According to The Zebra, an insurance information gathering & comparison site,
In 2015, 391,000 people were injured due to distracted driving (Nat’l Highway Traffic Safety Admin.)
In 2016, almost four thousand people were killed due to the actions of a distracted driver.
In 2017, the use of a cell phone while driving caused an estimated 1.5 million car crashes in the U.S.
In 2018, 400,000 people were injured and 2,800 people died in distracted driving motor vehicle accidents. (NHTSA)
In 2018 due to cell phone use and electronic device use, 4,637 people died in car crashes.
In 2018 2,121 people were killed in crashes that involved a teen driver between the ages of 15 and 18. Each year about 1,600 children are killed by distracted drivers and people texting while driving.
In 2019, 3100+ people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes because they used a cellphone while driving.
In 2021, According to the CDC, approximately 1.35 million people are killed in fatal crashes each year (worldwide). On average, that’s about 3,700 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled.
ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS:
Approximately 660,000 drivers attempt to use their phones while driving. (NHTSA)
Drivers who text while operating a vehicle are 23 times more likely to become involved in a car accident. (FCC)
Cell phone usage reduces a driver’s attention by as much as 37%. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute)
Taking your eyes off the road for only an instant increases the chance of an auto accident by 400%! (Nat’l Safety Council)
More than 3,000 teens die each year in crashes that involve texting and driving.
A COUPLE OF CONSIDERATIONS
We all think we have superpowers –we’re invincible aren’t we? — “Dangerous? Maybe for you, but I’m indestructible!” Today’s youth NEED to be where the action is, cannot sit quietly, need to be amused, enchanted, occupied . . . in short, distracted.
A Tragic example: byline Michael Inbar on Today on 3/5 2012
Bright, outgoing college teen Taylor Sauer proved in the last minutes of her life she knew right from wrong — but still committed a fatal mistake. Sauer was making a late-night, four-hour drive from the Utah State University campus in Logan to visit her folks in Caldwell, Idaho. She passed the time along I-84 messaging a pal on Facebook about the Denver Broncos. But she stopped short, writing in her final missive, “I can’t discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha.”
Moments later, Sauer, going more than 80 mph, slammed into a tanker truck that was slowly creeping up a hill at 15 mph. She was killed instantly; investigators saw no signs that she applied the brakes before the fatal crash. And in checking her cell phone records, they learned Sauer was posting about every 90 seconds during her drive.
“I think she was probably (texting) to stay awake, she was probably tired,” Taylor’s dad, Clay Sauer, told Ann Curry on TODAY Monday. “But that’s not a reason to do it, and the kids think they’re invincible. To them, (texting) is not distracting, they’re so proficient at texting, that they don’t feel it’s distracted driving.” SUCH A TRAGEDY!
Do I have an Opinion? You Bet! I have a few! One Cell phone-caused accident is one too many, let alone a death!
Look at the numbers above!
Society has gone too far for parents to forbid their young drivers from taking a cell phone with them on an evening out, BUT HERE’S AN IDEA:
PARENTS! GET INVOLVED! SET EXAMPLE! APPLY TOUGH RULES!
- Your Cell Phone goes in the purse, the glove compartment, the trunk! If you’re alone, {and by, extention, if your youngster is alone} the phone STAYS THERE unless or until you pull over to the curb!
- Driving with two or more in vehicle: person behind wheel is automatically the designated driver, his phone remains unused — no talking, no texting.
- First distraction infraction (cell phone, facebook, etc.) a fitting punishment— don’t let tears soften the blow. (Suggest DRIVING PRIVILEGE IS RESCINDED FOR TWO WEEKS.)
- SECOND INFRACTION: THE CAR GOES ON BLOCKS FOR 3 MONTHS
You love your children — so protect them — really protect them — from themselves and those around them when they climb behind the wheel of a vehicle capable of going through bedroom walls, cinder block storefront walls, crushing like machines into unidentifiable wreckage.
So My Opinion: Law regarding vehicular use and misuse is far too lenient.
1. Fines should be at least quadrupled
2. Vehicle Confiscation and Jail should be on the table for repeat offenders.
3. Hit and Run offenders should face mandatory 5 year jail sentence. If the offence involves a death — 15 years.
4. Parents should be a part of the equation when juvenile offenders are involved
THAT is One Man’s Opinion.
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