essay about texting while driving

Texting While Driving Essay Examples

Why is texting while driving dangerous.

Put simply, texting and driving are dangerous because texting diverts your attention away from the road. Although many people argue that texting only takes your eyes off the road for a few seconds, what they don’t realize is that in that few seconds, something unexpected could happen. Additionally, if you’re traveling at high rates of speed, you can travel significant distances in just a few seconds. Those few seconds that you are on your phone could be used to hit the breaks or swerve out of the way of a quickly approaching article. If your eyes are on your phone instead of on the road, you lose valuable time that could have been used to mitigate an accident.

How do you Break the Habit of Texting While Driving?

One of the best ways to stop yourself from texting while driving is to create a habit that will keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. For many people who rely on their phones for so much, this may seem like a difficult task. However, if you think about it, there are several things that you do habitually when driving a car that you don’t even think about, such as putting on a seatbelt or locking your car after you park it. The key is to incorporate putting your phone away as part of those routines. In that way, you’re not so much breaking the habit of texting and driving, but instead, creating new habits that prevent you from using your phone while in the car.

Making a new habit can be challenging. The key is to stay consistent and continually remind yourself of your goal until it becomes second nature. Try attaching a sticky note to the wheel of your car to remind yourself to not text and drive. Another good trick is to make a pact with a friend to help keep each other accountable. It is important to stick with your habit, not give in to temptation and always keep in the back of your mind the benefits of staying focused on the road and not driving while distracted.

The most ideal habit you can build is to simply turn your phone off when you get in the car. That way there is never any sort of distraction when you’re in the car – any notifications, no browsing social media, and no distractions while you try to pick the next song to listen to. However, this might not always be an option when you need to use your GPS or if you use your phone for entertainment purposes while driving. Fortunately, there are other solutions. You can use an app while you drive (we make some suggestions for good apps below!) and simply make a habit of activating the app before you hit the road. If you often drive with others in the car, another good option is to hand your phone to another passenger to hold onto until you reach your destination. If instead you typically drive alone, you can always close up your phone in the glove compartment, your purse, in the center storage console under your armrest or in any other place where you cannot reach it. That way, you can have your phone connected to the vehicle for entertainment purposes but will avoid texting and driving.

Can you go to Jail for Texting While Driving?

In Pennsylvania, drivers are prohibited from driving and texting. If you are pulled over texting and driving, you will be issued a fine. However, if you are texting and driving and you cause an accident, there may be criminal consequences for those actions that could result in jail time. The more severe the accident, the more jail time you can face. For example, if you cause a fatality by texting and driving, you may face up to five years in jail.

How many People are Killed by Texting While Driving?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that in 2017, over 3,000 people were killed in accidents caused by distracted driving. In Pennsylvania alone, a study estimated that in 2015, distracted driving caused nearly 15-thousand car crashes and at least 66 deaths.

Apps That Help to Prevent Texting While Driving

Nowadays, there are many apps available to drivers to deter them from texting while driving. Here are some of our favorites:

• Drive Safe & Save– Designed by State Farm Auto Insurance, this app tracks your driving habits every time you get behind the wheel. Not only does it track when you’re using your phone while in the car, but also identifies when you’re speeding, breaking too hard or accelerating too quickly. The app will also provide tips on how to improve your driving habits. If you’re a State Farm customer, you can send your driving data to them and receive discounts for good driving on your monthly insurance bill too!
• LifeSaver – This app was designed for insurance companies and large trucking fleet – but is available for families too! For parents who are concerned about their children texting and driving, the app blocks the child’s phone while driving and alerts the parents when they have safely arrived at their destination. The app works quietly in the background when you start driving to block mobile distractions but provides options to unlock for emergency situations. It also provides reports on how safely family members are driving and parents can also unlock a reward system to incentivize good driving habits.
• AT&T DriveMode– Similarly, this app turns on when it senses that the phone is moving more than 15 miles per hour. Once activated, the app silences all incoming notifications, and will automatically respond to the caller or texter with a text stating that the person they are attempting to contact is currently driving. Parents are also alerted when the app is turned off, so you can help ensure your child is always safe.
• DriveSafe.ly – This app has to be activated each time you get in the car. However, once it’s turned on, this app will read aloud each text message you receive. It will also automatically reply to the sender that you are currently driving.

Check your Smart Phone – Many smartphones have “Do Not Disturb” or Drive Mode settings that you can turn on when getting behind the wheel.

Considering the importance of this matter and increase awareness to the next generation, we had organized the “Texting and Driving Essay” contest on for students. We are very happy to find that we got many great articles which show our next generation is pretty aware of this matter. The following four Texting and Driving Essay essays are the best entries:

Texting and Driving Essay: Statistics on texting and using your phone while driving and ideas to break those habits

By Leticia Pérez Zamor

Every day in the United States around one out of ten people are killed by distracted drivers, and around 1500 are injured in some way in crashes by these irresponsible, distracted drivers. One of the most dangerous, distracting activities that many people do is texting while driving. It is extremely dangerous because people who do this are putting more attention in texting, and they take their eyes off the road while they are driving, which increases the chance that the driver can lose the control of the vehicle, and could cause a crash or even in a worst-case could kill other people. When a person is texting, she/he is thinking about other things besides concentrating on driving. This is very dangerous because it could make the driver lose control of the car and slow her/his brain’s reaction time in case of a potential accident.

The statistics are very sad because according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, and 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. Additionally, a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that drivers who are texting are twice as likely to crash, or almost crash, as those who are focused on the road. These statistics are reaching higher numbers because people are using their cell phones more and more, especially adolescents.

For this reason, it is very important that we find some ideas to break off this bad habit of texting while driving. I think that one of the easiest and best ways to break this habit is simply to turn off your phone. In this case, the driver wouldn’t be distracted by the ringing or buzzing of the phone, and it wouldn’t tempt the driver to text while driving. Another way to break this habit is to download some of the new applications that can disable cell phones while people are driving. Also, there are other applications that automatically send a text to whoever is texting the driver to tell that person that she/he is driving and that the text will be answered later. There are a great variety of applications to choose I think that we can use these to help us with the problem of texting while we are driving. Additionally, if a driver is waiting for an important call or text and has company in the car, the phone can be given to a passenger to check it out. Also, there are some programs that are helping to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and to keep it from occurring. In these anti-texting programs, people can drive in a simulated situation, where they are driving but also texting, and can see how many accidents are caused by this problem.

Something very important is that many of the states have started to pass some laws that order drivers to stop texting while driving. However, we need to be sincere: none of these laws will be effective if we as a society don’t understand that texting while driving could have terrible consequences, not only for us as drivers but also for other innocent people. I don’t think that answering texts is more important than the lives of other people; texting can wait until drivers arrive at their destination.

The Dangers of Texting While Driving Essay

By LoryYau, St. Johns University

With the advanced technology in today’s world, people are very connected to each other and are constantly on their phone texting friends, going on social media, or using the phone to pass time. However, this also includes texting back a friend while driving. As simple as it might seems, texting and driving is very dangerous and should be taken seriously. In fact, in 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions involved cell phones. That’s about 1.3 million crashes! Not only that but texting while driving is actually more dangerous than driving while being drunk or high on marijuana. Every year almost a million people in the United States get into accidents, the majority: teens. Unfortunately, the number just keeps increasing.

Though texting and driving caused many injuries and deaths, there are still people who don’t think it’s a problem and are confident that they can use their phone and drive simultaneously. However, 34% of teens aged sixteen to seventeen spend about 10% of their driving time outside of their lane.  This affects other people who are driving and can cause the deaths of innocent lives. In a 2012 Cell Phone and Driving Statistic, it is reported that 3,328 people were killed and 421,000 people were injured due to distracted drivers. Furthermore, it is said that talking or listening on the phone increases the risk of crashing by 1.3 times while reaching for a device is 1.4. Dialing is 2.8 times more risk of crashing while texting is 23 more times. Additionally, talking on a cell phone and driving at the same time can make the driver’s reaction time to be as slow as that of a seventy-year-old.

To break these habits, people can either turn off their phone or put it on silent before driving. This will force them to concentrate on the road only. But if this method doesn’t work on some people, you can use S voice or Seri to command your phone to read out your messages or to reply back. This will allow your eyes to focus on the road instead of your phone. No more reaching for your phone to text “Lol” or “Lmao” and endangering your own life and many others.  Though you are still talking while driving, it still decreases your chance of crashing. An app in smartphones that works similarly to the method I described before is called DriveSafe.ly. Basically, it reads your text messages and emails out loud and has a customizable auto-responder. A few other apps that help prevent texting are called Safely Go and TXT ME L8R. Both apps work by either blocking the phone’s ability to text, receive and use apps or locking the phone. Then both phones automatically send a message to inform your friends or family that you are driving.  For parents, you can give your phones to your kids while you’re driving. You won’t be able to get them back when they’re too busy playing Angry Bird or Cut the Rope.

To stop people from texting and driving, one of the major phone companies, AT&T, address this problem by creating AT&T’s It Can Wait to text and driving campaign to spread awareness. Many stories and documentaries are also posted online to support this campaign. You can also join millions of others who have signed the pledge to never text and drive and to instead take action to educate others about the dangers of it. If you still believe you can get home safely by texting and driving, AT&T’s simulator will prove you wrong. It gives you a real-life experience of texting and driving. With this game, you’ll only find out that it’s not as easy as it sounds. Before you look at a text, remember that it is not worth dying for.

The Issue of Texting While Driving Essay

By Justin Van Nuil

It seems that everyone has a cell phone, and they cannot be separated from it. Cell phones have made a huge impact in the world, both good and bad. Most of the bad come when people, especially teens, decide to use the phone when behind the wheel of a vehicle. There are some huge statistics against texting and talking on the phone while driving, and people are trying to bring awareness to this expanding problem across the United States.

Staggering statistics are out there for everyone to see, yet we go about our lives ignoring the signs and warning against using our cell phones while driving. Textinganddrivingsafety.com tells us that texting while driving increases the probability of getting in a crash twenty-three times the normal amount, and thirteen percent of the young adults, eighteen to twenty, have admitted to talking or texting before the course of the accident. This is due to the time our eyes are off the road, and our mind’s capacity to do only one task at a time. Just taking our eyes off the road for five seconds, while the car is traveling at fifty-five miles per hour, is the same as traveling a football field without noticing what is going on around us. Seeing the danger in this is very evident, especially around intersections. Taking eyes off the road through an intersection is probably the highest risk, the light could be changing causing the car in front to stop, or worse, traveling through the red light or a stop sign into flowing traffic.

Texting is a major factor when it comes to crashes and creating a hazardous situation, so preventing the usage of cell phones while driving would be a large step in limiting the number of crashes that happen in the United States. There are multiple associations that are already trying to prevent cell phone usage. Associations such as the NHTSA, the Nation Highway Traffic Safety Association, which is an organization dedicated fully to tips and facts and videos showing how dangerous it can be to use your cell phone. There are also Facebook and Twitter pages, and blogs. In addition, the driving course in Michigan has a section in the lesson on the hazards of using cell phones while driving.

These are just programs that are helping to prevent texting while driving. Easy and simple ways that everyone can do as they enter the car. Firstly, by putting the phone in the glovebox, you eliminate the temptation to reach for it and use it while your driving. If you decide not to use that method, and you have a passenger, just give the phone to them, they can rely on the information to you if it is that important. Just keeping the phone out of reach, in general, will help prevent the usage of the device.

Not only are these ways are widespread and easily accomplished, but there should also be a restriction in general for usage while driving. I know multiple states have issued laws against texting, and in some states absolute usage of the cell phone while in the driver’s seat. Although, the overall effects may not be seen in the number of accidents prevented due to these laws, having a larger discipline for doing such activities should help in dropping the number of people on their devices.

Preventing the usage of these everyday devices is very simple, yet rather difficult, and will save lives if it works out. Accidents are deadly to many people, so creating an environment for everyone is better in the long run. As a young adult, I plan to use some of these ideas and promote these websites and encourage others around me to do the same.

Why is Texting and Driving Dangerous?

By Haley Muhammad

It has become such an issue that every time we turn on the TV all we see is that same commercial running about that girl who died because she wanted to text her friend back. Or that now in every major TV show someone always gets in a car accident because they want to text someone that they love them. It’s clear that no one has the decency to pull over to text someone back or even call them to say I will text you later because I’m driving. It’s a rising epidemic that’s destroying the generation of teenagers. I remember when technology was something beautiful because of how helpful it is but, now its become a hazard to the generation alone. Statistics have shown that “ Texting while driving has become a greater hazard than drinking while driving among teenagers who openly acknowledge sending and reading text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle,” stated by Delthia Ricks from Newsday newspaper.

Ever since the emergence of cell phones, this generation has become heavily dependent on it for every minute of every day. Cell phones and texting were created ultimately to provide communication but it has now become so much more than that. Statistics also show that “Seventy-one percent of young people say they have sent a text while driving. As a result, thousands of people die every year in crashes related to distracted driving,” (Distraction.gov). Texting while driving has become a heavy habit for most teens and adults as well but regardless of the commercials and shows and statistics that show the results of texting while driving most people cannot kick the habit. Other statistics include, “Individuals who drive while sending or reading text messages are 23 percent more likely to be involved in a car crash than other drivers. A crash typically happens within an average of three seconds after a driver is distracted,” (donttextdrive.com). Overall all these statistics are saying the same thing, is that one text can wreck all.

