Counter Point Essay Example for Free

Counter Point Essay Starbucks is one of the most successful business serving coffee and drinks beverage. Starbucks is known for serving hot and cold coffee beverage with a high quality products. Starbucks went public in 1992 with a priced at $17 share and the stock jumped to $21 at the opening bell. By 2007 Starbucks had become one of the most widely recognized and admired global brands. In addition, by 2008 Starbucks has 4500 locations in 43 countries out side the United States. Overall Starbucks known as a good business with a good standing. Starbucks has many problems starting with the price. Starbucks coffee is more expensive than other competitors like Dunkin’ Donuts and Caribou. In addition, Dunkin’ Donuts offering drinks at prices 20 percent lower than Starbucks. For example, Kathleen Brown, a 30-year-old Boston lawyer, used to treat herself to a $4 Starbucks Caramel Macchiato but switched to Dunkin’ Donuts. Also, she mention that with Starbucks price for a cup of coffee she can buy a cup of coffee with a sandwich from Dunkin’ Donuts. Moreover, Starbucks did not pay attention to the customer comment cards and they did not respond to their customers needs or their feedback about the product or the service. Starbucks should ask the customers about what type of milk they want. Another problem is that Starbucks used to offer just hot beverage and they thought cold coffee like Frappuccino was not a true coffee drink. After Starbucks knew their competitors were offering a cold beverage they started to serve cold beverages and they tested their concoction with customers and again customers approved. Moreover, Starbucks stores were reconfigured with fewer comfy chairs and less carpeting making Starbucks a less inviting place in which to linger over a cup of coffee. In the beginning Starbucks had a problem and they could not advertise because the cash was tight. Finally, Starbucks machines were so tall that the customers could no longer see the coffee being made. Starbucks need to work to reduce the price of their products since most of the people from the middle and low income cant offer their products. If Starbucks want to increase their sales and earn more profit they should reduce their prices to let the people from all class can offer their products and be satisfied but Starbucks did not do any changes to their prices because there vision was to educate consumers about fine coffees and brought from a good place. Starbucks did lots of thing to increase their profit and to be more successful. For example, Starbucks opened many stores and some times in the same area just to help to serve the customers in a good way. For example, Starbucks opened many store to help the customers get what they want in a short time. Starbucks had learned that nearly stores did not necessarily hurt one another’s sales and in fact could actually help. Moreover, more stores meant a better chance for customers to find a short line or empty parking space and for Starbucks to capture the sale. Also, Starbucks open a drive through service to help the parents with young children and the drive through help Starbucks earned more profit and be more successful. Starbucks choose their store location by focusing on the are population and a matrix of regional demographic profiles and an analysis of how best to leverage operational infrastructure. In addition, Starbucks planned at least one big community event to celebrate its arrival and offer two free drink coupons with the note asking the customers to share Starbucks with a friend. In addition, since Starbucks know that there prices was high so they try to offer a seasonal offering such as a strawberry and cream Frappuccino in the summer and gingerbread latte at Christmas. Starbucks did not want to loose their money and workers so they developed a 24-hour training program converting Coffee Knowledge (four hours). Brewing the Perfect Cup (four hours), Customers Service (four hours) and also basic skills. Starbucks wants to have a good working environment and to be loyal to their employees so they provide their employees with a health insurance to all partners even the part-timers. Keeping the same employee with a full benefits would cost Starbucks $1500 rater than loosing $3000 to train a new hire. Starbucks work to develop their product mix by adding music and book to their customers. Starbucks knew their prices are expensive and they did a great thing to solve this problem by opening many stores and provide a nice atmosphere to their customers by serving many kinds of snack, cold and hot beverages, sandwiches. â€Å" Customers say one of the reason they come to Starbucks it because they can discover new things, a new coffee from Rwanda, a new food item. The solutions that I considered is Starbucks need to pay attention to their customers feedback for the price of the product and to try to make their price reasonable to the people over the whole world. Since many people like the atmosphere in Starbucks and its more fancy than Dunkin’ Donuts but the price in Starbucks need to recognized and reduce. There are many solutions I recommend to Starbucks. First, the most important is the price. Starbucks need to find a solution with their product price since their price is much more expensive than other competitors like Dunkin Donuts. Most of the people switch to Dunkin Donuts because their product mix are cheaper. Moreover, they should offer free refills to their customers and make sure to give their customers a chance to give their feed back on the product. According to the case Americans will never pay $1.50 for a cup of coffee. So because of that Starbucks need to reduce their price to be more successful. In conclusion, Starbucks is a powerful business with a good product mix ( non coffee drinks, food items, music, books). Moreover, Starbucks has many stores and sometime in the same area just to help their customers to get their need in a very short of time with offering their customers a drive through service and that cause the profit of around $1.3 million compared to $1 million at stores without a window. But the price of their products is so expensive than Dunkin’ Donuts.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders Essay -- Psychology Health

