MWA #2: Literary Review

Natalie Greene

Professor Goff

English 1010

28 July 2014

Distracted Driving Due to Cellphones

Cell phone use is a major cause of distracted driving. As states attempt to keep their drivers safe from the dangers of distracted driving the question arises on the correct way to do so.  Many states have banned cellphone use while driving as part of their Distracted Driving Laws. Others have only banned the use of handheld devices. The majority, however, have banned texting and driving all together. As the battle against cellphone use rages on, texting and calling are not the only distractions cell phones provide.  As cellphones become more advanced the problem arises with accessing social media website while driving.

A total of 14 states have passed laws that don’t allow drivers to use hand-held devices while driving.  The thought behind this is that it is less distracting if drivers use hands free devices while driving. For example, if a driver is using a Bluetooth device to answer their calls they do not have to pick up their phone and are no longer at risk of unsafe driving. However, many studies and articles have turned up stating that even hands free devices are not safe. This is because as we are holding a conversation, whether while using our handheld devices or using a hands free device, our brain is still distracted. Drivers are no longer fully focused on the road when holding a conversation. As more research is completed on hands free devices and driving the states must take another look at their Distracted Driving Laws and decide if they are actually helping.

44 states have laws prohibiting texting while driving and the other 6 that haven’t outlawed it have laws regarding it, the most prominent being young drivers are not allowed to text and drive. Research supports that most text messaging accidents have involved those under the age of 25. There are those who argue that it is only teens that pose a threat while texting and driving. While, statistics support that about 41% of teen drivers admit to texting and driving, adult drivers ages 25-39 have been the most common to admit to texting while driving. Due to cellphone use deaths resulting from distracted driving have increased about 20% in relation to the increase of text messaging rates.

Another distraction that is caused by cellphones in vehicles are drivers accessing social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter while they are driving.  From 2009 to 2011 drivers who accessed the internet while driving increased from 29% to 43%. During that same time span drivers accessing social media networks increased from 21% to 43%. Drivers are no longer being distracted by just text messaging and phone calls. Because of the multiples of distractions cellphones present to drivers the National Transportation Safety Board is focusing on these distractions in order to ban the use of cellphones altogether for drivers. Currently, there are no states that completely ban the use of cellphones while driving.

Cellphone use, whether texting, calling, or social networking, is very dangerous while driving. The big question here is: what is the best way to prevent any more accidents and deaths from happening due to cellphone use while driving? Laws, ranging from prohibiting only texting while driving to only allowing hands free devices, have been passed in an attempt to lower the amount of distracted driving. All have valid points and all agree that we have an epidemic on our hands.  Ultimately it is up to us, the driver, to be responsible enough to not drive while distracted.

Works Cited

 “Distracted Driving Laws.” Governors Highway Safety Association. July 2014. 23 July 2014 <www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html>

Wilson, Fernando A., and Jim Stimpson. “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 100 (2010): 2213-19.

Eddy, Nathan. “Texting While Driving More Prevalent Among Adults: AAA.” eWeek 13 December 2013: 2

Rhodan, Maya. “4 in 10 Teens Admit Texting While Driving.” Time 14 June 2014: 32

“Distracted Driving Problem Extends Beyond Texting.” Professional Safety 57 (2012): 24

Journal Entry #11 - Help with Titling Your Paper

Hello Everyone!

I found this great website that helps with figuring out the correct capitalization of your paper's title!  It's great if you struggle with knowing when to capitalize a letter or when to keep it lowercase.

Title Capitalization Site

Also, if you are having issues with citing your sources this is a wonderful website to help you get a feel for creating those citations.

Citation Machine Site

Journal Entry #10

Look Up - A Poem That Will Inspire You to Put Down Your Smartphone



I thought this was a great video about what we have been talking about in class. Many of the issues that are brought to light in this video I can relate with. Let's put down our smart phones and really connect with one another again!

Journal #9: Simplifying Writing

Simplified sentences:

3. He dropped out of school to help support his family.

4. The bus company should announce the new schedule soon.

5. There are many ways for students to meet foreign students.

6. It is rare to find someone who has never purposely lied.

7. People cause trouble when they break rules.

8. 1,000 students attended an unauthorized campus rally. Five students were arrested for disorderly conduct and campus administrators charged others with organizing the rally without a permit.