So many lives are taken or altered because of the simple decision to send or reply to one text message. If precautions are heavily enforced before adults and teens especially enter the car, then maybe this epidemic can become obsolete. Fines are enforced but how well is the question? Phones are the biggest distraction when you enter a car, this doesn’t completely forget about alcohol or trying to change the radio station but technology has become so advanced that we have voice text and on a star. If the message is that important phones should become voice-activated and only respond to your voice so we can still pay attention to the road and send out a text without removing our hands from the wheel. Technology has also graced us with Bluetooth if you need to stay in communication just use Bluetooth and make a phone call instead which is completely easier than sending a text anyway because it’s faster and you can get responses much quicker than you could with a text message. Reality is one text or call could wreck it all.

Stuart A. Carpey, who has been practicing as an attorney since 1987, focuses his practice on complex civil litigation which includes representing injured individuals in a vast array of personal injury cases.

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

107 Texting and Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Texting and driving is a dangerous combination that has become a major issue on the roads today. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving drunk. Despite the risks, many drivers continue to engage in this dangerous behavior, putting themselves and others at risk.

If you have been tasked with writing an essay on texting and driving, you may be struggling to come up with a topic. To help you get started, here are 107 texting and driving essay topic ideas and examples:

• The dangers of texting and driving
• The statistics on texting and driving accidents
• The psychological effects of texting and driving
• The legal consequences of texting and driving
• The impact of texting and driving on society
• The role of technology in preventing texting and driving
• The effectiveness of texting and driving laws
• The influence of peer pressure on texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on insurance rates
• The relationship between texting and driving and other risky behaviors
• The role of education in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on emergency response times
• The effects of texting and driving on cognitive function
• The correlation between texting and driving and car accidents
• The role of social media in promoting safe driving habits
• The impact of distracted driving on workplace productivity
• The relationship between texting and driving and mental health
• The effects of texting and driving on personal relationships
• The role of parents in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on pedestrian safety
• The correlation between texting and driving and road rage
• The relationship between texting and driving and substance abuse
• The effects of texting and driving on sleep patterns
• The role of technology in detecting and preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on academic performance
• The correlation between texting and driving and anxiety
• The relationship between texting and driving and self-esteem
• The effects of texting and driving on decision-making skills
• The role of law enforcement in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on job prospects
• The correlation between texting and driving and depression
• The relationship between texting and driving and eating disorders
• The effects of texting and driving on memory retention
• The role of healthcare providers in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on financial stability
• The correlation between texting and driving and physical health
• The relationship between texting and driving and emotional well-being
• The effects of texting and driving on social skills
• The role of government agencies in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on community safety
• The correlation between texting and driving and social isolation
• The relationship between texting and driving and substance use disorders
• The effects of texting and driving on decision-making processes
• The role of technology companies in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on family dynamics
• The correlation between texting and driving and learning disabilities
• The relationship between texting and driving and physical fitness
• The effects of texting and driving on problem-solving abilities
• The role of media in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on stress levels
• The correlation between texting and driving and communication skills
• The relationship between texting and driving and time management
• The effects of texting and driving on creativity
• The role of advocacy groups in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on personal development
• The correlation between texting and driving and career advancement
• The relationship between texting and driving and academic success
• The effects of texting and driving on physical coordination
• The role of technology addiction in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on mental acuity
• The correlation between texting and driving and emotional intelligence
• The relationship between texting and driving and problem-solving skills
• The effects of texting and driving on decision-making abilities
• The role of social media addiction in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on social relationships
• The correlation between texting and driving and academic achievement
• The relationship between texting and driving and professional success
• The effects of texting and driving on personal growth
• The role of peer pressure in preventing texting and driving
• The impact of distracted driving on physical health
• The correlation between texting and driving and mental well-being
• The relationship between texting and driving and emotional health
• The effects of texting and driving on social development
• The impact of distracted driving on emotional intelligence
• The correlation between texting and driving and cognitive abilities
• The relationship between texting and driving and decision-making skills
• The effects of texting and driving on problem-solving skills
• The impact of distracted driving on interpersonal relationships
• The correlation between texting and driving and academic performance
• The relationship between texting and driving and career success
• The effects of texting and driving on personal fulfillment
• The impact of distracted driving on physical well-being
• The correlation between texting and driving and mental health
• The impact of distracted driving on social connections

These are just a few examples of texting and driving essay topics that you can explore in your writing. Remember to choose a topic that interests you and that you feel passionate about, as this will make your essay more engaging and impactful. By raising awareness about the dangers of texting and driving through your writing, you can help make the roads safer for everyone.

Want to create a presentation now?

Instantly Create A Deck

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Hassle Free

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2023 Pitchgrade

• Youth Program
• Wharton Online
• Business Journal Articles
• Science & Technology

Tackling Texting While Driving: ‘The Decision to Reach for That Phone Can Be Impulsive’

Share Article:

Google Classroom:

You already know that you’re not supposed to text and drive. Your parents have lectured you endlessly about it, you’ve been taught the horror stories about it in driver’s ed class, and you probably live in one of the 49 states where it’s illegal for teens to text behind the wheel.

But the numbers suggest you’re not always getting the message.

Teens were responsible for 9% of all the fatal crashes involving distracted drivers in 2017, according to government figures. While the percentage seems small, that’s nearly 300 deaths that could have been prevented. Not to mention countless injuries.

Kit Delgado, an emergency room physician who’s also an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, gets that it’s hard to keep your hands off your phone. He sees it all the time in patients who come into his ER, like the college student who was heading down the highway to pick up his girlfriend when he heard his phone ding. He picked it up, dropped it on the floorboard, reached down to get it and crashed into the guardrail.

“You talk to any teenager in the country, and they’ve been beaten over the head that texting while driving is dangerous,” Delgado says. “But the decision to reach for that phone can be impulsive, it can be emotional, it can be subconscious and automatic. Even though if you were to step out of the situation, you would say you shouldn’t be doing this.”

The Imperfection of Human Decision-making

Years of treating people who have been hurt in distracted driving crashes is a big reason why Delgado is researching this topic. He’s heading up a multimillion-dollar grant, one of the largest ever funded by the federal government, to figure out the best ways to use technology to help drivers put down their phones. The research team includes experts from the fields of medicine, behavioral economics , psychology, insurance and technology. They hope their work leads to the development of more smartphone programs that can nudge drivers into the correct behavior, like apps that automatically switch on to prevent incoming notifications while in the car.

“What my research group is trying to focus on is how can we design around the imperfection of human decision-making,” Delgado says. “I think we can make a big difference if we can solve for it the right way.”

For starters, Delgado says, “texting while driving” is an antiquated term for talking about the problem. Distracted driving means anything that takes your attention away from the road, whether it’s that Starbucks frappuccino you’re trying to sip, or arguing with your best friend about your Spotify play list. Conversations, eating, drinking, texting, checking emails and social media notifications, using navigation and music apps, even putting on lipstick all contribute to distracted driving.

“For me, it’s not necessarily about cell phones, it’s about all the facets that can be distracting,” notes Catherine McDonald, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing who has been studying teen driving for a decade. She’s working on the grant with Delgado and, like him, is motivated by her own experiences as a nurse treating young people injured in car crashes.

“What’s important to remember about driving is that you’re making decisions not just about yourself, but about other cars that you’re not controlling.” — Catherine McDonald

The research is still in the data -collection phase. Some of that data is coming from an app developed by TruMotion and being used by Progressive Insurance to capture all kinds of driving information – like hard breaking, speed, acceleration and distance traveled. The information will help the researchers figure out how to best use smartphones to help drivers of all ages.

“Tech is pervasive in the lives of teens. It’s a part of their very fabric, and the technology that we think of often is their smartphones that are with them all the time,” says McDonald, who also works at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania Center for Injury Research and Prevention. “This generation of drivers has grown up with the cellphone. They’ve had phones, they’ve seen parents with cellphones, so that piece of tech is a big part of their lives. When we move to the role of driving with teens, it’s figuring out how to keep them safe with that technology.”

To be fair, teens aren’t the worst offenders. Delgado says millennials – typically people between 25 and 34 – are the most distracted drivers of any age group. But the professors say that the lack of driving experience makes distractions most dangerous for teens. “We know it’s one of the leading contributors to fatal crashes in that group,” Delgado notes.

Teens may be doing things they think are safer, like waiting until they’re stopped at a red light to check notifications. But that’s time they could be using to assess what’s coming next – changes in cross-traffic patterns, a ball rolling into the street, a stalled car, and so on. “They need to be using all opportunities to take in information about the road,” McDonald says. “What’s important to remember about driving is that you’re making decisions not just about yourself, but about other cars that you’re not controlling.”

McDonald believes the distracted driving will decrease when society accepts the danger as a norm. For example, smoking, drunken driving and not wearing seat belts are all risky behaviors that have been reduced as people have internalized the message that they are dangerous. She also believes individualized approaches are needed, including assistive technologies.

The professors, guided by their research, were asked to give their best advice for teen drivers, and here’s what they suggest:

• Use a Do Not Disturb app, which is automatically activated on many smartphones. The app prevents you from receiving notifications while driving and sends auto-responses to calls or texts. Some have settings that allow certain notifications to get through, so you can be reached in an emergency.
• Use Apply Auto or Android Auto, available in newer cars, so you can give voice commands for most functions.
• Get a phone mount for your dashboard. This will help you avoid looking down to find or use your phone.
• Pick your playlist ahead of time. Music is one of the biggest distractions for teens, so set up your tunes before you start the vehicle.
• Designate a passenger to handle your phone so that you don’t have to.
• Talk to your parents so they understand you will not answer their calls when driving. Call them back as soon as you’ve reached your destination. “That’s a really simple conversation for a parent and a teen to have,” McDonald says. “Teens can initiate that, and it makes them really responsible.”
• Know the laws in your state. Each jurisdiction is different, but 20 states and Washington, D.C., ban all handheld phone use.
• Turn off your phone.

The professors practice what they preach. McDonald uses Apple Auto, and Delgado has a phone mount and a Do Not Disturb app. “It helps keep me honest,” Delgado says. “I’m busy like everyone else, and taking a few minor steps to counteract those urges to use the phone helps. It’s not easy, but there are a few things you can do that help more than willpower, which almost never works.”

That college student who crashed into the guardrail survived, but he had a head injury. Delgado wants to see more of his patients walk away from car crashes, and that starts with drivers understanding that nothing is more important than what they are doing behind the steering wheel.

“Because, at the end of the day, what really matters is not taking your eyes off the road,” Delgado says. “Anything that takes your eyes off the road for more than a second exponentially increases your crash risk.”

Hear the story of safe-driving advocate Liz Marks , who was 17 when she crashed her car while trying to read a text from her mom. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and facial injuries, and lost her sight in one eye and sense of smell.

Related Links

• State Laws about Texting
• Government Crash Statistics
• Penn Medicine Grant
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Distracted Driving
• Take the Pledge to End Distracted Driving
• For More Tips on Using a DND Function

Conversation Starters

Dr. Delgado says that his study is trying to figure out “how can we design around the imperfection of human decision-making.” What does that mean and how does it apply to the issue of texting while driving? What other issues might it involve?

How many of the professors’ driving tips do you follow?

As a passenger, are you confident enough to speak up if you think the driver is distracted by their phone or just not paying attention? Why or why not?

7 comments on “ Tackling Texting While Driving: ‘The Decision to Reach for That Phone Can Be Impulsive’ ”

As a teenager myself, I experience firsthand the sudden urges to respond to snapchats at a red light or skip to the next song on my phone. So I understand the misconceived notion—that taking your eyes off the road for a second or less is a relatively innocuous action. But it’s these several milliseconds that could change someone’s life forever, or worse, your own life…or worse, death. Think about the impact that checking a text has on others now with a, hopefully, new perspective.

While distracted driving is a serious issue, and while I could fill pages with my thoughts on it, I couldn’t help but think about another issue many teens (and people in general) have faced that is more or less out of their control. Given that the outline of this contest is to “practice critical and reflective thinking,” and “connect ideas, insights and opinions with what [has been] read,” I think that it is appropriate to share all that I have been able to think about recently, despite what I have been reading.

Reflecting on the article about texting and driving, I found it hard to concentrate on the issue that was presented. Rather, my mind kept drifting off to think about how many lives have been affected in the past two weeks. We can thank…

Santino Legan, who decided that an annual garlic festival with four decades of history would be a suitable setting to open fire on young children and their families,

Patrick W. Crusius, who decided to take the issue of illegal immigration into his own hands and target Mexicans in his mission,

and Connor Betts, who decided to kill his biological sister, as well as eight other bystanders with a pistol with a rapid fire rate, for shaking up the country and instilling a new level of fear in US citizens.

We shouldn’t be scared to go shopping, nor should we be scared to enjoy a garlic festival, let alone grabbing a drink with friends. Yet, averaging more than a shooting a day since the start to 2019 is enough for the masses to be “scared.”

Still aligning with the outline of Round 3, which asks for “a personal story,” I have two.

The first one is that tomorrow, I am going to a music festival with my friends and a small part of me is afraid, which shouldn’t have to be the case. The second one is that I am living in a time where unnecessary fear has accrued as a result of lacking administration. In fact, we are all living that story, every day.

I hope that my usage of this platform can help spark discussion and ultimately lead to change.

#endgunviolence

“McDonald believes the distracted driving will decrease when society accepts the danger as a norm. For example, smoking, drunken driving and not wearing seat belts are all risky behaviors that have been reduced as people have internalized the message that they are dangerous.”