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders Recently, a great amount of psychological literature has focused on finding biological and genetic causes of mental illnesses and disorders, including eating disorders. However, according to recent twin studies, the heritability component of eating disorders may only account for 0% to 70% of the variance (Fairburn, Cowen, & Harrison, 1999). The leaves an ample amount of room for speculation of possible environmental risk factors for eating disorders. In this paper, I wish to examine one possible environmental risk that has received attention since the mid-80’s. Since that time, researchers have searched to determine the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, or trauma in general, and the development of eating disorders. It seems somewhat logical to assume that a person who has experienced sexual trauma might develop feelings of dissatisfaction as well as disgust with their own body—the medium of abuse. Also, one might even attribute the anti-pubertal effects achieved through self-starvation as a suppression of sexuality that may be desired by a survivor of sexual abuse. These hypotheses, as well as connections observed between sexual abuse and PTSD and also between anxiety disorders (of which PTSD is one) and eating disorders led many researchers to study this relationship. However, the large body of the studies contradict each other’s findings. Many studies have found no evidence of a relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders and others have found evidence. In this paper, I would like to examine the results of studies that have been aimed at answering the question, â€Å"Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for eating disorders?† Literature Re... ... of Childhood Sexual or Physical Abuse in Japanese Patients with Eating Disorders: Relationship with Dissociation and Impulsive Behaviors. Psychological Medicine, 29(4), 935-942. Pope HG, & Hudson JI (1992). Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for bulimia nervosa? American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 455-463. Pope HG, Mangweith B, Negrao AB, Hudson JI, & Cordas TA (1994). Childhood sexual abuse and bulimia nervosa: A comparison of American, Austrian, and Brazilian women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 732-737. Rorty M, Yager J, & Rossotto E (1994). Childhood sexual, physical, and psychological abuse in bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1122-1126. Wonderlich SA, Donaldson MA, Carson DK, Staton D, Gertz L, Leach L, & Johnson M (1996). Eating Disturbance and Incest. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 195-207. Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders Essay -- Psychology Health Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders Recently, a great amount of psychological literature has focused on finding biological and genetic causes of mental illnesses and disorders, including eating disorders. However, according to recent twin studies, the heritability component of eating disorders may only account for 0% to 70% of the variance (Fairburn, Cowen, & Harrison, 1999). The leaves an ample amount of room for speculation of possible environmental risk factors for eating disorders. In this paper, I wish to examine one possible environmental risk that has received attention since the mid-80’s. Since that time, researchers have searched to determine the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, or trauma in general, and the development of eating disorders. It seems somewhat logical to assume that a person who has experienced sexual trauma might develop feelings of dissatisfaction as well as disgust with their own body—the medium of abuse. Also, one might even attribute the anti-pubertal effects achieved through self-starvation as a suppression of sexuality that may be desired by a survivor of sexual abuse. These hypotheses, as well as connections observed between sexual abuse and PTSD and also between anxiety disorders (of which PTSD is one) and eating disorders led many researchers to study this relationship. However, the large body of the studies contradict each other’s findings. Many studies have found no evidence of a relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders and others have found evidence. In this paper, I would like to examine the results of studies that have been aimed at answering the question, â€Å"Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for eating disorders?† Literature Re... ... of Childhood Sexual or Physical Abuse in Japanese Patients with Eating Disorders: Relationship with Dissociation and Impulsive Behaviors. Psychological Medicine, 29(4), 935-942. Pope HG, & Hudson JI (1992). Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for bulimia nervosa? American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 455-463. Pope HG, Mangweith B, Negrao AB, Hudson JI, & Cordas TA (1994). Childhood sexual abuse and bulimia nervosa: A comparison of American, Austrian, and Brazilian women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 732-737. Rorty M, Yager J, & Rossotto E (1994). Childhood sexual, physical, and psychological abuse in bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1122-1126. Wonderlich SA, Donaldson MA, Carson DK, Staton D, Gertz L, Leach L, & Johnson M (1996). Eating Disturbance and Incest. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 195-207.