9. Subjects that are useful after graduation are important to students.

10. College Freshman need to contact an academic adviser to choose a major soon.

Journal Entry # 7: Technology Will Never Replace Love

❤ Technology Will Never Replace Love ❤

Here is an awesome video I found about technology and how human interaction will always trump technology...It's in another language so you will have to read the subtitles but it's really quite touching. I hope you enjoy!



 

In Class Writing #5: Thesis Statement

Cell phone use is a major cause of distracted driving.

In class writing #4: Public Displays of Connection

We have many different connections in life. Some of which we can visually see via networking sites such as Facebook.
On my Facebook I have approximately 300 friends. If I had to guess I would say that about 20 of those 300 are family, 3 are close friends, and the rest are people I knew in high school or coworkers and even friends of friends. I am not close to all the people I am connected to.

Journal # 5: Summarizing

In class today we practiced summarizing by following a template. I thought this an especially useful tool. The template we followed goes like this:

Opening Sentence:

Heading/Fact:

Heading/Fact:

Heading/Fact:

Conclusion:

I used this method for my Annotated Bibliography and it made it a much more simpler process to complete. The opening sentence area is where you simply put in your own words an opening sentence about what the article is about. Then, you use each Heading/Fact section to summarize each paragraph in your article. One sentence per paragraph. The conclusion is pretty self explanatory. You simply write a conclusion statement about what you have read. Here is an example of one of the summaries I used to write my Annotated Bibliography:

“Texting While Driving More Prevalent Amoung Adults: AAA” Summary 

Opening sentence: Adult drivers ages 25-39 have been the most common to admit texting while driving. 

Heading/Fact: A sample of 2,325 drivers, starting at the age 16, showed that over one in four drivers had 

sent a text while driving in the last 30 days. 

Heading/Fact: Drivers, ages 60 and up, have been the least likely to text while driving. 

Heading/Fact: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that driving while distracted 

results in more than 3,000 deaths per year. 

Heading/Fact: A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that one in every 

three drivers have texted while driving and the majority have talked on the phone while driving. 

Conclusion: Data shows that those in a younger age range tend to participate in distracted driving, 

quadrupling their risk of getting into a car crash, as opposed to those ages 55 and older who are the 

least likely to text and drive. 

Annotated Bibliography

Natalie Greene

Professor Goff

English 1010

8 July 2014

Annotated Bibliography

Wilson, Fernando A., and Jim Stimpson. “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 100 (2010): 2213-19.

From 1999 to 2008 deaths resulting from distracted driving have increased about 20%. Distracted driving deaths have increased as text messaging amounts have increased. Most text messaging accidents that have occurred involved those under the age of 25. When passengers are in the car drivers are less likely to text and drive. Many states are attempting to lower the amount of accidents caused by texting by enforcing laws which ban cellphone use while driving, however, the problem still hasn’t been solved.

Eddy, Nathan. “Texting While Driving More Prevalent Among Adults: AAA.” eWeek 13 December 2013: 2

Adult drivers ages 25-39 have been the most common to admit to texting while driving. A sample of 2,325 drivers, starting at the age of 16, showed that over one in four drivers had sent a text while driving in the last 30 days. Drivers, ages 60 and up, have been the least likely to text while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that driving while distracted results in more than 3,000 deaths per year. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that one in every three drivers have texted while driving and the majority have talked on the phone while driving. Data shows that those in a younger age range tend to participate in distracted driving, quadrupling their risk of getting into a car crash, as opposed to those ages 55 and older who are the least like to text and drive.

Pennings, Brian. “New Approaches to End Texting While Driving.” Professional Safety 58 (2013): 16

            Intextication is what happens when a person is no longer paying attention to their surrounding because they are too focused on a cellphone. Those who drive while intexticated double their chances of crashing when compared to those who drive while intoxicated. California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings believes that teenagers text and talk while driving more often than drinking alcohol or taking drugs before they drive. Pennings gives presentations at high schools about the dangers of distracted driving, part of the Impact Teen Drivers program, in an attempt to end texting while driving. Other ways to get rid of distractions, such as text and phone calls, while driving are to install apps that don’t allow drivers to receive phone calls and silence texts while driving. Parents are even able to suspend cell phone service on their teen’s devices while they are driving. There are many approaches towards ending texting while driving that seem to be very effective but it comes down to the driver making a responsible decision not to drive distracted to prevent crashes and accidents cause by intextication.