McDonald’s claim that risky behaviors like distracted driving will decrease when we internalize the danger behind those behaviors seems to make sense. After all, most people do not put their hand back on the stove after being burned once. However, as the article acknowledges, we already know that we shouldn’t take a call, eat, or daydream while driving, yet we still do it. There’s a gap between knowing something is dangerous, or filling in the correct bubble on a permit test, and internalizing its danger and choosing not to drive distracted.

Maybe a clue to this gap lies in how drivers education teaches danger. After an hour and a half of writing down boring rules in our notebooks (if you are parking uphill with a curb, point the wheels away from the curb…), my driving instructor would play the next episode of a safety film produced by the California Highway Patrol, and it was magic. When the lights came off, our heads would perk up, and we’d all spend the next half hour with our eyes glued on the screen. We couldn’t get enough of the vivid, greater-than-life depiction of high school. After a wild night partying, virtuous teens would make the mistake of driving drunk instead of calling a taxi. While still having wild fun in the car, what was about to happen next would ruin their lives forever. A bump in the road or a patch of ice on a bridge would send the vehicle flipping through the air or spinning out of control. Teens would be rushed to the hospital, and police would later interrogate and arrest some of them. The driver of the car that fateful night would see their friends disappear and forever receive only hateful glances from every direction. Teachers and parents would come on the screen and talk about the bright future the unfortunate victims once had. A scientist would recreate the exact scene of the accident, including a slow-motion of the car flipping through the air, talking about how if they had missed that one pothole, bump, or patch of ice, they might have ended up okay. The movie would end with an officer reminding us sternly that accidents from distracted driving could happen to anyone at any time.

We didn’t think that would happen to us. Of course, some people choose to drive drunk, and maybe cars can flip that many times in the air. But that was entertainment, and it wasn’t us. We were good students who knew the rules of the road, and we had been driving for months without an accident. Perhaps one issue is that the movies seemed too exaggerated, too un-lifelike.

California Highway Patrol must have thought this as well because their older driver’s ed films tried to be more realistic. Red Asphalt, for instance, had been put together from footage of real accidents. While some experts argue that those horror films have lost their effectiveness due to the widespread violence in video games and movies, many drivers education instructors believe that the gorier films are more effective. Most people, including Tom Marshall, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, acknowledge that the film won’t permanently change driving habits, but “if it can get kids to focus on it for the first month or two [that they’re driving], it has done its job.” Whether gore is more effective than drama is up to debate, but educational films’ shift to emotion shows that shock was not effective enough in changing long-term behavior. Indeed, there’s a value in safety films to increase attention in the first few months of supervised driving. However, it seems that after that supervision, we think that those films can’t be us, and return to bad habits.

Unfortunately, this trend holds for other behavior as well. We think that the past will repeat itself in the future, which can lure us into a false sense of security. We are aware of economic bubbles, most famously the Dutch tulip-mania, yet a lot of us continued buying houses up to the Great Recession because the price had risen for the past few years. We cheat on exams because we haven’t been caught before and “only the bad cheaters get caught.” One of my favorite statistics is that 73% of drivers think they’re better than average. After a shock like a bubble collapse or getting caught on a test, we may swear we’ve learned our lesson and change our behavior only to return to bad habits days or weeks later. We’re creatures of habit, and it’s easier not to start a bad habit than to get out of one.

Maybe no driving film can pull us away from already-developed technology addiction. However, there is still another issue on the table: driver’s ed movies may promote the behavior they intend to prevent by glamorizing danger. As journalist Martin Smith notes, Red Asphalt may be one of the most-viewed movies ever, and that may be due to reasons of entertainment, not education.

In his riveting memoir This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff speaks to the risk of glamorizing harmful behavior. The World War II dramas he watched are hauntingly similar to the scare films of today, “always with a somber narrator to remind us that this wasn’t make-believe but actual history, that what we were seeing had really happened and could happen again.” While Wolff acknowledges that the depiction of the Nazis’ downfall produced “glimpses of humiliation and loss,” they only lasted a few minutes. Wolff believes that the point of the show was not to discourage Nazism: “the real point was to celebrate snappy uniforms and racy Mercedes staff cars and great marching, thousands of boots slamming down together on cobbled streets while banners streamed overhead and strong voices sang songs that stirred our blood though we couldn’t understand a word. These shows instructed us further in the faith we were already beginning to hold: that victims are contemptible, no matter how much people pretend otherwise, that it is more fun to be inside than outside, to be arrogant than to be kind, to be with a crowd than to be alone.”

Certainly, not everyone is driven to dangerous behavior in the way that Wolff was. However, the risk of glamorizing danger is real. In one famous example, the DARE program may have encouraged drug use through its aggressive scare tactics.

The dilemma of human nature is that we learn more from putting our hand on the stove than being lectured about the dangers of burning ourselves. Even when we get burned, our learning may be temporary. However, we can’t afford to burn ourselves when it comes to driving. Therefore, the paradox of safety education is to make the danger seem real and instill fear but not to glamorize risky behavior. The gap between learning and internalizing is how much we believe in the world inside the television screen. Through the difference between greater-than-life reality TV and my experiences in the world outside my window, the world on the screen seems slightly foreign. At times, it can even be enticing.

Sources on the effectiveness of Red Asphalt: https://medium.com/@martinjsmith/the-cinematic-genius-of-the-red-asphalt-road-splatter-series-5289d382ffa3 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-21-me-wheel21-story.html

Due to my research, I have found many surprising things about being on your phone while driving. At any given time in the day, 660,000 are attempting to use their phones while behind the wheel of an automobile. To me, this stat shows how many potential accidents there could be on any given day. Another stat that worries me is that 1 in 4 car accidents every day are caused by texting while driving. If we just tried to put down our phones while driving we could reduce the amount of deaths and injuries every day caused by distracted driving.

As a teen I see lots of people risking there lives and mine in cars where texting and driving is normal. I have never had any type or urge myself but that would be mainly due to my minimal use of my phone other than for calling or texting (I dont pick up often). Mainly I keep my phone on silent due to attending classes 5 days a week on top of working. To avoid interrupting situations like my phone going off in class or getting a call at work I’m not supposed to answer. I agree with the statement it goes farther than just the cell phone as well and that our actions that involve anything other than focusing on the road can be detrimental to our lives and it’s not acknowledged enough. Driving is treated lightly until an accident happens and if it is escaped it is regretted when it should not had even taken place. We live our lives through trial and error and it is a dangerous way to live. It’s a way that can end our lives at any moment. It’s like you have to come out lucky to have had the ability to reflect and change your ways but everyone doesn’t get those chances. Your life can be taken away from you at any second without you knowing and texting while driving in a vehicle that doesn’t have 100% protection rate is a risk it may only be 9% now but that can add up the more it’s not changed. -DeMarcus Kilgo kwhs wshs NC

Hey DeMarcus! You are so right that this is a big problem. During my commute, I literally see so many drivers looking down at their phones. Thank you for sharing your perspective. I especially like your line “We live our lives through trial and error and it is a dangerous way to live.” If we just acknowledged the statistics and used some common sense, we could avoid this experimental lifestyle and not put our lives or those of others at risk. Stay safe!

Texting while driving is a horrific yet common act that many still do every day on their commute. While this is not the only distraction a driver faces, it is one of the major causes of distracted driving. While the solution of setting one’s phone on the side seems viable, it is a natural instinct for people nowadays to pick up and check their phones. Even preventions such as turning on “Do Not Disturb” might not work in some cases. Indeed, it does block out notifications, but it still doesn’t prevent the actual act of a driver from reaching their phone to check on it. Despite that these simple approaches are great in preventing some of the causes of distracted driving, they do not cover all aspects of it.

Therefore, I propose a new solution to reduce the amount of distracted driving: tracking sensors on frame glasses or prescription glasses of the driver, which the driver would either wear when they get into the car or in their daily lives. Because being distracted refers to any aspect of not focusing on the road, a sensor on the glasses can detect a movement that is unnatural to driving, such as looking down below the dashboard and not onto the road or mirrors. These driver glasses can connect to a wireless relay box when they enter the car, and once on the road, whenever the driver looks down into an unnatural position, the relay box will beep back in consideration of how alert the driver is on the road, beeping louder the more unaware the driver is through its position of the sensors. We can expand this idea by disabling the phone when it senses movement of the driver trying to beat the system by raising the phone on top of the dashboard or just the standard looking down below the dashboard and reaching for the smartphone.

One might say this system is complicated, as one can just turn off their phone in general, but constantly shutting ones’ phone down may become annoying, which might result in the driver giving up the habit as a whole. On the other hand, studies from the NCBI have found that noise induction will most likely make a person respond accordingly to their surroundings, as the human race has evolved in humanity from nature, so humans will generally react to a sound to perceive danger. Therefore, we can use this ideology to direct our eyes to only focus on the road. Although this system might not beat out all the distractions a driver might face — such as daydreaming or getting distracted by the outer world — it still blocks out the core causes of distracted driving, which include checking the phone, eating, and arguing with someone else about a Spotify Playlist. I believe this innovation can help our society immensely, especially younger generations who are attached to smartphones, as this technology will help cut down their loss of attention on the road.

As Catherine McDonald explained when she stated, “What’s important to remember about driving is that you’re making decisions not just about yourself, but about other cars that you’re not controlling,” driving is a privilege given to us that requires a large amount of responsibility and control. When driving, it is your responsibility to keep yourself safe and to not do anything rash that would risk the safety of the fellow drivers.

There’s no doubt that we’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t text while driving!” numerous times in the past. We’ve all seen the consequences of behaviors such as these, and yet, why do people still do it? Despite knowing just how dangerous and risky these actions may be, why do thousands of drivers do this on a daily basis? Perhaps the thought of “that’ll never happen to me because I’ll be careful” deceives us, but the severity of the situation cannot be taken lightly.

Many different ideas have been suggested to the public over recent years, with recent ones including a Do Not Disturb While Driving addition to the iPhones, and Auto Apply/Android Auto for newer models of cars. Although we’ve definitely all tried these methods at some point, our temptations may get the better of us at the end of the day. So is there really any method that can prevent texting while driving for sure? As of right now, there really isn’t. But that doesn’t mean that there can’t be one in the near future.

The only way to solve a problem is to get rid of the source of the problem itself. The source of the problem would be the phones, right? The easiest and best thing to do in this scenario would be to remove the phones from plain sight, so the driver could focus on driving. As John Heywood once said, “Out of sight, out of mind.” By implementing current technology, there could be a surefire way to prevent texting while driving. In the car, there could be a compartment installed, and that compartment would be there for one purpose: to hold your phone. However, this compartment would be directly connected to the car’s ability to move, and without the device being inside the compartment, the car wouldn’t be able to be put into drive. To prevent any possible loophole, the compartment would also have a sensor installed, and this sensor would be used to detect that the device has been put into the compartment. After the device has been placed into the compartment, it wouldn’t be able to be removed until the proper destination has been reached. The phone would then be released from the constraints of the compartment, and you could go on to do whatever you needed to do safely. In case of an emergency, the phone would be automatically linked to the car via bluetooth, and with a single sentence, you would be able to call 911. The compartment would then send a GPA location directly to the police, and within minutes, they would arrive to help you in your time of need. With the addition of a new gadget like this, driving while texting would no longer be a hindrance. Everyone could drive safely, and they could rest assured knowing that something as rash as texting while driving wouldn’t be the cause of injury or fatality.

If there’s anything that commenting on KWHS has taught me, it’s that nothing is impossible. Young scholars from all over the world are coming up with new innovative ways to make the world a much better place everyday, and with the current technology that we possess, creating new things is no longer a burden. With the combined innovative thoughts from scholars all over the world, problems such as these will no longer cause us so much harm. It’s all up to whether we’re willing to work together to achieve this goal.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Articles

Two young women share their struggles and successes with student loan debt, poor perfume sales reveal the powerful connection between business and celebrity.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Int J Environ Res Public Health
• PMC10001711

Texting While Driving: A Literature Review on Driving Simulator Studies

Gheorghe-daniel voinea.

1 Department of Automotive and Transport Engineering, Transilvania University of Brașov, 29 Eroilor Blvd., 500036 Brasov, Romania

Răzvan Gabriel Boboc

Ioana-diana buzdugan, csaba antonya, george yannis.

2 Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 5 Heroon Polytechniou str., GR-15773 Athens, Greece

Associated Data

Not applicable.

Road safety is increasingly threatened by distracted driving. Studies have shown that there is a significantly increased risk for a driver of being involved in a car crash due to visual distractions (not watching the road), manual distractions (hands are off the wheel for other non-driving activities), and cognitive and acoustic distractions (the driver is not focused on the driving task). Driving simulators (DSs) are powerful tools for identifying drivers’ responses to different distracting factors in a safe manner. This paper aims to systematically review simulator-based studies to investigate what types of distractions are introduced when using the phone for texting while driving (TWD), what hardware and measures are used to analyze distraction, and what the impact of using mobile devices to read and write messages while driving is on driving performance. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A total of 7151 studies were identified in the database search, of which 67 were included in the review, and they were analyzed in order to respond to four research questions. The main findings revealed that TWD distraction has negative effects on driving performance, affecting drivers’ divided attention and concentration, which can lead to potentially life-threatening traffic events. We also provide several recommendations for driving simulators that can ensure high reliability and validity for experiments. This review can serve as a basis for regulators and interested parties to propose restrictions related to using mobile phones in a vehicle and improve road safety.