Case study Bharti & Walmart Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The case study is conducted to analyze the sustainability of the joint venture of Wal-Mart and Bharti in disregard of the fact that the two companies have split apart in late 2013. Therefore, the paper will be conducted by using the information given in the case material and course materials, with extra information related to statistics and government policies before the split up of the joint venture. Through the SWOT analysis and pros & cons analysis of the joint venture, it is crystallized that the joint venture was facing obstacles coming from intrinsic factors such as the challenge to maintain low cost leadership and the ability to adapt local market for Wal-Mart and extrinsic factors such as government policy, consumer behavior and poor infrastructure. The challenges Wal-Mart was facing couldn’t all be solved with the partnership. For instance, the market share and overall profitability were low due to the unsolved problems with Wal-Mart’s strategic orientation and the localization to the market, leaving uncertainty to the joint venture. Hence, among three alternatives of 1) Change strategic Orientation and re-positioning; 2) Improve corporate image and social responsibility and 3) Call off joint venture, it’s recommended for Wal-Mart and Bharti to maintain their partnership but to re-position the joint venture and localize themselves to the market. The recommendation would be further explained in the last section of this paper. PROBLEM STATEMENT Given the circumstance, the joint venture was facing challenges on the sustainability for different reasons. Wal-Mart has planned ambitiously for the joint venture, however it failed to achieve the goals of opening sufficient amount of stores in order to gain the market share and improve the margins due to the competence or willingness in localization, the government policies etc. Measures are needed for the two entities to take in  order to achieve profit growth whether to change the positioning/strategic orientation, improve the corporate image to achieve long term benefits or even to call off the joint venture since it’s no longer mandate for Wal-Mart to access the market through a partnership. ANALYSIS In order to tackle the most fundamental issues in Wal-Mart business journey in India, I’d like to first conduct a SWOT analysis of Wal-Mart’s retail business in India as following. Strength: 1. Scale of operations. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world that no other retailer can match. Due to such large scale of operations, the corporate could exercise strong bargaining power on suppliers to reduce the prices. 2. Competence in information systems. The success of Wal-Mart in 21st century is largely due to its competence in information systems and supply chain management. However Wal-Mart’s advantage in supply chain management was shattered when it entered India. 3. Varity of products. Wal-Mart could offer wider range of products than local competitors. It has also been proven that Indian consumer would embrace affordable products with an upper standard of quality. 4. Low-cost leadership strategy. This strategy has helped Wal-Mart to become the low cost leader in the retail market. Weakness: 1. Inexperience in localization. Even though Wal-Mart was expanding its global appearance, it lacked experience in adapting its products and services to the specific demand of local market due to the domestic strategy. 2. Different shopping mentality. The Indian consumer mentality of â€Å"save and buy† was totally different from the American’s and Indian businesses were focusing more on B2B model, therefore the success of Wal-Mart’s B2C model was questionable. 3. Dependency of logistic system. Wal-Mart and its low cost leadership strategy are largely depended on an effective and efficient warehouse system which was not fully developed in India. 4. Lack of skilled employees. Wal-Mart would have to face the issues with unskilled employees while doing business in India and would potentially increase the training cost of employees. Opportunities: 1. Emerging retail market. Indian retail market grew by 5% in 2006, opening huge opportunities for Wal-Mart’s revenue growth, and the market was opened to Wal-Mart through joint venture. There was also existed an emerging demand of organized retailer. 2. Rising acceptance of foreign products. The increasing acceptance of high quality and low price foreign products opened the opportunities for Wal-Mart as well. In addition, the consumer disposable income and purchasing power was increasing. Threats: 1. Increasing resistance from local communities and retailers. Wal-Mart had a negative impact on local retailers therefore it faced considerably the political pressures from local communities due to the protection of local retailers. On the other hand, Wal-Mart faced the direct challenges from organized local retailers such as Pantaloon, RPG group etc. 2. Challenges from other MNCs. Other multinational corporations, such as Spencer’s Retail were also threatening Wal-Mart’s business in India. Given that some traditional advantages such as the efficient warehouse system were weakened in India, Wal-Mart’s domination in India would be shaken. Wal-Mart’s Challenges in India The opening of an emerging market with a rapidly