“Distracted Driving Problem Extends Beyond Texting.” Professional Safety 57 (2012): 24

            Though texting and driving is a big concern State Farm has shown that it’s not the only distraction cellphones are providing. From 2009 to 2011 drivers who accessed the internet while driving increased from 29% to 43%. In that same time span drivers accessing social media networks increased from 21% to 37%. Drivers are no longer being distracted by just text messaging and because of the multiple distractions cellphones present to drivers the National Transportation Safety Board are focusing on these distractions in order to ban the use of cellphones altogether for drivers.

Rhodan, Maya. “4 in 10 Teens Admit Texting While Driving.” Time 14 June 2014: 32

            About 41% of teen drivers admit that while driving they have sent texts and emails. A majority of deaths among teens happen because of crashes and, despite commercials pointed towards getting teens to drive without distractions, more and more teens text while driving every day. Driving while distracted from the road by anything whether it be a cellphone or a cigarette is a risky and dangerous behavior that many teens are participating in.

Jackson, Nancy. “DN’T TXT N DRV.” Current Health Teens. 37 (2011): 6-9

            Attorney Todd Clement believes that one of the leading causes of distracted driving is cellphone use. Using a cell phone while driving impairs the drivers’ awareness of their surroundings, situations, and ability to react meaning that drivers have a harder time processing what it is that is going on the road around them. Even hands free devices cause drivers to be distracted from what is really going on around them. In 2010 28% of accidents on U.S. Highways were caused by drivers distracted by their cellphones. 

In class Writing #3: The Bounty of the Sea Summary

Opening Statement: This article is about humans affect on oceans and the oceans affect on us.

Heading/Fact: Humans are destroying oceans with trash, oil spills, and poisons.

Heading/Fact: If ocean life dies off, all of the billions of life forms would start decaying causing an intolerable stink.

Heading/Fact: The oceans help prevent a "greenhouse effect" by keeping carbon dioxide levels in check.

Heading/Fact: With dead oceans the temperature would rise causing the ice caps to melt, the oceans to rise, and people to move inland.

Heading/Fact: The decay in the the ocean would prevent evaporation causing drought and famine.

Conclusion: The death of the ocean would cause our lands to die and subsequently humans would perish.

This article is about humans affect on oceans and the oceans affect on us. Humans are destroying oceans with trash, oil spills, and poisons. If ocean life dies off, all of the billions of life forms would start decaying causing an intolerable stink. The oceans help prevent a "greenhouse effect" by keeping carbon dioxide levels in check. With dead oceans the temperature would rise causing the ice caps to melt, the ocean levels to rise, and people to move inland. The decay in the ocean would prevent evaporation causing drought and famine. The death of the ocean would cause our lands to die and subsequently humans would perish.

Journal #4: My Fourth Of July

This Fourth of July was by far the best I've had in years for the simple fact it was spent with my family (except mother who is currently on vacation in Korea). I had the opportunity to take my nephew to Layton days. We filled ourselves with elephant ears and mexican food and played on the rides there. I've never seen a 4 year old so tired but so excited for whatever we were planning on doing next.
After the festivities I had the opportunity to learn how to grill steaks. Which turned out amazing if I may say so myself. We finished off dinner with strawberry shortcake and an amazing firework show put on by my brother in law.
I realized today that technology may hinder our ability to socialize but it can also bring us together. I received an email on my phone telling me about Layton Days and the festivities going on. It was also much simpler using my phone to take pictures of my adorable nephew. Technology is what you make of it.

In Class Writing #2: Dawn of the Digital Age

I read much more a weekly basis than I thought.
Things I Read In Print:
-Books (about 1 fiction book a week)
-Newspaper
-Magazines

Things I Read Digitally:
-Emails
-Our class blog
-Facebook posts