1. Introduction

Road safety is increasingly threatened by distracted driving. One of the highest-risk forms of distracted driving is texting while driving (TWD) [ 1 , 2 ] alongside talking on the phone while driving (TPWD) [ 3 , 4 ]. After decades of research, the statistics show that the risks associated with TWD are very high [ 5 ]. According to the United Nations Road Safety statistical data [ 6 ], car traffic crashes cause more than 1.35 million deaths and injure as many as 50 million people annually worldwide, and a significant cause of such crashes is distracted driving [ 7 ]. Considering that, distracted driving has become a common topic in studies that aim to find solutions to reduce traffic injuries and death.

A general approach to road safety is to identify and analyze all distraction activities that can lead to a crash [ 8 , 9 ]. For example, in 2019, the road traffic injuries statistics showed that a total of 36,096 deaths were reported in the US, of which 8.7 percent were attributed to driver distraction due to phone use, eating, and so on [ 10 ]. In the EU, the European Commission reported a decrease in the number of fatal crashes in 2020 compared to 2019 by up to 17%, a year in which it was estimated that 18,800 people lost their lives in car crashes [ 11 ]. Lower traffic due to the pandemic restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic had a clear, though unmeasurable, contribution to this. Although the average number of fatalities has decreased (for example, Romania showed a decrease of 12%), some countries reported an increase (Switzerland reported an increase of 21%) [ 12 ], which indicates that there is still a need for more countermeasures. Romania, on the other hand, is at the top of the list when it comes to road traffic fatalities, with 85 car crashes per million inhabitants [ 13 ]. These crashes are caused by distraction factors, both internal (e.g., a smartphone) and external (e.g., a roadside advertisement), in addition to situations in which the driver has consumed alcohol or prohibited substances [ 10 ].

Road safety could be improved if it is analyzed from several perspectives. For example, a bibliometric review covering 10 years of research focused on cyclist safety has proposed several recommendations that can lead to well-designed and safer bike networks [ 14 ]. In [ 15 ], the authors investigated the effect of cardiovascular and respiratory physiological parameters on driver’s mental workload. The findings are conflicting, with some studies suggesting that variations in heart rate (HR) and heart-rate variability (HRV) can reflect changes in mental workload. Due to external influences, respiratory rate (RR) demonstrated little importance in most studies, and it has not been a popular choice for researching driving mental workload. The authors conclude that machine learning algorithms combined with subjective and objective data may yield accurate results in assessing mental effort.

Driver distraction can be defined as “any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on the cell phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in the vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system” [ 16 ]. The most common sources of distractions are mobile phone use, interaction with passengers, drinking, eating, and controlling in-vehicle devices [ 9 ]. There are three basic techniques to determine the distracted state of the driver: studying drivers’ visual scanning patterns, detecting physiological signals, and evaluating driving performance. Driver distraction is often studied and analyzed using various equipment, such as driving simulators, eye-tracking devices, and so on [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Most of the studies demonstrated that a driver’s performance could be influenced when a non-driving secondary task is performed at the same time while driving (e.g., cell phone use, TWD, etc.). Therefore, many governments, including those in Europe, the United States, and other countries across the world, have approved restrictions on cell-phone use while driving [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].

According to [ 24 ], driving performance is defined as “performance of the driving task”, where the driving task includes “all aspects involved in mastering a vehicle to achieve a certain goal (e.g., reach a destination), including tracking, regulating, monitoring and targeting”. The driving task requires a wide range of cognitive and physical abilities, such as perception, attention, decision-making, and situational awareness [ 25 ]. Thus, driving performance is a crucial indicator of a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely and effectively. To comprehensively assess a driver’s capabilities while driving, it is essential to analyze all relevant driving performance parameters, such as lateral control through the standard deviation of lateral position [ 26 ], lateral clearance and time-to-danger [ 27 ], longitudinal control, reaction time, gap acceptance, eye movement, and workload measures [ 28 ]. However, drivers might get so distracted by an activity or event that they cannot react promptly, thus compromising their ability to drive safely. Different types of distractions can influence driving performance, such as visual (the driver is not looking at the road), manual (one hand or both hands are off the steering wheel, e.g., text messaging), and cognitive (the driver is not mentally present while driving, as the attention is focused on the secondary task, e.g., focus on phone) [ 29 ]. For example, initiating, writing, and sending a text message while driving involves visual, manual, and cognitive resources. The main effects of distracted driving are increased steering-wheel deviations [ 30 ], higher standard deviations of lateral lane position [ 17 ], increased reaction time [ 18 , 31 ], lower longitudinal control [ 32 ], increased brake time [ 33 ], and decreased driving speed [ 34 ].

In recent years, several smart devices that are worn or attached to the body have been developed that have hands-free functions and can stay connected to the network at any time. Wearables frequently utilize various input modalities (such as touch, speech, or gesture), making their functionalities even more accessible to drivers on the road than a cell phone. Several studies have concluded that the use of mobile or portable devices while driving, such as smartwatches, navigation systems, and Google Glass, has been found to pose a risk to driving safety comparable to conversing on a mobile phone [ 35 ]. For example, Glass-delivered messages did not eliminate the distracting cognitive demands, finding that both Google Glass and writing a message on the phone require the same attention resources. Moreover, whether it comes from a smartwatch or smartphone, engaging with notifications carries the risk of taking the attention from the driving task [ 36 ].

Many researchers have used driving simulators to collect data that can improve road safety, identify and analyze driving profiles, and propose recommendations or policies. Experiments employed in a secure, versatile, and controlled environment have allowed scholars to study potentially dangerous driving scenarios and infer valuable knowledge. However, some possible drawbacks should be mentioned, mainly the external validity (the degree to which a real-world environment can be replicated), the high initial acquisition cost, and the simulator sickness which may be experienced by novice participants [ 37 , 38 ].

Research driving simulators in the early eighties, such as HYSIM—Highway Driving Simulator [ 39 ], consisted mainly of a fixed-based platform and an interactive visual–audio application. The main improvements that followed were increased graphics quality, advanced motion representation through Stewart motion platforms (Six Degrees of Freedom, 6DOF), cabin and control equipment, realistic vehicle sounds, and environmental factors [ 40 ]. Driving simulators were typically described using a three-level system (low-level, mid-level, and high-level) but without having a specific classification criterion [ 37 ]. Other classifications were proposed by [ 41 ] (Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4; however, the criteria are not explicitly defined), [ 42 ] (their approach included a five-band classification with six main parameters), and [ 37 ] (A, B, C, and D levels; the criteria were adapted from Helicopter Flight Simulation Classification and include four sets of parameters: general, motion system, visual system, and sound system). The papers included in this work were classified according to [ 37 ] because of their explicit and well-defined methodology.

High-level driving simulators can offer some advantages, such as increased awareness of the surrounding environment due to high-resolution and wide field-of-view display systems [ 43 ]. Low-level driving simulators also have well-documented benefits, such as decreased simulator sickness and increased portability and affordability. The work of [ 44 ] highlighted the issue of visual fidelity and proposed a methodology to design, calibrate, and use driving simulators. Moreover, [ 45 ] showed that visual fidelity significantly impacts driving performance. Based on the acquired knowledge from the current work, we propose several recommendations for driving simulators that can ensure high reliability and validity of the experiments.

This review aims to highlight the impact of using mobile devices to read and write messages while driving in a simulated environment, with the overarching goal of enhancing traffic safety through several recommendations and pointing out future research directions. The paper’s content focuses on four research questions (RQs) that emphasize the general characteristics that contribute to the need of improving traffic safety:

RQ1: What types of distractions are introduced when using the phone for TWD?

RQ2: What types of hardware devices were used during experiments to analyze the driver’s performance?

RQ3: What measures were used to predict and analyze distractions?

RQ4: What is the impact of using mobile devices to read and write messages while driving?

The overall structure of the paper is as follows: Section 2 describes the research methodology. Section 3 presents the results, with a focus on answering to the RQs mentioned above. Section 4 presents the main findings, the proposed recommendations for future research, and the limitations of the work. Finally, Section 5 draws the conclusions of this review of the literature.

The review was conducted by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR). Scoping reviews aim to determine the scope or coverage of a body of the literature on a given topic [ 46 ] and identify key concepts and types and sources of evidence to inform practice, policymaking, and research [ 47 ]. For this review, we followed the checklist given in [ 48 ].

2.1. Protocol

The manuscript was not previously recorded on PROSPERO or published before, even if the protocol was written before the work began.

2.2. Eligibility Criteria and Study Selection

The studies that met the following criteria were included in the review: full-text, original research in a peer-reviewed journal, published in the English language, and included driving simulators. There was no restriction on the publication year.

Studies were excluded from the review according to the following criteria: commentary manuscripts; reviews of the literature; editorials; short papers; magazines; dissertations; book chapters; conference papers; non-academic publications; papers that are not available in full text; and studies irrelevant to the research, i.e., that did not investigate the relationship between distracted drivers, mobile phone, use and driving simulators.

We preferred to include only journal articles in our review to maintain high scientific relevance, as they are subject to rigorous review, unlike other types of publications, including conference articles.

2.3. Information Sources

The following databases were searched in three phases (on 08 January 2021, 10 May 2021, and 14 November 2022): ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Science Direct, SAGE Journals, and ProQuest.

2.4. Search

The review of the literature was conducted with a combination of keywords: “distraction”, “phone”, and “driving simulator”. Additional terms were identified during the first investigation and were used in combination in the search process: “distracted”, “disruptive”, “smartphone”, “mobile phone”, “cell phone”, and “simulation”. Example of search strategy for Scopus database:

ALL ((“distracted” OR “disruptive” OR “disturbing” OR “distraction”) AND (“driving” OR “driver” OR “driver behaviour”) AND (“car” OR “vehicle” OR “automobile” OR “truck”) AND (“simulator” OR “simulation” OR “virtual environment” OR “simulated environment”)) AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, “ar”)).

As can be seen, no limit was imposed for the year of publication.

2.5. Study Selection

The five abovementioned electronic databases were searched, and the title, abstracts, and other details were downloaded to EndNote (version X9, Clarivate, Philadelphia, PA, USA) for screening. In the first phase, they were screened only by the title and abstract, and after removing the irrelevant articles, the full-text documents of the remaining ones were uploaded in EndNote for the second screening phase. Screening and selection were performed independently by two of the authors (RGB and GDV) and were validated by the third author (CA). Disagreements were resolved through consensus.

The search strategy is shown in Figure 1 . Through this selection procedure, 7151 papers were obtained. After removing the duplicated ones, this number was reduced to 5904 papers. Titles and abstracts were analyzed, and articles were included in the review if they were related to studies that investigated the use of mobile phones while driving in a simulator. A total of 542 articles were found, but 475 of them were excluded due to the following reasons: some of them were conference articles, some did not use a car simulator, others were not available for download or were review articles, some assessed pedestrian distraction or the car’s navigation system, others did not use the telephone as a distraction factor, 1 was scholarly paper, 1 used listening audiobooks as a distraction factor, 1 was about e-hailing, and 2 were duplicated. In addition, this paper is intended to be a second part of the work [ 3 ], in which the distraction caused by talking on the phone was taken into account. In this regard, the papers focused on talking on the phone were excluded. However, the articles that dealt with the evaluation of both activities—talking and texting—were not removed. Finally, 67 articles were selected for data extraction in this systematic review of the literature.

Study identification and selection based on the PRISMA-ScR flow diagram.

2.6. Data Extraction

As previously mentioned, the data extraction was performed by two authors (RGB and GDV) and was then validated by a third author (CA). A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was created to centralize the following information: first author, year of publication, journal name, region (the country where the experiment took place), institution where the research was conducted, sample size, age, gender, and driving experience, type of simulator, driving scenario, tracking device, type of distraction factors, distraction task, type of evaluated measures, effect on a performance measure, independent variables, and statistical analysis technique.

Each reference was read in its entirety by the designated author, and the extracted data were added to the table. The location was based on the country from where the participants were recruited. If the user study involved samples from different countries, we considered the institution’s location that managed the experiment.

The extracted information was classified into 4 categories related to the characteristics of the studies and the four research questions: “What types of distractions are introduced when using the phone for TWD?”, “What types of hardware devices were used during experiments to analyze the driver’s performance?”, ”What measures were used to predict and analyze distraction?”, and “What is the impact of using mobile devices to read and write messages while driving?”.

2.7. Synthesis of the Results

The results of the literature review are given in the following section, with each subsection corresponding to an objective or a research question proposed in this study.

3.1. Characteristics of Studies

The main characteristics of the papers, such as publication date and demographic data, are briefly presented in Appendix A Table A1 . The 67 studies selected for the review cover a range of 21 years (2002–2022). The number of published papers varies, from 1 paper in 2002 and 2003 to 10 papers in 2021. The highest number of articles were published in 2021. The studies included in the review were published in the following journals: Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour ( n = 13); Accidents Analysis and Prevention ( n = 12); Applied Ergonomics ( n = 4); Transportation Research Record ( n = 4); Human Factors ( n = 3); Traffic Injury Prevention ( n = 3); and several other journals, such as Safety Science , IEEE Access , Journal of Safety Research , and Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies .

Most of the studies were developed in North America ( n = 22), and more particularly in the USA ( n = 18) ( Figure 2 ). The other studies were conducted in Europe ( n = 19), Asia ( n = 17), and Oceania ( n = 9). In Europe, most publications are from Greece ( n = 4), Germany ( n = 3), and The Netherlands ( n = 3). In Asia, most of the publications are from China ( n = 7) and India ( n = 5), and from Oceania, most studies were developed in Australia ( n = 8).