growing middle class should create a promising future for Wal-Mart. However along with the opportunity are also challenges. After analyzing the SWOT of Wal-Mart, it’s very clear that Wal-Mart was facing challenge from extrinsic environment and intrinsic core competitiveness. Traditionally, foreign investors fail mainly because of the incompetence of maintaining their core competitiveness. But in India, Wal-Mart might be facing more of the external environment challenges. To begin with, retail industry was one of the few sectors where FDI was not allowed due to the protection of small and medium sized local retailers before 2012, forcing multinational corporations to seek a joint venture with a local partner rather than wholly-owned model as in other countries. Local communities worried that Wal-Mart would eliminate small retailers and intermediates who played important roles in supporting local economy. In addition, Wal-Mart cou ldn’t cover the job loss since the main strategy of the company was low-cost leadership which suggested that Wal-Mart would hire just-enough employees to maintain its operations and would cut the  middle-man in the process of procurement in its supply chain. The Indian government requires foreign retailer to source 30 per cent of its goods from small supplier with objectives to discourage imports by foreign retailers from their few large dedicated suppliers and to weaken Wal-Mart’s bargaining power and make economic growth becomes sustainable1. Moreover, with an aggregate score of 2.5, India ranks 64th in market openness and is largely due to the fast real import growth, according to International Chamber of Commerce (2013). India has its weakest score in trade policy (2.0) which is also the second to last score among G20 nations (see table1). From a cultural aspect, the Indian consumers have a different mentality of â€Å"save and buy† thus traditionally Indi an businesses were focusing more on B2B model. Dealing with foreign authorities requires finesse and charm, and given that lobbying was forbidden in India, Wal-Mart might not be able to influence the government policies in an official way and Wal-Mart should avoid seeking inappropriate channel to reach the local authority such as bride. As for intrinsic competitiveness, Wal-Mart was facing problem with losing its traditional advantages. To begin with, the national differences would continually question Wal-Mart’s ability to adapt itself to the market since Wal-Mart had less experience in foreign market. Given that the road infrastructure and the modern supply chain system were not fully developed in India (see table 2), Wal-Mart would face the inefficient transportation in its supply chain. In addition, Wal-Mart would need to associate with local partners in order to solve the warehouse shortage and poor infrastructure. As a result of the lack of skilled labor, labor producti vity in Indian retail market should be lower and Wal-Mart would have to increase its spending on employees’ training and therefore it would be challenging for Wal-Mart to maintain its advantages in low-cost leadership in India. Finally, Wal-Mart stores were competing with entrenched local general merchandise and food merchants, potentially leading to unprofitable for the company. Joint venture with Bharti Given the circumstances, it’s logically for Wal-Mart and Bharti to form a joint venture. In the rapidly growing organized retail market in India, Wal-Mart and Bharti were able to leverage the needs and assets of each other’s (see table 3). For Bharti, one advantage of this joint venture is  that since the management of Wal-Mart promised to lead the liberation of retail market, it would be beneficial for both two parties and India as well. From the same perspective, Wal-Mart was a particularly attractive partner to Bharti for the strength of Wal-Mart in information technology and supply chain management knowledge that could turn around the infrastructure, supply-chain and IT through a strategic alliance (Bose, 2012). As for Wal-Mart, through the 50/50 venture for backend supply chain management and wholesale cash-and-carry operations, (Bose , 2012) Wal-Mart was able to utilize Bharti’s domestic facilities as a jump board to the emerging market and it was able to bypass some restrictions that were harmful to its business. With Bharti’s deep knowledge of India’s fast-growing market and its prior foreign experience of cooperate with other foreign firms (Bose, 2012), Wal-Mart would have a smooth start in the early stages of the joint venture (Luo, 1998). By increasing its purchase from local suppliers and associating with prestige local firm, Wal-Mart could also possibly change positively the consumer perception on itself. However, there were also many disadvantages brought by the joint venture. First, it took time and efforts for both parties to form the joint venture, meaning Wal-Mart might take longer time to expand compared with using wholly-own model. In this joint venture, Wal-Mart and Bharti would deliver a mixture of brand image which might confuse the consumers, and the local partner might take advantage from this mixed message and knowledge transfer as mentioned before. As a result, this joint venture had the possibilit y of creating a new competitor for Wal-Mart. As mentioned before, one of the biggest problems Wal-Mart had was