The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

5-2023

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Styleguide

apa

Degree Name

Criminal Justice: M.S.

Department

Criminal Justice

College

School of Public Affairs

First Advisor

Dr. D. Lee Gilbertson

Second Advisor

Dr. Barbara Vesely

Third Advisor

Dr. Lindsey Vigesaa

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Keywords and Subject Headings

Distracted Driving

Abstract

Distracted driving is a popular topic throughout the world, esspecially within the United States. Although, distracted driving is not the most deadly problem in the United States, all of these deaths are preventable if the distractions are put down. Most states in the United States have laws in place to try to deter drivers from having distractions behind the while. Are these laws enough? Is there enough deterrence within the laws to stop drivers from being distracted? In this study, I analyzed the laws that are in place for the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. I analyzed the total amount of automobile crashes, injuries, and deaths the year before and the year after the law went into effect (specific to the state). I found that the states that have the laws in place do not have enough deterrence within them to stop drivers from being distracted. I also came to the conclusion that the earlier the laws was put into effect, the least amount of success of drivers are rarely deterred.

Keywords: Distracted Driving, Hands-free, Cellphones, Distractions

Comments/Acknowledgements

I would like to dedicated this work to my family. I couldn’t have completed it without them. To my husband, thank you for supporting me throughout my school years. Thank you for pushing me to do my best and work my hardest at anything I set my mind to. Thank you for the unconditional love and support in all my crazy ideas. To my children, thank you for letting mommy slip away and have some “me” time working on homework. Use this as a reminder that if you work hard and believe in yourself, you can do anything. To my mother, thank you for all the support you have given me in school since I was in kindergarten. Thank you for all the babysitting so I could get to class. Thank you for being my listening ear and my support when I needed it the most. I love you all very much.

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