Distribution of papers by country/region.

American, Indian, and Australian research institutions dominate the total number of articles focused on assessing the impact of phone use while driving in virtual environments ( Figure 3 ). Most studies were developed at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay ( n = 5), followed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham ( n = 4), Monash University ( n = 3), and Queensland University of Technology ( n = 3).

Distribution of papers by research institution.

The analysis of co-occurrence terms was performed using VOS Viewer software version 1.6.18 in order to identify the most frequently used terms and the relationship between them. The minimum number of occurrences of a keyword was selected to be 10, resulting in 35 terms that meet the threshold of the total of 716 keywords. The result of the co-occurrence analysis is presented in Figure 4 . As can be observed, the most frequently used keyword was “human”, with 31 occurrences, followed by “automobile drivers”, “car driving”, “driving simulator”, and “mobile phone”. The co-occurrence network map generated by VOS Viewer suggested the division be into three clusters differentiated by colors.

Network diagram of the most frequently used terms.

In order to infer connections between the authors and their research topics, the co-citation network was also examined using VOS Viewer. This network entails recognizing pairs of authors who were referenced together in the same publications. Figure 5 shows the results in which the minimum number of citations of an author was set to 20. A number of 39 authors meet the threshold, and four clusters are distinguished.

Author co-citations network.

The selected studies included a sample of 3033 participants ( n =1984 male; n = 1049 female) who participated in simulated driving experiments. The minimum number was 14 [ 49 ], and the maximum was 134 [ 50 ] participants per study. The gender distribution was not mentioned in two of the extracted studies.

The age of the participants is between 16 and 79 years old; however, in 17 studies, the age interval is not reported. However, the mean age is reported in more studies ( n = 59), and the unweighted mean age is 39.6 years across all of these studies. Moreover, the standard deviation is mentioned in 52 studies and is 4.98 across all studies. Only two articles do not mention the age range, the mean age, and the standard deviation.

All participants were assumed to be clinically healthy, except for the participants in one study focusing on teens with and without ADHD [ 51 ].

3.2. RQ1: What Types of Distractions Are Introduced When Using the Phone for TWD

To find out what sources of distraction were used in the studies, we extracted the information on the type of distraction and divided the distractions into the following categories according to [ 52 , 53 ]: visual (V), auditory (Au), manual (M) (physical), and cognitive (C) distraction. The results are presented in Figure 6 , as well as in Appendix A Table A1 for each individual study. As can be seen, most articles (34% of the total number of papers, n = 23) considered both manual and visual components when assessing the effects of performing secondary tasks while driving. Each secondary task contains one or more components. Examples of visual distractions include interaction with in-vehicle devices [ 54 ], the use of smartphone applications while driving [ 55 ], looking around, and so on. Auditory distractions emerge when drivers focus on other sounds, such as the ringing of the phone, voice conversations, the radio, etc. Manual distractions involve eating [ 56 ], drinking [ 29 ] while driving, or doing anything other than manipulating the steering wheel. Finally, cognitive distractions occur when the driver has his/her mind in another place and fails to see what is important on the road. Studies showed that TWD could introduce all of these types of distractions, and even for short durations, they might lead to driving errors and even crashes [ 57 ]. Furthermore, most activities unrelated to the driving task combine these four modes [ 58 ]. For instance, the most common compound distraction is a visual–manual distraction, defined as a secondary activity that involves using hand gestures to manipulate a visual interface [ 59 ].

Distribution of papers by the source of distraction type (V—visual; Au—auditory; M—manual (physical); and C—cognitive).

While some articles focused on the visual component [ 55 , 60 , 61 ], others considered two, three, or even four types of distractions. For instance, both cognitive and visual components were highlighted in [ 29 , 62 , 63 ]; cognitive and manual components were presented in [ 64 , 65 ]; and visual–manual distraction was evaluated in [ 35 , 66 , 67 ]. As we have seen, only one article considered all four components of distraction: [ 68 ]. In this paper, visual–manual and auditory–vocal interfaces were evaluated, but also the subjective workload was considered as a measure of cognitive distraction.

Some studies investigated the effects of cell phone use in comparison with other secondary tasks, such as talking to a passenger (two studies: [ 49 , 69 ]), eating (four studies: [ 56 , 57 , 70 , 71 ]), radio tuning (five studies: [ 67 , 69 , 72 , 73 , 74 ]), using navigation systems (three studies: [ 33 , 58 , 74 ]), taking pictures [ 75 ] or selfies [ 76 ], adjusting climate control [ 72 ], reading emails (three studies: [ 55 , 63 , 77 ]), drinking [ 29 ], watching video and using social media [ 63 ], switching display view and searching songs [ 55 ], and sharing numbers [ 76 ]. Other studies compare phone use with other types of devices, such as the smartwatch (three studies: [ 36 , 68 , 78 ]) and Google Glass (two studies: [ 54 , 79 ]). Moreover, instead of using the phone for texting, some researchers used smartphones to perform tasks on social media, such as using Facebook (three studies: [ 20 , 80 , 81 ]), Snapchat, Instagram [ 82 ], Whatsapp [ 83 ], or some self-developed applications [ 60 , 84 ]. In one study, the use of mobile phones while driving was evaluated in parallel with drunk driving: [ 85 ].

The distraction tasks were divided into two categories: handheld (HH)—holding the device in hand; or hands-free (HF)—performing the task without using hands to hold the device. In 86% of the studies ( n = 51), the task was performed using HH devices. In 5 studies, both HH and HF devices were used, and in 11 studies, the HF devices were preferred.

3.3. RQ2: What Types of Hardware Devices Were Used during Experiments to Analyze the Driver’s Performance?

3.3.1. driving simulator equipment.

Regarding the simulators used in the analyzed studies, 84% of experiments ( n = 56 studies) were conducted in fixed-based simulators. The other experiments were carried out in driving simulators equipped with motion systems having from 2 to 6 degrees of freedom (DOFs). Each study was classified according to the work of [ 40 ], which proposed a classification method for driving simulators that was adapted from flight-simulator classification standards (see Appendix A Table A1 ). The proposed classes were defined by taking into consideration four sets of criteria: general information, such as environmental modeling and the hardware complexity of the replicated vehicle; the presence of a motion system and the number of degrees of freedom; visual capabilities, especially the field of view; and the sound system which is essential for driver immersion. Class A simulators are at the bottom of the list with no requirement for the motion platform, basic cabin equipment, and basic visual and sound capabilities. Custom-made driving simulators in class A include a desktop computer, steering wheel, gas pedal, and brake pedal, as in the following works: [ 61 , 67 , 86 , 87 ]. On the other end, class D simulators require a motion platform with a minimum of six DOFs, at least 180 degrees field of view, and a realistic visual and acoustic environment. Class B simulators were the most popular, as they were used in 36 studies, followed by class A, with 21 studies; class C, with 4 studies; and last but not least, class D simulators, with 6 studies.

The following class C and D simulators were identified: CARRS-Q Advanced Driving Simulator [ 76 , 88 , 89 ], the moving-base driving simulator from Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences [ 63 ], DS-600c Advanced Research Simulator developed by DriveSafety (3 studies: [ 20 , 73 , 82 ]), Ford’s VIRtual Test Track EXperiment [ 72 ], and VS500M driving simulator [ 30 ]. One experiment was performed in a driving simulator with three DOFs: [ 90 ], and three experiments were performed in two-DOF driving simulators: [ 20 , 55 , 82 ]. We also extracted some commercially available class A and B driving simulators: Foerst Driving Simulator (three studies: [ 81 , 91 , 92 ]), PatrolSim high-fidelity driving simulator [ 66 ], NADS MiniSim [ 36 ], and EF-X from ECA-Faros (two studies: [ 31 , 80 ]). Most systems are developed by Systems Technology Inc., Hawthorne, CA, USA, both hardware and software (used in 10 of the included articles).

The type of display varies among the studies between screen-based projection systems and systems containing monitors. Thirty-nine studies used monitors, ranging from a single monitor to a system of five monitors, and twenty-seven studies in which the display system was based on projectors. The number of screens on which the images were projected ranged from 1 to 7. One paper did not clearly report the information related to the display. The visual field of view (FOV) varied between 40° and 300° for horizontal view and between 24° and 60° for vertical view. However, this information is not reported in a large number of articles (over 16). The most advanced display is installed on the DS-600c advanced simulator, which is composed of seven high-definition projectors that provide 300 FOV to drivers [ 82 ]. In terms of vertical FOV, the highest value is found in [ 93 ] due to the use of large screens surrounding the simulator.

The simulated scenarios contain various types of roads (urban, rural, highway, single lane, and multilane), with lengths varying from 1 to 38.6 km. The lengths were reported by the authors in either kilometers, meters, miles, or feet but were transformed into kilometers in this paper. The longest route is presented in [ 94 ], having 24 miles (equivalent to 38.6 km). As for the duration of the experiments, it varies from 2 min [ 33 ] to 120 min [ 63 , 95 ]. In this case, only 40 of the articles reported the duration of the experiment.

Fourteen studies reported that the simulator uses an automatic transmission, seven studies stated that a manual transmission was used in the experiments, and the rest of the papers did not explicitly state this information.

The impact of the secondary task was assessed in various driving scenarios. Of these, two types were identified as the majority: 19% of studies ( n = 13) used a car-following scenario, which requires following a lead vehicle and responding to its behavior [ 96 ] and which is the most common routine driving situation [ 97 ]. In 50 studies (75% of the total number of articles), the first task was to free drive on a route or to follow a path along which one or more incidents occurred. Examples of such incidents include the sudden appearance of an animal on the roadway [ 29 , 81 ], the sudden appearance of a pedestrian crossing the street [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 51 , 60 , 65 , 76 , 90 ], a cyclist entering the roadway [ 36 , 51 , 65 ], a parked car pulls out onto the road [ 18 , 90 ], and so on.

Apart from car-following and free-driving scenarios, the other articles contain the following scenarios: a crossing road [ 88 ], rail level crossing [ 31 ], steering along the lane’s center [ 87 ], and lane changing [ 98 ].

3.3.2. Driver-Tracking Equipment

The information about the driver’s performance was collected through the hardware and software systems of the simulator, but in 33% of the total number of studies, additional driver-tracking devices were used. Thus, in twenty articles, a device for tracking the driver’s gaze was used; in one article, brain–computer interface (BCI) systems were used; and in one article, the whole body of the user was tracked. For eye-tracking, some researchers used simple video cameras and extracted the information by manual coding of the recorded video: [ 54 , 58 , 60 , 68 , 93 , 99 ]. Others used specialized eye-tracking devices: Fovio eye tracker [ 20 ]; Ergoneers’ Dikablis Essential head-mounted eye tracker [ 36 , 55 ]; eye-tracking system developed by Seeing Machines, Ltd. (Canberra, Australia): faceLAB™ 4.1 [ 90 ]; faceLAB™ 5.0 [ 31 ]; Pupil Lab’s Pro head-mounted eye tracker [ 100 ]; SmartEye6.0 [ 69 ]; eye-tracking glasses developed by SensoMotoric Instruments, Berlin, Germany [ 74 , 78 , 101 ]; Tobii Pro Glasses 2 [ 80 , 84 ], Ergoneers Dikablis Eye Tracker 3 glasses [ 102 ]; and one paper did not mention the device. A MindCap XL headband equipped with a NeuroSky sensor was used to measure brain activity [ 59 ]. In [ 33 ], a high-speed infrared camera Motion Analysis Corp., Santa Rosa, CA, USA, was used to track the full body of the participants.

Four papers considered the physiological data taken from the participants during the experiment. In these studies, heart rate and skin conductance were measured using devices such as the MEDAC System/3 instrumentation unit by NeuroDyne Medical Corporation [ 54 , 68 ] and Biopac BioNomadix3 MP150WSW system [ 60 ], and heart rate plus other cardiovascular reactivity indicators (root mean square of successive differences, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure) were measured in [ 65 ].

3.4. RQ3: What Measures Were Used to Analyze and Predict Distraction?

The selected studies include several measures to assess driving distractions. Most of them are driving-simulator-dependent variables used to assess the driver’s performance under the influence of distractions. Choosing such measures is an appropriate approach in the context of car simulators, as no additional sensors are needed. We grouped driving-performance measures into seven categories, starting from the classifications found in [ 103 ] and [ 104 ] and adding a new category regarding variables that are not necessarily related to vehicle-performance parameters: traffic violations (TrVs), driving maintenance (DM), attention lapses (ALs), response time (RT), hazard anticipation (HA), accident probability (AP), other measures (OMs). The distribution of papers according to these categories is presented in Figure 7 . In some studies, variables belonging to only one category are used, while in others, they are part of two, three, or even all four categories. Most articles used measures from the DM category (49 studies), followed by RT (22 studies), OMs (21 studies), TrVs (12 studies), AP (4 studies), ALs (2 studies), and HA (1 study).

Distribution of papers according to driving performance measure categories (TrVs—traffic violations; DM—driving maintenance; ALs—attention lapses; RT—response time; HA—hazard anticipation; AP—accident probability; and OMs—other measures).

In the DM category, the following measures were included: lane-keeping measured by the standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP) [ 35 , 60 ]; speed variables, such as mean speed [ 19 , 34 , 105 ] and standard deviation (SD) of speed [ 34 ]; steering control, including steering angle [ 106 , 107 ] and SD of steering angle [ 17 ]; time to collision [ 64 ]; and headway measured in space–distance headway [ 88 ] or in time–time headway [ 108 ].