from the government regulation which either of the two parties could lobby the government. In addition, the financial situation of Bharti Enterprises was not a positive factor in their joint venture, for its debt was at a high level and affected negatively the cash flows of the joint venture. Both companies had complementary strengths they were able to utilize to expand in India in a long term. By leveraging each other’s expertise, both entities were able to use and build upon best practices that had proven successful for both companies in their individual ventures, performing better than either company could do alone in the growing Indian retail market. However, since many disadvantages remained for Wal-Mart and Bharti and the fact that they haven’t acquired the expected market share, the future of this joint  venture was in vague. Hence, the two companies should focus on the sustainability of the joint venture. In this regard, both two parties should take measures to reassure the sustainability of their joint venture and improve its performance accordingly. According to Dr. M.N.H. Mazumder, there are three traits that MNC should consider when selecting local partner, strategic traits, organizational traits and financial traits. Therefore, the sustainability of the joint venture would also be dependent on the fits of these traits. For instance, in terms of strategic fits, by establishing a mutually satisfied, efficient, and productive trustful partnership with Bharti, Wal-Mart would be very likely to maintain a common goal so that the joint venture could avoid the risk of being sabotaged by the dysfunctional conflicts between the two partners. In the following section, we’ll be discussing the details of alternatives that could help in the sustainability. ALTERNATIVES: Alternative 1- Change the strategic orientation and re-positioning In 2007, Wal-Mart announced with ambitious that partner with Bharti, it planned to open hundreds of stores, it has quietly shelved its expansion plans after complex market conditions. In 2012, Wal-Mart opened just five wholesale stores in India last year while it planned to open 22 stores. In addition, while Bharti wished to open more small traditional stores or cash and carry business due to the fragmented market and consumer behavior, Wal-Mart was pushing its large retail stores which usually take 24 months to open. Therefore, since Wal-Mart struggled to gain market share, it should be carefully examine its expansion plan and consider Bharti’s perception on the market. Alternative 2- Improve corporate image and social responsibility As stated, Wal-Mart was facing obstacles brought by its corporate image and it has been criticized for eliminating local business and leading to higher unemployment. By operating a public relation campaign and fulfilling its social responsibility in education, agriculture (assisting local farms) etc, Wal-Mart should be able to change the stereotype perception of foreign investors and establish a good foundation for less challenges from the local society. However, this alternative wouldn’t enable Wal-Mart and the joint venture to expand its market share in a short term. Therefore it’ll require both two parties to have coherence on campaign cost and long term revenue. Alternative 3- Call off joint venture Bharti Enterprise has been struggling under a debt of USD 12 billion of its mobile business. Bharti’s liquidity would directly affect the joint venture’s ability to pay off short term financial obligations. Also considering that Wal-Mart is allowed to the 100% ownership in a retail company in India, it’d also be an alternative for two parties to split and do business alone. It’s possible that Wal-Mart will lose its market share in a very short future due to the losses of information and suppliers in this split up. RECOMMENDATIONS It’s recommended to maintain the joint venture, but changes are needed in the strategic orientation and the positioning. For the joint venture and mostly for Wal-Mart, building convenient stores and therefore establishing a larger presence in the Indian market are crucial to the sustainability and profitability. In order to solve extrinsic problems such as the consumer behavior of purchasing on a daily basis rather than buy a weekly portion, it’s more flexible for Wal-Mart if it could have smaller stores covering more locations and it would be positive to consumer loyalty with larger presence in different regions, though thorough research on the target consumer markets would be needed in order to offer Indian consumers the type of products they desire at the appropriate quantity and location. In addition, opening smaller stores would require two parties to work collectively and more productively on their supply chain management due to the complexity brought by more stor es. REFERENCES: Edwards, Ron; Adlina Ahmand and Simon Moss (2002): Subsidiary Autonomy: The Case of ICC (2014): Open Markets Index 2013 (05.03.2014) [URL: Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum (2013): The Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013 Indranil Bose (2013): Wal-Mart and Bharti: Transforming retail in India Yadong Luo (1998): Joint Venture Success in China: How Should We Select a Good Partner? APPENDIX: Table 1: Scores on the Open Markets Index 2013 G20 Rank Country Overall OMI 2013 Rank Aggregate