Teenage Driving/Laws

1. Teenage Driving/Laws Oscar Calvillo English III 05/17/14 7th pd

2. Driving Distractions • Driving distractions have existed since the first cars hit the road, but the growing use of technology has created more problems. • There are three main types of driving distractions: • Manual : taking your hands off the wheel • Visual : taking your eyes off the road • Cognitive: taking your mind off driving • The most common driving distractions are: • Texting • Using a cell phone or smart phone • Eating and drinking • Talking to passengers • Grooming • Reading • Using a navigation system • Watching a video • Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player

3. Statistics and Passing the Law • In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction and an estimated 448,000 people were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. • Many states have passed laws against texting, talking on a cell phone, and other distractions. As of today, 35 U.S. states and Washington D.C. ban text messaging for all drivers. Twelve of these laws were enacted in 2010 alone.

4. Teen Drunk Driving • If there's anything that makes drunk driving worse, it's the number of teenagers involved, and that too, in spite of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 putting alcoholic beverages out of reach for individuals below 21 years of age.  • Leave alone driving under the influence, it is illegal for anyone who is less than 21 to purchase or possess alcoholic beverages in the first place, and yet, DUI is far from rare. • In teenagers―those who resort to binge drinking in particular: • Over confidence • Peer pressure

5. Speeding • Numerous car accidents occur because people are driving too fast for the given road conditions. Speeding in snow and ice or around a curve greatly increases the risk of an injury accident. • Failure to follow speed limits is illegal, and those who cause accidents due to their negligence may be held financially responsible for damage to others.

6. Why Speeding Is So Dangerous • When drivers exceed speed limits, their driving ability is affected in a number of ways that puts them and others in danger of being involved in a serious car accident. Safety problems linked to speeding can include the following: • Losing control of a vehicle due to speeding through dangerous weather conditions • Being unable to safely turn • Traveling too quickly to safely interact with other traffic.

7. Jacqueline Saburido • In September 1999, Saburido attended a birthday party near Austin, Texas. She and her friends Laura Guerrero, Johan Daal, and Johanna Gil accepted a ride home from a classmate, Natalia Bennett. Reginald Stephey, a 17-year-old high school student, was on his way home after drinking beer with his friends. On the outskirts of Austin, Stephey's 1996 GMC Yukon veered into Bennett's 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency, which was carrying Saburido and the others. Guerrero and Bennett were killed instantly. Gil and Daal were injured but not seriously. Saburido's feet were trapped under the seat and she could not get out in time.

8. THE ACCIDENT • The car caught fire. Two paramedics, John McIntosh and Bryan Fitzpatrick, happened to be driving past when Stephey flagged them down. The flames were leaping several feet up into the air as they arrived. McIntosh put out the fire with his extinguisher and the two men set about removing everyone from the vehicle. • Saburido was trapped, and the fire returned. McIntosh and Fitzpatrick were forced back, and Saburido was left to burn for around 45 seconds as the flames engulfed the vehicle. A fire truck arrived and put out the fire, Saburido was cut from the car and airlifted to the burns unit in Galveston. • Saburido suffered burns, mainly third degree, to over 60% of her body. She survived, reportedly despite the expectations of her doctors. All of her fingers were burned off, but there was enough bone left on her thumb to construct an opposable thumb. She lost her hair, ears, nose, lips, left eyelid and much of her vision. She has undergone more than 150 operations since the crash, including cornea transplants, which have restored her vision.

9. After Math • In June 2001, Reginald Stephey was convicted on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter. He was sentenced to two concurrent seven-year prison sentences and fined $20,000. An appeal was refused. • Saburido decided to use her tragedy to help others. She allowed graphic post-accident photographs of herself to be used in the media (posters, TV commercials, and internet chain mail) to illustrate a possible outcome of a drunk driving accident. She is most well known for a commercial in which she holds a pre-accident photo of herself in front of the camera, which she lowers to reveal her disfigured face and says, "This is me, after being hit by a drunk driver." • Saburido appeared on Oprah Winfrey talk show on November 17, 2003. She was also interviewed on the Australian 60 Minutes on March 14, 2004 and was featured in a Discovery Health documentary on face transplants. She continues to educate people on drunk driving. Oprah said that Saburido was the one person she had met who defined inner beauty. • Saburido's story was featured in the motivational presentation Inside Outby Motivational Productions. • Saburido is currently living in Kentucky, to enable better transportation to her doctors.. • Although the event took place in Texas, Saburido's story is often told throughout the USA.