RT includes brake reaction time [ 20 , 109 ] and other time variables in response to a pop-up event [ 18 ]. In the TrVs category, variables such as speed violation [ 72 ] and the number of collisions [ 77 ] were considered. ALs include results related to cognitively demanding and texting compared to four different blood-alcohol-concentration (BAC) levels: 0.00, 0.04, 0.07, and 0.10 [ 85 ]. OMs consist of other variables that cannot be included in the categories presented above: task completion time [ 67 , 68 ]; workload [ 87 ]; or variables related to eye tracking, such as the number of glances [ 78 , 84 ], off-road glances [ 54 , 69 ], and saccade amplitude [ 102 ]. The most common measures that were examined in the analyzed studies are presented in Figure 8 .

Main measures used in the experiments of the examined studies (SD—standard deviation).

In addition to measures related to the driving performance or other types of outcomes measured using sensors or self-reported, some of the studies also took into account additional parameters or independent parameters, such as the age of participants (A), driving experience (E), gender of participants (G), weather (W), road configuration (RC), and traffic flow (T). There are 18 articles that analyzed these additional parameters. In most studies, age was considered to be an independent parameter (11 studies), followed by gender (3 studies), driving experience (3 studies), traffic flow (2 studies), road configuration (2 studies), and weather (2 studies). There are studies that consider two or more parameters: A and E [ 32 , 100 ], A and G [ 19 , 86 ], RC and T [ 18 ], and RC and W [ 91 ].

Related to the statistical analysis of data, the most used technique was the analysis of variance (ANOVA), being applied in 33 of the selected studies. Other statistical methods used in the works were multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA; 1 study), Wilcoxon signed rank test (10 studies), Wald test (6 studies), t-test (8 studies), regression analysis (3 studies), logistic regression analysis (1 study), linear mixed models (2 studies), and generalized linear model (2 studies).

3.5. RQ4: What Is the Impact of Using Mobile Devices to Read and Write Messages While Driving?

The selected studies were found to vary in several aspects: the proposed objective, the number of participants in the experiments, the infrastructure used to pursue the proposed objective, the outcomes, and so on. However, there is an agreement between the main outcomes of these studies. That is that text messaging, which mostly involves visual and manual distraction, has a significantly larger influence on driving performance [ 66 ] than a phone conversation. The main effects of this secondary task are increased variability in lane position and missed lane changes [ 90 ], increased brake reaction time [ 82 ], greater speed variability [ 110 ], increased steering variation per second [ 30 ], and higher completion times [ 88 ], as well as a higher risk of accidents than other in-vehicle tasks, such as tuning the car radio [ 67 ]. Even though drivers are aware that it is dangerous [ 98 ] and illegal in many countries to use a mobile phone while driving, they cannot resist the temptation to read and reply to messages, especially in the case of younger drivers [ 64 ]. Sending or reading a text from a smartphone takes the driver’s eyes off the road for 5 s, and, at a speed of 55 mph, that is similar to driving the length of an entire football field with the eyes closed [ 111 ].

Another secondary activity that has a negative impact on the driver’s performance is using social media [ 63 ]. However, this was not found to be as detrimental as texting [ 20 ] since image-based interfaces may provide a safer way to stay connected while driving than text-based interfaces [ 82 ]. Moreover, the side effects of using social media can be prevented with the help of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADASs) [ 80 ].

Visual–manual distractions negatively influence lateral lane position variability [ 112 ] and the average speed [ 57 ] by taking the driver’s eyes off the road [ 58 ] and increasing the mental workload [ 78 ]. Auditory distraction has been studied less, but it also seems to affect drivers’ performance by negatively affecting situation awareness and mean speed [ 113 ]. However, driving performance is less affected when travel information is presented in auditory mode [ 93 ]. A proper user interface (UI) design of smartphone applications could reduce the visual and cognitive demands of the driver when engaged in secondary activities. However, there is plenty of room for improvement of UIs in the automotive context. One design feature that could alleviate the drivers’ visual–manual demands is the integration of speech-to-text technology in either mobile phones or in-vehicle systems [ 55 ].

Using a mobile phone while driving can lead to compensatory measures to mitigate the effect of the distraction. Drivers could increase their vigilance [ 106 ], adopt a reduced speed [ 19 , 67 ], increase their distance from the leading vehicle [ 114 ], and self-regulate the secondary task [ 112 ]. It is worth noting that the driving task also negatively influences the texting task by inducing accuracy errors [ 115 ] and an increased response [ 116 ].

Regarding the independent variables, some findings can be extracted from the analyzed studies. The driver’s age can be used to predict driving performance significantly when it is correlated with the driving experience. To illustrate this aspect, [ 72 ] found that teens are not responsible enough while driving, as they have inadequate vehicle-control abilities and are more likely to be distracted from HH phone tasks compared to older drivers. However, young people have lower longitudinal control during distracted driving [ 32 ] and are more likely to accept a gap in intersections [ 88 ]. The age may be counterbalanced by driving experience, but in the case of TWD, it does not have any influence. In terms of gender, it was found that male drivers drove at higher speeds [ 19 ], while female drivers performed a higher number of lane excursions and had a higher reaction time compared to male drivers [ 17 , 18 , 75 ]. Moreover, male drivers tend to be more positive toward on-board traffic messages and in-vehicle systems [ 86 ].

Regarding the road configuration variable, it was observed that road geometry (especially curved road and vertical alignments) has a more significant influence on speed and lateral position than mobile-phone distraction [ 89 ]. Furthermore, it was found that text messaging could lead to behaviors that can obstruct traffic flow [ 94 ].

Another relevant outcome is that weather does not seem to influence the mean speed, but it can negatively affect the mean reaction time [ 91 ].

Some secondary tasks, such as eating and drinking while driving, have fewer distracting effects on the driver’s performance than phone texting [ 29 , 56 ]. In addition, operating a music player was found to be less risky than texting, which was reported to be an extremely risky task [ 71 ]. Studies that analyzed drivers’ physiological data showed that TWD increases cardiovascular reactivity [ 65 ] and skin conductance [ 68 ] compared to driving with no secondary tasks.

Several studies that explore the impact of texting on driving behavior have shown that engagement in secondary tasks directly influences safe driving performance [ 33 ]. For instance, regardless of the device, whether it is a mobile phone or a smartwatch, if the driver’s gaze is not on the road scene and all attention is on the device and its contents, then the driving performance is affected [ 68 , 78 ], and this, in turn, increases the risk of a crash [ 36 ]. The probability of a crash increases up to four times when drivers are engaged in distractions related to using a mobile phone [ 19 ]. The use of augmented-reality glasses did not eliminate the distracting cognitive demands while driving and still influenced driving performance [ 54 ]. The age of the participants is the main limitation of the analyzed studies, which included the use of Google Glass, as they include mainly a younger segment of the population. A summary of the results of the selected papers can be found in Appendix A Table A1 .

4. Discussion

The primary focus of this comprehensive review is to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the impact of texting and reading on a mobile phone while driving in a simulator. The review addressed four research questions that can help to better understand the distractions that influence the drivers’ performance, what simulators were used by researchers, and what measures were considered to assess the impact of distracted driving. The review found a relatively large number of studies ( n = 67) that addressed texting as a secondary task while driving in a simulator. The results of the review are in line with those of previous research, which found that TWD has a negative effect on a number of parameters related to driving performance that can be investigated in experiments conducted in car simulators.

The included studies can be divided into two broad categories depending on the device type: handheld or hands-free devices. The sources of distractions were also classified into the following four types: cognitive, visual, manual, and auditory. Most secondary tasks include at least two distractions that can influence the driver’s ability to reach his/her destination in a safe manner. The driver’s brain has to manage all of the abovementioned distractions when operating a vehicle. Any additional distractions can increase the mental workload, thus compromising the driver’s performance.

Drivers are subject to various distractions that can hamper their driving ability. Manual and visual sources of distraction are the most common and correspond to activities such as interaction with in-vehicle devices or the use of a mobile phone. Driver-assistance systems that offer warnings could reduce the time the driver is not focused on the driving task. Some high-end vehicles already have integrated devices that track the driver’s gaze. However, technology needs to become more accessible, reliable, and mainstream. We expect to see rapid progress in deep learning algorithms that can accurately identify and track the driver’s gaze by using a simple video camera.

The driver’s behavior has been exhaustively researched in naturalistic and simulator-based studies [ 117 , 118 ]. Even so, there is still work to be performed to fully understand the combination of measures most effective in predicting road safety. The most popular variables used by researchers to analyze driving patterns are mean speed, reaction time, and the standard deviation of the lane position.

Driving scenarios investigating hazard anticipation and traffic violation measures in a simulator are gaining more and more interest. The negative effects of using a mobile phone for TWD have been confirmed by numerous studies. The main effects include an increased brake reaction time, a decrement in lane control, and higher speed variability.

4.1. Recommendations and Directions for Future Research

What is evident from the findings is that typing and reading text messages while driving, regardless of the device used, should be prohibited in order to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths and injuries. Although it is advisable not to use a phone while driving, this is not very likely to happen, as it is used for various purposes, and the tendency to check the smartphone’s screen cannot be easily inhibited [ 119 ]. To support this idea, it was shown that even the experience of a minor accident is not enough to discourage drivers from sending messages while driving [ 120 ]. A possible solution would be to reduce as much as possible the unnecessary use of the phone and provide easy access to its screen by placing it in the field of view of the driver in a way that he/she is still attentive to the traffic scene or by sharing the screen on built-in display systems, which should be safer to use while driving. Moreover, built-in driver-assistance systems that prevent distracted driving should become mainstream as soon as possible, especially considering the rising number of traffic participants involved in car crashes due to phone use. A solution that has been shown to be effective would be the intervention by interactive text message [ 121 ].

A topic that still requires attention is how to increase the use of advanced driving-assistance systems (ADAS) to prevent drivers from engaging in distracting secondary tasks. For instance, ADAS systems may reduce or prevent the excessive use of a mobile phone by giving visual–audio notifications when the driver takes his/her eyes off the road. Future studies should focus on reducing the number of false alerts and propose adaptive ADAS models that can modify their behavior according to the characteristics of a driver (some initial work is presented in [ 122 ]). The use of safety functions should not impose other costs, as most drivers would not pay extra for such systems [ 123 ]. Another key aspect that could increase the acceptance of ADAS is related to the education of the driver, which should fully understand the safety benefits and limitations of such systems.

After analyzing the included studies, we noticed a lack of consensus regarding the methods and materials used for running experiments in driving simulators. In the context of automation, we suggest some minimum features for DS to ensure high reliability, validity, and replicability of the obtained results. The need for a systematic comparison of DSs concerning their validity and fidelity was also expressed in a scientometric analysis in [ 124 ]. Other issues identified are related to simulation sickness, how drivers perceive risks in a virtual environment, and the lack of detailed descriptions in research studies. A DS that offers high validity has the ability to reproduce as accurately as possible real-world driving [ 125 ], but the validity should be investigated in-depth to better approach the real conditions of driving [ 126 ].

Several aspects need to be considered when testing whether a driving simulator provides valid results: the simulator itself, the user samples, the task studied, the design of the experiment, and even the terminology used [ 34 ]. In view of these, and given that car manufacturers, taking advantage of the latest technologies, are setting new standards for car simulators [ 127 ], we propose several recommendations for future research in the context of driving simulators (the summary is shown in Table 1 ):

• Hardware characteristics: The simulator should have a dashboard resembling that of a real car, providing at least three DOFs in terms of motion and having a display system that offers a minimum horizontal field of view of 135° [ 128 ]. It should have the basic vehicle controls, a sound system, and at least a system capable of monitoring the driver’s behavior, which includes functions that can detect distracted driving. Distraction-detection systems are important in the case of autonomous driving because automated-vehicle drivers will still need to be in the loop in order to take over the controls when necessary [ 129 ].
• Scenario—Driving scenarios should provide a similar experience to naturalistic driving [ 130 ] and highlight the different types of driving behavior [ 131 ]. Therefore, we consider that it is not enough to consider a single basic scenario and suggest that experiments should include at least two driving situations, having multiple driving conditions (for example, driving in urban, rural areas, less or more traffic, simpler or more complex road geometry, etc.).

Minimum feature recommendations for experiments using a driving simulator.

The driving task should not be too long in order to avoid fatigue and boredom, but not too short in order to be able to extract relevant results. Participants need to be monitored in case they experience simulator sickness during the practice session and in the study itself. A subjective evaluation of the experiment, for example, using questionnaires to better understand how the experiment influenced the driver’s psychological state (e.g., discomfort, fatigue, workload, frustration, mind wandering, and so on), can be beneficial and generate other valuable insights.

Therefore, punctual research studies that focus on a particular subject or concern are frequently carried out over a shorter period and might utilize a smaller sample size and a limited number of techniques to gather data. These studies might also look at the efficacy of measures taken to reduce the harmful effects caused by particular driving distractions. On the other hand, in order to gain a thorough understanding of a specific topic, it is crucial to gather a large amount of data over time and under different driving conditions, which, in turn, can reveal significant trends and patterns.

4.2. Limitations

Certain limitations need to be mentioned for this review. First, since the use of the mobile phone while driving is a widely studied field of research, it is possible that some relevant articles may have been missed even after a rigorous search of the literature. The review was limited to excluding studies published in conference proceedings or book chapters, as well as those published in languages other than English. Some shortcomings are related to the data, which were not fully reported in several papers. There are also methodological limitations, including the lack of valid and reliable measures to assess the effects of TWD, the use of small samples, the duration of experiments, and so on.

