The thing is, that during the last 35 years or so, the proportion of traffic accident fatalities unrelated to drunk-driving have jumped a disastrous 78%, demonstrating the pandemic effects of texting while driving. Now if you think you are immune to crashes by doing so, you still lose as new legislations brought up texting and driving fines up to a thousand dollars, coupled with 3 demerits. Best not to get caught then. Overall, it becomes certain that texting while driving is just a dare with the devil, which we all know to turn out quite badly for us humans. So think of it twice before grabbing your cell phone next time you are driving, it may be your last words. 

By Anthony Swaelens

Even though we reduced the number of driving drunk, fatal accident is still frequent. The new cause is texting while driving and it is increasing rapidly each year. According to the article “Driving while Texting Six Times more Dangerous than Driving while Drunk” from potsdam website, deaths related to driving while consuming alcohol is reduced by half which is an amazing progress, but major accident went to 78%. Can you see the big effect on casualties? National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that it takes 4.6 seconds off the road when the driver texts which is the length of a football field. Will you trade a few seconds for your entire life?

And for a fact, the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study refers to texting while driving as the runner up in accidents and death involving teens. But little did you know that this epidemic doesn’t only concern us but also adults, since 47% of them admit they tend to send messages while driving in «Driving while Texting, Six Times More Dangerous than Driving while Drunk.» Can you imagine that most people are not even aware of that? Yes, alcohol-related accident fatalities have dropped by half since 1962, but death related to non-intoxicated activities while driving increased by 78 % in the same year, according to «Driving while Texting Six Times More Dangerous than Driving while Drunk.» We are making progress, but only on the surface, as if we were taking one step forward but two steps back.

We should stop looking at our phones and start concentrating on the road if we don’t want to become nothing more than just a number.

1.        https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html

2.        http://www.icebike.org/texting-and-driving/

With the rising of the use of smartphones today, drivers find themselves using their device on the road, leading to an excessive amount of injuries and deaths. While drunk driving is known to be extremely dangerous, many underestimate the dangers of texting and driving. In fact, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which was mentioned in the article Driving while Texting Six Times More Dangerous than Driving Drunk, the risks relative to texting while driving are six times higher than the ones of driving intoxicated. If you would never consider driving drunk, why would you even think about picking up your phone while trying to concentrate on the road? Sadly, teens and adults all over the world still underestimate the dangers of texting and driving. According to a Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study, 47% of adults said they text will driving, multiplying the risk of having a car crash by 23 times! How does almost half of the population admit to such a dangerous act? Speaking of which, this dangerous act also leads to severe consequences, and not only health-wise. In the article Texting while driving could lead to $1,000 fine, 3 demerits, it is made clear that the law does not forgive cellphone usage on the road. While some countries penalise less than others, the fine for texting and driving can go up to $1,000. Wouldn’t you regret having a car crash or a thousand dollar fine much more than regretting not answering that text? Probably. So beware, because next time you reach out for your phone while driving, you might be also be reaching your last seconds alive. 

The dangers of texting and driving

23. That's how many more times a texting drivers are likely to be involved in a road accident, causing every year more than 330 000 injured and 3000 dead, according to a Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study.                            To make things worse, 47% of adults admit to texting while driving.                                                  
To put things in perspective, texting and driving has dethroned the holder for the most accidents on the road, alcool, in only a few years, making it the most likely way to die or get injured on the road according to potsdam.edu. 

Put your phone down while you drive to come home alive.

Penalties for being caught texting while driving are becoming pretty severe. While not as scary as the possibility of losing your life on these roads, the threat of losing the newly-earned licence you worked on for the past year is still a big deterring factor. 

As texting-while-driving related charges increase as the years go by, with an increase of 3000 charges a year according to the OPP, it is not surprising the government is starting to cut back. This equates to 19 000 charges in 2013, up from 16 000 charges in 2012

With the highest cause of accident in the country, surpassing even drunk driving according to OPP commissioner Vince Hawkes, texting while driving is also the biggest killer on the roads today, causing the increase in penalties for getting caught.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca is confident these new penalties will serve to reduce the amount of charges on Canadian roads. The thousand-dollar fine as well as the 3 demerit points might be enough to scare most teenagers. If anything, it will serve as a reminder to those who got caught. 

If these measures lead to any drastic changes remains to be seen, but there is hope.