Dangerous Driving Habits
Approximately 1. 3 million people around the world die in road accidents every year, making it one of the top ten causes of deaths.
Were you actually surprised by this one? Here's the truth — you're 23 times more likely to crash if you text while driving.
Drive when you're tired.
Avoid driving when you're tired, since you will have slower reaction times and you are very likely to fall asleep at the wheel. If you're exhausted and your body needs sleep, it is going to get it, one way or another.
Keep an eye on the kids.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, passengers are ranked by drivers as among the most frequent causes of distraction（分心）. Young children are four times as distracting as adults, while infants can be eight times more distracting, the AAA Foundation reports.
| A．Talk on the phone. |
| B．Text and update social media. |
| C．Therefore, keep an eye on the kids if you drive fast. |
| D．It takes about five seconds of attention to send a brief text. |
| E．If you're very tired, avoid driving home and take a cab instead. |
| F．So think twice before glancing at your little one at the backseat. |
| G．Another 20-50 million people are injured due to road accidents every year. |
相似题推荐
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes；one is injured every nine minutes, according to official date. Crosswalk can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, compared with 21% of those younger than 70, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration（FHWA）advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provide for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more, children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006. But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says.
1. Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．Among 100 pedestrian deaths there were 21 people younger than 70. |
| B．Old people are more likely to meet with accidents in crosswalks. |
| C．Traffic accidents killed more old people than young people. |
| D．About seven traffic accidents happened per hour. |
| A．Fixing more traffic lights. |
| B．Providing more crosswalks. |
| C．Giving pedestrians more time to cross streets. |
| D．Increasing the time before the orange lights appear. |
| A．There’re many cars and buses on the road. |
| B．Pedestrians are careless. |
| C．Crosswalks are crowded. |
| D．Drivers don’t give way. |
| A．fewer people were injured in crosswalks |
| B．crosswalk safety has been greatly improved |
| C．much has been done to reduce traffic accidents |
| D．pedestrian deaths in crosswalk remain a serious problem |
【推荐2】Too many deaths and injuries occur while mobile phones are being held. Tougher new laws will come into force in a further severe action on using a mobile phone behind the wheel from next year.
It is already illegal to text or make a phone call, other than in an emergency, using a hand-held device while driving. From 2022, laws will go further to ban drivers from using their phones to take photos or videos, or play games. This will mean anyone caught using their hand-held device while driving will face a 
fixed penalty notice and six points on their license. Drivers will still be able to continue using a device “hands-free” while driving, if it’s secured in a cradle (支架).
The government will also revise The Highway Code to explain the new measures. It will also be more precise about some facts, making it clear that hand-held mobile phone use at traffic lights or in motorway jams is illegal except in very limited circumstances.
There will be an exemption (豁免) to the new law for drivers making a contactless payment using their mobile phone. This will cover, for example, places like a drive-through restaurant or a road toll, and will only apply when payment is being made with a card reader. Anyway, it will not allow drivers to make general online payments while driving.
Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake — the road safety charity, said, “If drivers take their attention away from driving, this can be deadly. Using a hand-held phone at the wheel is never worth the risk. This important road safety decision by government, along with Road Safety Week, is very welcomed. The theme for Road Safety Week is road safety heroes — we can all be road safety heroes by giving driving our full attention.”
1. The purpose of the passage is mainly to ________.| A．present some new findings about using a mobile phone behind the wheel |
| B．describe the relationship between road safety and driving with full attention |
| C．report new problems caused by drivers who use mobile phones while driving |
| D．introduce new laws that will go further to ban drivers from using mobile phones |
| A．Hand-held mobile phone use at traffic lights is always illegal. |
| B．Those using their hand-held devices while driving will be fined. |
| C．Younger drivers are more likely to use hand-held devices at the wheel. |
| D．Using phones to take photos or videos while driving will not be allowed. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Uninterested. | D．Objective. |
【推荐3】Washington D.C. serves as the capital of the United States. The name, District of Columbia honors Christopher Columbus, and the city’s better-known name of Washington, honors the first president. However, it once again ranked first in terms of dangerous driving. The probability of a traffic accident in Washington residents is 109.3% higher than the national average.
As a result, Washington D.C. is working to identify drivers with a history of breaking traffic rules, such as speeding and illegal parking, to send pointed message to warn them seriously of their risks of getting into a deadly crash.
City officials say they hope the pointed messages will deter dangerous road behaviors. “ Some drivers are putting others at serious risk with speeding and red-light running and we hope that this creative approach can gradually reduce serious injury and crashes.” said Jeff Melley, director of the city’s Department of Transportation.
Researchers have studied the relationship between repeated traffic offenders and serious crashes, with some data suggesting a strong connection between the two. That means, drivers with multiple dangerous road behaviors are more likely to be involved in crashes. A team from The Lab led by researchers from the MIT will create a campaign. “We will evaluate whether high-risk drivers who receive these messages have fewer dangerous road behaviors, compared to the group of high-risk drivers who do not receive the messages.”
City officials said the purpose of these pointed messages is to educate the high-risk drivers. Jeff said, “there is no punishment or fine attached to the message and the campaign is to use data to directly communicate with individual drivers.” So some questioned whether the message will work. Anyway, efficient measures begin with creative tryouts.
1. What do we know about the approach to sending pointed messages?| A．It may put the drivers at serious risk of crashing. |
| B．It can punish drivers with records of traffic accidents. |
| C．It will completely reduce serious injury and deadly crashes. |
| D．It is the newest attempt with the aim of reducing serious traffic accidents. |
| A．Prevent. | B．Increase. |
| C．Encourage. | D．Discover. |
| A．Traffic offenders always cause serious accidents. |
| B．New drivers bear less blame for serious collisions. |
| C．Repeated traffic offenders are more likely to cause serious accidents. |
| D．Traffic offenders should not spend too much time on the road. |
| A．By sending messages to the drivers. |
| B．By comparing the impact of the approach on two groups. |
| C．By predicting the possibility of a driver’s involvement in a crash. |
| D．By checking the response of the receivers who get the messages. |