The proposed recommendations aim to offer guidelines for experiments using a driving simulator. However, they cannot consider all the possible scenarios that could be investigated. The suggested minimum requirements are based on the knowledge gained from the literature review analysis and on our partially subjective vision of driving simulators. It can be argued that a consensus regarding this topic will, perhaps, never be reached, as researchers will just use the infrastructure available.

5. Conclusions

This study presents the results of a review of the literature using a structured search to examine drivers’ use of mobile phones and wearable devices concerning simulated driving. Through a rigorous selection process, fifty-nine studies published in the past 20 years were extracted, analyzed, and classified into four categories. Advanced driving simulators with a motion system were used in less than 20% of the studies due to the high costs and complexity of operation and maintenance. According to [ 132 ], studies that include low-cost simulators to identify and analyze the driver’s performance can offer meaningful and even similar findings as those obtained from experiments with advanced driving simulators. Nonetheless, the lack of a motion platform significantly affects the realism of the simulated scenario, as the participant cannot experience the vehicle’s inertia when accelerating or when negotiating a curve.

Mobile phone use in the vehicle is a major component of distracted driving that requires drivers to take their eyes off the road and one or both hands off the steering wheel, thus impairing their driving performance and increasing the likelihood of crashes [ 133 ]. Most studies reached the conclusion that activities such as texting a message on the phone, manipulating the phone, or the use of different types of phone-connected devices can introduce cognitive, manual, visual, or even auditory distractions [ 134 ] that can have serious negative effects on drivers’ attention and concentration, and this can lead to serious traffic incidents [ 135 ].

Many studies based on driving simulators show that performing secondary tasks (such as manual input) while driving leads to a compromised driving performance [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 32 , 70 , 101 , 136 ]. Distraction can be achieved by removing the driver’s gaze from the road. However, cognitive distractions can be just as dangerous by taking his/her mind away from the driving process [ 137 ].

The ubiquity of mobile phones; the increasing number of traffic participants; and their need/desire to engage in secondary tasks, such as games, texting, or social media, could have a negative effect on road safety, despite the integrated or mobile driver assistance systems. This review can serve as a basis for regulators and interested parties to propose restrictions related to using mobile phones in a vehicle and improve road safety. It also points out the significance of informing drivers about the dangers of using mobile phones while driving and the importance of enforcing strict rules and sanctions for those who have a habit of doing this. Moreover, the study provides researchers with an overview of the types of distractions that can affect the driver at a cognitive, visual, manual, or auditory level, as well as the measures that can be used to predict and analyze those distractions. The review recommends that future research should concentrate on creating more sophisticated driver assistance systems and technologies that can better detect and prevent distractions caused by TWD.

Future research should focus on finding a consensus regarding driving-simulator studies that will enable scholars to directly compare their work with similar studies, thus ensuring high validity of results, especially in the context of automated driving.

An overview of driving simulators characteristics and classification ( n = 67).

Note: TD—type of distraction: C—cognitive, V—visual, M—manual, Au—auditory; MT—measure type: AL—attention lapses, AP—accident probability, DM—driving maintenance, HA- hazard anticipation, RT—response time, TrV—traffic violations, OM—other measures; HH—hand-held, HF—hands-free, NP—number of participants; LSR—length of simulated route; NR—not reported. a Values include age, mean, standard deviation, and gender (M, F). b Driving Simulator Classification: A—fixed-based, basic visual capability, FOV minimum H:40 and V:30; B—fixed-based, FOV minimum H:40, and V:30; C—motion platform, FOV minimum H:120 and V:30; D—minimum 6 DOF motion platform, FOV minimum H:180 and V:40 [ 40 ].

Funding Statement

This work was supported by a grant from the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CCCDI–UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2019-4366 (431PED), within PNCDI III.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.G.B. and I.-D.B.; methodology, R.G.B.; software, G.-D.V.; validation, I.-D.B., C.A. and G.Y.; formal analysis, R.G.B.; investigation, G.-D.V.; resources, G.-D.V.; data curation, I.-D.B.; writing—original draft preparation, R.G.B. and G.-D.V.; writing—review and editing, C.A. and G.Y.; visualization, I.-D.B.; supervision, C.A. and G.Y.; project administration, R.G.B.; funding acquisition, C.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

A Plus Topper

Improve your Grades

Texting and Driving Essay | Essay on Texting and Driving for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Texting and Driving Essay:  Texting and driving have been one of the major causes of car accidents in recent years. Advancement in technology has its advantages, but it also comes with a bucket full of drawbacks. Texting and driving is more life-threatening than drinking and driving. While texting and driving, the person who is driving the car is in great danger since his mind is neither on the road nor his eyes.

A person driving and texting is not only putting his life in danger but also the people surrounding him. The person’s whole concentration is on their phone, and they hardly concentrate on what is around them.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Texting and Driving for Students and Kids in English

We are providing essay samples to students on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Texting And Driving Essay for reference.

Long Essay on Texting and Driving 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Texting and Driving is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

One of the greatest things that young adults look forward to is driving and getting their drivers’ licence. There are many laws and orders that are created to ensure a safe driving experience. One of the main factors of a safe drive is concentration and control over your stress. Stress and lack of concentration can hinder the ability to drive safely on the roads.

Some aggressive drivers do not follow any rules. They avoid alertness during driving. Accidents are avoidable. It only takes one to be aware of the surroundings. Cell phones are major distractions while driving. People nowadays tend to text during the drive. This act is life-threatening because it not only causes danger to the person driving, but it can also kill someone on the road.

If a person is texting while driving, his full concentration is on his phone, and he hardly has any idea about the surrounding. It can lead to major life taking accidents. Texting and driving are hard to stop because people nowadays are always busy on their phones, and while they drive, they find it hard to stop checking their phones.

When a person gets in a car, there is already a risk for him to get hurt. If texting is added, then the risks of getting hurt increases bringing the person much closer to ending their life. Texting and driving are way more dangerous than drinking and driving.

There are serious consequences to texting and driving. There are very little laws applied when a person texts and drives.

You can now access more Essay Writing on this topic and more.

Technology has drastically increased and in some way or other people are involved in it. Many people do not even like having phone conversations. They deliver their thoughts through simple texts. But texting while driving has become one of the leading reasons for car accidents and untimely death of people.

The biggest age group that has been affected by this problem is between 18 to 30 years. No one benefits from the issue of texting and driving. People need to understand how easy it is to take the life of someone else or themselves.

There are many solutions to avoid texting and driving. One should text before driving. The phone can also be kept out of reach once the driver is behind the wheels. One can ignore the phone by turning it off until the destination is reached. If the driver cannot hear the notifications from the phone, then the driver will be less tempted to respond while driving.

It is necessary to make people aware of the dangers of using a cell phone while driving. No text message is worth the risk of endearing the life of oneself and others. It is time to put down the phone and make a change and save lives from the dangers of road accidents. It is high time that a change should be made and serious laws and penalties should be enforced just for the sake of survival.

Short Essay on Texting and Driving 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Texting and Driving is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Cell phone use while driving increases the chances of accidents. According to surveys, one out of 20 drivers use a cell phone while driving. If one is carrying a phone conversation, one cannot fully concentrate on what is in front of them.

There are some laws enforced for texting and driving. But unfortunately, these laws have not fully forbidden texting and driving. Many still feel that they have the right to text and drive. It is one of the most dangerous things in the world today. People are so engrossed in technology that they do not notice the danger that lies ahead.

In some places, the act of texting and driving has been outlawed. It is a form of distracted driving. Texting while driving creates a crash risk of twenty-three times greater than driving while not distracted. Even if the person does not hurt someone while texting and driving, it can cause damages to the car. Every citizen must abide by every law to ensure safety.

10 Lines on Texting and Driving Essay in English

1. Washington was the first state to pass the law on texting and driving ban in 2007. 2. There are a total of 48 states that have banned texting and driving for all drivers. 3. If a driver has reached a citation for texting and driving his insurance rates might take a hike, or policy may be dropped off completely. 4. If it is urgent to take a message while driving, it is always better to stop the car. 5. In 2011 almost 1.3 million automobile accidents were caused due to texting while driving. 6. Texting and driving hold more dangers than drinking and driving. 7. The multitasking technology might be convenient but is not safe. 8. Texting makes a crash up of up to 23 times. 9. 19% of drivers of all ages admit to surfing while driving. 10. Proper awareness is necessary to stop the act of texting and driving.

FAQ’s on Texting and Driving Essay

Question 1.  What is distracted driving?

Answer: It is any non-driving activity while operating a vehicle.

Question 2. Why do people text and drive?

Answer: People are offenders and like breaking laws.

Question 3. If there is an emergency, can the phone be used while driving?

Answer: Every driver should make an effort to move to a safe place off the road before using the phone.

Question 4. Will my insurance policy be dropped if I am charged for texting and driving?

Answer: Yes, it will.

• Picture Dictionary
• English Speech
• English Slogans
• English Letter Writing
• English Essay Writing
• English Textbook Answers
• Types of Certificates
• ICSE Solutions
• Selina ICSE Solutions
• ML Aggarwal Solutions
• HSSLive Plus One
• HSSLive Plus Two
• Kerala SSLC
• Distance Education

117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best distracted driving topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 good research topics about distracted driving, 💡 most interesting distracted driving topics to write about, ⭐ simple & easy distracted driving essay titles, ❓ questions about distracted driving.

