Scenario #16
Kelly just got her driver’s license. Her parents allow her to take the car to school and to her part time job. She enjoys the freedom of being able to drive. One night, her parents allow her to pick up her friend Sally and go to the movies. She begins driving to Sally’s house and remembers she wanted to remind her other friend Lisa that they would be meeting after the movie. She decides that she can text Lisa and continue to drive to Sally’s house. Kelly gets so involved with typing her text to Lisa that she does not see the car ahead of her braking. At the last minute, she is able to step on the brakes and stop her car before becoming involved in an accident. What went wrong?
Kelly just got her driver’s license. Her parents allow her to take the car to school and to her part time job. She enjoys the freedom of being able to drive. One night, her parents allow her to pick up her friend Sally and go to the movies. She begins driving to Sally’s house and remembers she wanted to remind her other friend Lisa that they would be meeting after the movie. She decides that she can text Lisa and continue to drive to Sally’s house. Kelly gets so involved with typing her text to Lisa that she does not see the car ahead of her braking. At the last minute, she is able to step on the brakes and stop her car before becoming involved in an accident. What went wrong?
As I touched on in my Week 8 blog, I
believe that technology has more responsibilities then there are rights. In
this situation Kelly exemplifies how we as users forget this very important
fact. The first reason we can see she is in the wrong is because texting or
using your phone while driving is illegal. But it is so far beyond that. It is
illegal because it is dangerous and irresponsible. I think that our generation
has all done this at one point or another, and for the most part, everyone
knows it is wrong. But why do we continue to send little messages here and
there, thinking it is harmless? Our generation is so fast paced; we want
everything done as quickly as possible and are always multitasking. We can see
this by the way society has transformed. Kelly made a bad decision when she
decided to text while driving. From the context of this scenario is seems that
she was not even in a hurry, so why the rush? There were a number of options
that would have been far better.
1) Kelly should have
waited until she got to Sally’s house, then texted
2) She also could have
pulled over and texted while safely parked
3) As she only needed to send the message for a plan after the movie, she could have texted while at the theatre before the movie started
3) As she only needed to send the message for a plan after the movie, she could have texted while at the theatre before the movie started
It is not a shock, but 77% of young drivers are confident that they can safely text and drive. When it comes to driving, it is not solely
based on the individual. You also have to remember that even if you personally
are able to safely text and drive, there are other people that you have to
share the road with as well. If you are texting while driving, that probably
means there are other people doing it too, and they may not be as capable as
you. In 2011, 23% of vehicle collisionswere admitted to have involved cell phones, that is the equivalent of 1.3
million crashes, and that is only what people actually admitted to! When you
are driving and using a phone you are distracted, whether you want to admit it
or not. This decreases your reaction time, which could lead to an accident that
could have potentially been avoided. Even if you are reaching for a phone to
use the speech to text application or dialing a phone number and using your
Bluetooth, you are distracted in some way.
When you do this, it is not only your
life you are putting in danger, it is everyone around you. Can you imagine the
guilt you would feel if you had texted a buddy of yours to say hi, and you got
in an accident that killed people? What if you killed someone’s parents? Would
you like to tell those children that they will never see their parents again
because you wanted to ask ‘John’ what he was up to that night? What if your
parents, a sibling, a friend or even a friend of a friend had their life taken
away from them because someone driving felt they had the RIGHT to text while
driving?
Our actions and the decisions we make
everyday are very powerful, we have to be aware of this and make educated choices.
Does that put things in perspective?
TTFN
Ribble, M. (2011). Digital citizenships in schools (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.
Ribble, M. (2011). Digital citizenships in schools (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteThis example is so typical for people today, which I find terribly scary. I think what is even more scary is some of the statistics you present! I find it shocking that 77% of young drivers believe that they can do an illegal thing safely; they made it illegal for a reason! Driving is also a good example of rights and responsibilities. I like this example because the rights and responsibilities of driving and Kelly’s use of technology overlap, which is what makes it so dangerous! I agree that there are many options for avoiding texting and driving, and if it is an emergency, use one of the options you described above! As a general concept, there are more responsibilities then rights with driving and the use of technology. I think what is more important about this example that others can be in danger too, as you described! I wish we could eliminate this type of scenario, although I’m not sure fines will be enough!
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that this is a very inappropriate use of technology. Not only is text and driving illegal, but Kelly is also a new driver and should be more focused on her surroundings. Thankfully they were able to stop the care before rear ending. I don't think people really take texting and driving seriously. During our Google Docs assignment, I came across a link that stated that the minimum time that we are have our eyes off the road while texting is 5 seconds, which is if you're travelling 90 km/h you would have driven the length of an entire football field without looking (Texting ThumbBands, 2014). If the text was really that important Kelly could have asked Sally to send the text to Lisa for her.
Jenn
Texting ThumbBands. (2014) DWI: Driving While Intexticated. Retrieved from http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. Using your cell phone when driving is against the law, there are fines to prevent people to use their cell phone while driving, but I don’t think the fines are high enough. Here is a recent article which talks about increasing fines and demerit points for distracted drivers:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/three-demerit-points-increased-fines-suggested-for-ontario-s-distracted-drivers-1.1732860
In this situation Kelly had other options instead of texting her other friend while she was driving. Since this text message wasn’t urgent, she could have waited till she arrived at Sally’s house to send the text message, as well the other options that you mentioned would have also been more suitable.
The world we live in is very face paced; we have to text someone right away, and respond to their voice mail as soon as we receive it. However, when you are behind the wheel and using your electronic devices, you are not only putting yourself at risk, but you are putting others in danger.
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteThis particular scenario is very scary as the repercussions can be disastrous and life-threatening. Of all the digital responsibilities, this is probably one of the most important, as well as the most discusses, especially lately. Law enforcement agencies have started to crack down even more on those who text while driving and rightly so. I was shocked at the stats you mentioned in your post. 77% is an alarmingly high number, and concerns me about safe driving conditions. I think more people need to be made aware of this responsibility, and parents should drill it into the heads of newly-licensed teenagers before allowing them the right to drive a vehicle.
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI am shocked to hear the statistics that 77% of drivers think they can text and drive. I need 2 hands to comfortable text on my cell phone and I need 2 hands to comfortable drive my car. I would be short 2 hands! While I never condone using your cellphone under any circumstance while driving, there are legal ways to text message while driving.
Advancements in technology allow users of cellphones to use their voice to write and send text messages. Services such as Apple's Siri and Google's Google now offer hands free solutions to texting while driving. Using this method of input is legal and should be only considered when texting and driving.
Hi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your solutions for Sabrina. She definitely should have waited until she was no longer driving. I was also shocked with the statistic that you provided about 77% of young drivers feeling confident to drive and text at the same time! I feel that we often do not realize just how dangerous this actually can be. We need to reflect on the fact that a simple text message can actually cost lives and is not worth it. I feel that we need to be more responsible about our digital technology use, and consider it more of a privilege than a right. Great job on your post.
Beata