Bruce Swift-Spicer

Ms. Gail Richard

28 March 2016
Composition I
Rough Draft Logical Argument
Distracted driving should be stopped in the United States. Distracted driving is a very dangerous
activity that endangers the lives of other innocent people such as other drivers, bystanders, and
pedestrians. Most people dont even notice that when they drive and try fix the radio or looking
at their phone, they are classified as a distracted driver. Anytime someone takes their attention of
the road to focus on something inside the car, this puts the driver and passengers at risk for an
accident. According to "Facts and Statistics." Distraction.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. In
2014, at least 1,379 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents
involving distracted drivers. This is a very shocking fact that this many people have lost their
lives due to reckless and irresponsible drivers that do not take driving seriously.
Some states enforced a ban of no phone usage while driving. Violating this ban can result
in charges or putting someones life in danger. Distracted driving should be a wakeup call to
people that are behind the wheel but most drivers today are over confident and feel that they
wont get into an accident. On a Friday evening in November of 2015, my cousin was driving
home from school. Traffic was absolutely terrible considering that it was rush hour and most
people are getting off work. She was struck by another driver from behind and suffered a minor
arm injury. She was going normal speed and the driver was going about ten miles above the
actual speed limit. In the logical argument, the purpose that I am trying to achieve is to inform
citizens of the US that distracted driving is a serious instability for other passengers and drivers

on the road and that it is a serious topic that needs more importance focused on it. The audience
that I am trying to inform are other people who drive. The need to understand the major risk that
they are taking once they take their eyes off the road. Even for a split second can cause not one
but multiple deaths, accidents, and injuries. In this topic concerning distracted driving, values of
other drivers would be their safety of themselves and other passengers. When behind the wheel, a
driver must focus on the road and block out any unnecessary activities or outside influence that
divert attention away from driving. The audiences attitude would be concerned and careful due
to the fact that distracted can end someones life, injure them, or even put them in a shocking
state of mind during impact. The physical context of where this logical argument could be heard
would be on a bus or on the radio where most people get information while driving such as
weather, news, music or events that are coming up. According to ABC News. ABC News Network,
n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. Emotional driving -- operating a vehicle while visibly sad, angry or

agitated -- increases crash risk nearly tenfold, according to new research from Virginia Techs
Transportation. This fact is one of the main causes of distracted driving. Distracted drivers can
change their moods if they are on the phone and hear some news that they would not want to
hear. If this argument was read on the bus, it would be located in a newspaper article or it would
be heard on the radio if driving in the car. The audience would feel concerned and more focused
if they were driving because this would feel like a reminder that drivers should put more
importance while behind the wheel. Distracted driving accidents would cause plenty of money
cost problems. The cost of a driver to have their car fixed, medical bills, the cost of passengers,
and the other driver involved in the accident depending on who caused the accident.
Distracted driving is a very dangerous activity that endangers the lives of other innocent
people such as other drivers, bystanders, and pedestrians. Many of innocent drivers lose their

lives every day because of how other arent taking into action of the severity of distracted
driving. According to "Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety." Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (Injury Prevention). , Each day in the United States, over 8 people are

killed and 1,161 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. This statistic
is an example of logos, utilizing logic and facts to connect and reason with the audience. This
rhetorical appeal is very useful because the audience may have known someone or has been in an
accident. If you believe that distracted driving causes a lot of injuries and deaths, then you should
also learn to take more caution when being on the road. Ethos is the rhetorical appeal of
establishing credibility. This will help you when your audience trusts you and agrees with what
you are saying, then you will speak with more credibility and authoritative power. A way to
create a solution that is underway already is carrying on conversations with a phone calling
system installed with the car system. Its a hands free way to allow drivers to talk on speaker
with another person while keeping your attention on the road at the same time. You wont have to
divert your eyes away from the road. This process is already used in the Chrysler 300 series.
Pathos is the rhetorical appeal of utilizing emotions to persuade the audience a different way.
There is a definite fear of loss and pain in this logical argument. When a distracted driver causes
another life to be lost such as the passenger, a feeling of pain comes over the driver emotionally.
According to "Distracted Driving: One Call Can Change Everything." Distracted Driving. National
Safety Council, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

Almost everyone has seen a driver distracted by a cell

phone, but when you are the one who is distracted, you often don't realize that driver is you.
This fact would strike most people in the heart because if a driver is on the road and they see a
distracted driver, they would become nervous and probably get into an accident because they
took their attention from the road.

Distracted driving is a very dangerous activity that endangers the lives of other innocent
people such as other drivers, bystanders, and pedestrians. Nobody should get involved in that
kind of activity nor put themselves at risk. This a highly important danger that gets more worse
each year.