• Texting While Driving Should Be Illegal To begin with, it has been observed from recent studies that have been conducted that majority of American citizens are in complete agreement that texting while one is driving should be banned as it is […]
• Drinking and Driving: The Negative Effects The combination of drinking and driving is dangerous and characterized by such effects as physiological changes, problems with the law, and innocent victims. One of the main effects of drinking and driving is the increase […]
• Banning Phone Use While Driving Will Save Lives For instance, a driver may receive a phone call or make one, and while tending to the call, takes his mind of the road and increasing the chances of causing an accident.
• Age Limitation on Driving Privileges Thus, the increase in the level of accidents has forced the state to consider whether age is among the factors that have led to the increase in cases accidents.
• Road Rage and the Possibilities of Slow Driving There is also a need for people to plan their daily activities early and give some time allowance to the expected driving time.
• Public Service Announcement and Distracted Driving To conclude, PSAs help to reduce the amount of distracted driving occurrences. As a result, public service announcements should be utilized to raise public awareness of the hazards of distracted driving and assist save lives.
• Driving in the Winter and in the Summer To conclude, winter and summer driving are comparable in practices of handling the vehicle but are associated with contrasting dangers. In the summer, the temperature is higher, leading to the expansion of tires, and there […]
• Dangerous Driving Case: Description, Investigation, Judicial Process, and Results The court maintained that the offense in the case was a statutory offense that implied the dangerous driving of the accused, whose eventuality resulted in the death of the woman victim.
• Anti-Drink Driving Intervention Plan Overall, the ultimate goal of this paper lies in identifying key tasks that would be undertaken at all stages of the social marketing intervention planning process and evaluating the potential success of the plan.
• Developing Strategic Plan for TLC Commission Future Self-Driving Cars A SWOT analysis of the issue would reveal that not many would trust the safety of self-driving cars. The research would be of much help as it would reveal that self-driving cars are not that […]
• Mobile Phone Use and Driving: Modelling Driver Distraction Effects Therefore, in order to increase attention during driving and improve the reaction to road events, it is advisable to prohibiting hand-held phone use while driving in all 50 states.
• Tougher Punishment for Texting While Driving However the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging reported that texting while driving is a greater distraction than talking to others due to the time eyes are away from the road and the amount of cognitive […]
• Persuading People Not to Text While Driving It is believed that the main reasons for the growing number of car accidents and deaths on the roads is the development of new technologies and, as a result, the irresponsible driving of individuals who […]
• The Use of Mobile Phone While Driving a Car The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of drivers’ use of mobile phones on the risk of a crash.
• Addressing a Problem of Elderly Driving The authors claim that there are two possible ways to address the issue of elderly driving: developing social programs and integrating modern technology. These actions will be beneficial to the safety of older individuals and […]
• Regulations on Multitasking While Driving Consequently, safe and effective driving is a task that demands concentration by the driver, and multi-tasking while driving should be discouraged and avoided for safety.
• Cell Phones While Driving: Is It Legal? The message conveyed over the phone takes priority and driving takes a back seat which inevitably results in an accident, the severity of the same depends on more factors than one, the most important of […]
• Cell Phone Use and Driving: Mian vs. City of Ottawa However, the judge considers the disclosure of the disciplinary records to be irrelevant to the case. However, the Crown specifically stated that the disclosure of these records is not relevant to the case without O’Connor’s […]
• Cell Phone Use While Driving: Policy Analysis Therefore, in a public policy debate, proponents of regulation would argue that per capita healthcare savings and resulting QALY measures are significant enough to justify a ban on the use of private cellphones in driving […]
• Safe Driving Among American Youth as Health Issue It reviews the organization’s perspective on the issue and the strategies it proposes to reduce the risks of car accidents. The paper concentrates on safe driving for young people, summarizing the National Safety Council’s position […]
• Cell Phone Use in Driving and Recommended Policies Auditory, when on phone, drivers shift their focus to the sound of the phone instead of listening to the adjoining atmosphere on the road.
• Outcomes of the Phone Usage While Driving To the end of their lives, neither the victims’ loved ones nor the driver will be able to cope with the tragedy that resulted. The assertion that driving and texting or talking on the phone […]
• Addressing Drunk Driving: Policies and Their Effectiveness Driving under the influence is known to be one of the most threatening tendencies in the world of nowadays. One of the most common policies provided in order to decrease the risk of drunken driving […]
• Impacts of Texting While Driving on the Accidents The development of technologies used by adolescents for texting while driving leads to increasing the rates of accidents. Hypothesis: The development of technologies used by adolescents for texting while driving leads to increasing the rates […]
• The New Application “Stop Texting and Driving App” The application installed in the driver’s smartphone will disable every function when the vehicle is in motion. The device and the application have more features in order to reduce the rate of having an accident.
• Technology Development and Texting while Driving Working thesis: Although certain modern gadgets can be used to avoid texting while driving, the development of the sphere of mobile technologies has the negative impact on the dangerous trend of messaging while driving a […]
• Distracted Driving Behaviors in Adults The article notes that the results of the study highlighted the dangers of DDB other than texting and using cell phones.
• The South Dakota Legislature on Texting and Driving According to the authors of the article, the South Dakota Legislature needs to acknowledge the perils of texting and driving and place a ban on the practice.
• Injury Prevention Intervention: Driving Injury in Young People According to Gielen and Sleet study, the trends indicate that despite the preventive measures, the likelihood for young people involved in injuries is increasing. The collective objectives are to reduce the probability of young people […]
• Effects of Ageing Population as Driving Force Positive effects Negative effects An increased aging population will lead to a bigger market for goods and services associated with the elderly.
• Cognitive Psychology on Driving and Phone Usage For this reason, it is quite difficult to multitask when the activities involved are driving and talking on the phone. Holding a phone when driving may cause the driver to use only one hand for […]
• Banning Texting while Driving Saves Lives Other nations have limited use of phones, by teenagers, when driving, and a rising number of states and governments have prohibited the exact practice of texting while driving.
• Saving Lives: On the Ban of Texting While Driving To achieve the goals of the objectives proposed above, a comprehensive case study needs to be conducted on the risks of texting while driving and how the prohibition of the act will save lives.
• A Theoretical Analysis of the Act of Cell Phone Texting While Driving The past decade has seen the cell phone become the most common communication gadget in the world, and the US has one of the highest rates of cell phone use.
• Drivers of Automobiles Should Be Prohibited From Using Cellular Phones While Driving When a driver is utilizing a hand-held or hands-free cellular phone at the same time as driving, she or he should dedicate part of their concentration to operating the handset and sustaining the phone discussion […]
• Should People Be Banned From Using Cell Phones When Driving? Why or Why Not? Many people have blamed the cell phones to the current high increases in the number of road accidents witnessed worldwide, while others argue that the use of mobile phones while driving is not wholly to […]
• Problem of the Elderly Driving in the US When comparing the survey results to accumulated scientific data as well as statistics on the number of vehicular accidents involving the elderly it can be seen that the respondents were unaware of the potential danger […]
• The Dangers of Using Cell Phone While Driving The authors further note the subsequent increase in the count of persons conversing on cell phones while driving unaware of the risks they pose to themselves and their passengers.
• An Analysis of the Use of Cell Phones While Driving The first theory is the theory of mass society, and the second theory is the theory of the culture industry. The theory of mass society states that, popular culture is an intrinsic expression of the […]
• Popular Culture: The Use of Phones and Texting While Driving Given that rituals and stereotypes are a part of beliefs, values, and norms that society holds at a given instance of history, the use of phones in texting while driving has rituals and stereotypes associated […]
• The Use of the Cell Phone While Driving Indeed, many of the culprits of this dangerous practice are teens and the youth, ordinarily the most ardent expressers of popular culture in a society.
• Dangers of Texting while Driving The research paper will present some statistics to prove that texting while driving is one of the biggest contributors of road accidents in American roads.
• Theta and Alpha Oscillations in Attentional Interaction During Distracted Driving
• Car Accidents and Distracted Driving
• The Pros and Cons of Distracted Driving
• Societal Crisis and Distracted Driving
• Texting and Driving Accident Statistics – Distracted Driving
• Major Safety Issue: Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving Should Not Be Banned
• Making Laws Against Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving Regulation and Education
• Prevent Distracted Driving
• The Problem Distracted Driving Creates
• Distracted Driving and Highway Fatalities
• Cell Phones and the Dangers of Distracted Driving
• Texting and Driving: Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving: Increase in Cell Phone Related Fatalities
• Cause and Effect: Non-distracted Driving and Distracting Driving
• Distracted Driving Involving Cell Phones
• The Most Dangerous Type of Distracted Driving
• Accidents and Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving and Doing Another Activity
• The Primary Factors Contributing to the Problem of Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving Prevention: Texting or Handheld Cellphone Use While Driving
• Attention and Distracted Driving
• The Dangers of Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving and Its Effects on Safety
• Motor Vehicle Safety: Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving While Using Handheld Electronic Device
• Mobile Communication and Local Information Flow: Evidence From Distracted Driving Laws
• Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2011
• Texting While Driving: The Development and Validation of the Distracted Driving Survey and Risk Score Among Young Adults
• Causes, Impacts and Prevention Strategies of Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving: The Danger of the Technological Age
• Distracted Driving: How Badly Does Cell Phone Use Affect Drivers
• Opposing Perspectives and Solutions of Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving: The Preventable Killer
• The Facts About Distracted Driving
• Distracted Driving Bans Should Be Stronger
• The Cautionary Measures Against Distracted Driving Proposed by the State
• Distracted Driving and Dangerous Being Distracted While Driving
• What Are the Causes of Distracted Driving?
• What Is the Harm of Mobile Phones in Distracted Driving?
• What Are the Consequences of Distracted Driving?
• Should Distracted Driving Bans Be Stronger?
• What Are the Strategies to Prevent Distracted Driving?
• What Is the Act to Prevent Distracted Driving?
• How to Regulate Distracted Driving?
• Are Distracted Driving Fatalities Increasing?
• What Are Two Major Issues That Can Cause Distracted Driving?
• How Are Distracted Driving Laws Made?
• What Are the State Proposed Distracted Driving Precautions?
• What Is the Most Dangerous Type of Distracted Driving?
• What Are the Main Contributing Factors to the Problem of Distracted Driving?
• Why Has Distracted Driving Become a Societal Crisis?
• What Are Signs of a Distracted Driver?
• What Is an Example of a Mental Distraction Driving?
• What Types of Drivers Are More Susceptible to Distractions?
• Distracted Driving: How to Drive Safely?
• Does Distracted Driving Threaten the Safety of Not Only the Driver?
• How Many Accidents Are Caused by Distracted Driving?
• How to Learn Not to Be Distracted From Driving?
• What Issues Are Discussed at the Distracted Driving Summit?
• How Does Media Influence Distracted Driving?
• What Are the Opposing Views and Solutions to Distracted Driving?
• What Age Group Drives Distracted the Most?
• What Is the Most Dangerous Kind of Distracted Driving?
• How Many Highway Collisions Are Caused by Distracted Drivers?
• Can Fear Behind the Wheel Distract From Driving?
• How Many Americans Have Died From Distracted Driving?
• What Are Theta and Alpha Oscillations in the Interaction of Attention During Distracted Driving?
• Marijuana Ideas
• Sleep Deprivation Research Ideas
• Uber Topics
• Vehicles Essay Topics
• Epilepsy Ideas
• Toyota Topics
• Volvo Essay Titles
• Cultural Competence Research Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 26). 117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/distracted-driving-essay-topics/

"117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 26 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/distracted-driving-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 26 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/distracted-driving-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/distracted-driving-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "117 Distracted Driving Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/distracted-driving-essay-topics/.

The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience

This essay explores the themes of lightness and weight as depicted in Milan Kundera’s novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” It examines the contrasting perspectives of freedom and responsibility through the characters of Tomas and Tereza. Lightness is associated with freedom and the avoidance of burdens, while weight symbolizes the significance and gravity of choices and relationships. The essay discusses how these themes relate to existential questions about the meaning of life and the value of our actions. It also connects these ideas to contemporary society, highlighting the tension between the pursuit of happiness and the need for meaningful commitments. The essay ultimately emphasizes the importance of finding a balance between lightness and weight in our lives.

How it works

The human struggle to find balance between freedom and responsibility, joy and sorrow, and the ephemeral and the eternal is captured in Milan Kundera’s novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” which is deeply resonant in theme. The author delves into the philosophical implications of this paradox between lightness and weight, which forms the cornerstone of the narrative and invites readers to reflect on the nature of existence, the significance of our actions, and the search for meaning in a universe that seems to be indifferent.

In Kundera’s writing, lightness is frequently connected to freedom and the absence of burden. Tomas, for example, is a character who embodies this idea in the novel; he seeks lightness as a means of escaping the obligations and limitations that burden one’s life. Nevertheless, this quest for lightness is not without consequences; Tomas’s relationships, especially those with Tereza, highlight the superficiality and emotional void that can accompany a life devoid of deeper connections and responsibilities. Despite its liberating potential, the pursuit of lightness can also result in a feeling of meaninglessness and loneliness.

Alternatively, the idea of weight in Kundera’s book represents the gravity and significance of our decisions and relationships. Tereza personifies this idea, as she longs for a life filled with meaning and emotional depth. Her relationship with Tomas, though complicated and difficult, is characterized by a deep sense of love and commitment. The weight she bears is not just a burden, but also an example of the value and significance of human connections. In this sense, weight is associated with fulfillment and meaning, implying that the things that keep us grounded also give our lives direction and purpose.

The relationship between lightness and weight goes beyond the personal to the existential, as Kundera’s characters wrestle with the possibility that life, in its transient essence, may be intrinsically meaningless. This viewpoint is consistent with the Nietzschean philosophical idea of eternal return: if life is a never-ending loop of recurrence, then every action and decision we make will be repeated infinitely; if life is a unique, one-time event, then it may be seen as light, with our actions having minimal ultimate significance. This contrast forces us to reevaluate the significance we place on our experiences and the legacy we hope to leave behind.

In contemporary society, the tension between lightness and weight manifests in various forms. The pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment often emphasizes the importance of living in the moment, embracing spontaneity, and minimizing commitments that might impede personal freedom. This approach aligns with the idea of lightness, celebrating the liberation from societal expectations and the pressures of long-term responsibilities. However, this quest for lightness can sometimes lead to a sense of superficiality and transience, as meaningful connections and enduring achievements require investment and perseverance.

Conversely, the emphasis on career success, family responsibilities, and social obligations represents the weight we carry in our daily lives. These commitments, while potentially burdensome, provide structure and purpose, anchoring us in a web of relationships and responsibilities that define our identity and place in the world. The balance between these two extremes—seeking lightness without succumbing to meaninglessness, and embracing weight without being overwhelmed by it—is a delicate act that each individual must navigate.

Kundera’s exploration of lightness and weight invites us to reflect on our own lives and the choices we make. It challenges us to consider the extent to which we seek freedom at the expense of depth, or embrace responsibility at the cost of spontaneity. The paradox of lightness and weight is not merely a literary theme but a fundamental aspect of the human condition, prompting us to strive for a balance that allows us to live fully and authentically.

In conclusion, the unbearable lightness and the profound weight of being are intertwined in a dance that defines our existence. Through Kundera’s narrative, we are reminded that both lightness and weight have their virtues and pitfalls. The challenge lies in navigating these extremes, finding a harmonious equilibrium that honors our need for freedom and our desire for meaning. This exploration of the paradox at the heart of human experience encourages us to live with intentionality, embracing both the ephemeral joys and the enduring commitments that shape our lives.

Cite this page

The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience. (2024, Jun 28). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/

"The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience." PapersOwl.com , 28 Jun 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/ [Accessed: 30 Jun. 2024]

"The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience." PapersOwl.com, Jun 28, 2024. Accessed June 30, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/

"The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience," PapersOwl.com , 28-Jun-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/. [Accessed: 30-Jun-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Paradox of Lightness and Weight in Human Experience . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-paradox-of-lightness-and-weight-in-human-experience/ [Accessed: 30-Jun-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Distracted Driving — Thesis Statement For Texting And Driving

Thesis Statement for Texting and Driving

• Categories: Distracted Driving

About this sample

Words: 1081 |

Published: Mar 25, 2024

Words: 1081 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Law, Crime & Punishment

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 838 words

2 pages / 867 words

1 pages / 582 words

1 pages / 569 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Distracted Driving

As a college student, the issue of speed limits and their importance in ensuring safety on the roads is a topic that cannot be overlooked. Violating speed limits has become a common practice among drivers in many countries, with [...]

Texting while driving has become a widespread issue in modern society, with countless individuals engaging in this dangerous behavior on a daily basis. The act of texting while driving poses significant risks to both the driver [...]

The use of cellphones while driving has become a contentious issue in recent years. As these devices have become ubiquitous in our daily lives, so too have the dangers associated with distracted driving. This essay delves into [...]

In conclusion, hands-free texting while driving has been found to impair drivers' attention and increase the likelihood of accidents. Countries with high traffic volumes, like India and the United States, have seen a significant [...]

Driving distractions are common nowadays, such as eating or drinking, looking at scenery and talking with passengers. One of the most serious of these distractions is using smartphones while driving. This distraction is a common [...]

It’s a disturbing statistics, and however, shockingly it’s likewise a natural one. At regular intervals in the world, many people die in liquor-related motor vehicle accidents. That works out to be one individual like clockwork. [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free