Score Trade Openness Trade Policy FDI openness Trade Enabling Infrastructure 18th India 64th 2.5 2.9 2.0 2.5 2.8 Source: ICC 2013 Table 2: Ranking of India in infrastructure India Quality of overall infrastructure 86th Quality of roads 85th Quality of railroad infrastructure 24th Quality of port infrastructure 82th Quality of air transport infrastructure 67rd Available airline seat kilometers 12th Quality of electricity supply 112th Mobile telephone subscriptions 113th Fixed telephone lines 117th Source: World Economic Forum 2013 Table 3: Needs and capabilities of both parties before and after their joint venture Before joint venture Needs Capabilities Wal-Mart 1. Entry to the Indian Retail Market 2. Governmental lobbying Skills 3. Knowledge of local market 1. Largest retailer in the world with low cost leadership and a focus of â€Å"Always low price† 2. Known for its information management and supply chain management. Bharti 1. Need retailing experience 2. Need information technology and supply chain management skills 1. Known for its brand and execution capabilities 2. Known for its experience in collaboration with foreign companies 3. Strong Consumer Marketing and distribution capabilities due to other business 4. Bharti’s Agriculture programs with local farmers

Distracted Driving Is One Of The Leading Cause Of Death Essay

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of death. â€Å"Every year, about 421,000 people are injured in crashes that have involved a driver who was distracted in some way,† (Hopkins). Even though this is true, people who use a cell phone while driving are not punished as harshly as drunk drivers. A DUI, driving while intoxicated, is a misdemeanor and could result in a few months in jail, as well as a fine. The punishments for a DUI get more severe each time someone is charged. While, the punishment for texting and driving are only monetary fines. So, why is texting and driving considered a less punishable offense? A major reason is because of the length of time both have been a problem. The first law against drinking and driving was in 1910 and cell phones weren t popular until 80 years after in the 1990s. Because of the long time period of drunk driving being a problem, there is more attention towards the crime. There also wasn’t a long enough time to get the s ame tangible statistics to compare using a phone to drinking and driving. However, now, cell phones have been around for years and the awareness of using them while driving is high but the awareness of the actual danger is low. People who text while driving should face harsher punishments because texting while driving is just as dangerous as driving intoxicated; this is evident through the number of car crashes and fatalities caused by this issue every year, emotional effects texting has on a driver, and theShow MoreRelatedEssay Accidents Caused by Texting and Driving 706 Words   |  3 Pagesteens texting while driving has risen . Researchers at Cohen Childrens Medical Center New Hyde Park estimated 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries (Ricks). This is more than the number of teens who drink and drive. In comparison, 2,700 teens die from drinking and driving. Because of texting and driving, there has been an increase car crashes, teen injuries and teen deaths. First, car crashes have increase. Its illegal to text while driving in most U.S. statesRead MoreThe Concept Of Autonomous Vehicles Essay1336 Words   |  6 Pagesautonomous, or self-driving, vehicles dates back nearly a century. It was first introduced in the 1930s when it graced the pages of science fiction and has continued to be a hot topic ever since (Weber, 2014). Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, are â€Å"those in which operation of the vehicle occurs without direct driver input to control the steering, acceleration, and braking and are designed so that the driver is not expected to constantly monitor the roadway while operating in self-driving mode† (NHTSA, 2013)Read MoreThe Dangers Of Texting And Driving1391 Words   |  6 PagesDistracted driving alone has claimed around 3,500 lives in the year 2015 (Currin, Andrew). These numbers have increased throughout the last decade causing people to take notice. Texting while driving is the leading cause of distracted driving deaths in the United States. In the last seven years, states across the U.S. have ba nned texting and driving in efforts to stop fatal accidents that have claimed so many lives. The focus of this is piece is to understand the dangers of texting and driving, theRead Moretexting while driving1007 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ The Dangers of Texting While Driving Over the past few years, texting while driving has become a major issue for many Americans across the country. It has been the cause of many deaths and injuries and is a huge distraction for drivers. Texting while driving is said to be as dangerous as drunk driving. Many campaigns have been developed to further reduce the rate of accidents caused by texting while driving, but these are not taken to notice by the thousands of people taking their chancesRead MoreDeath In Georgia859 Words   |  4 Pageslife and no one likes it. Its even sadder when its a death that can be easily avoided. Injury-related are almost always of the highly preventable type with much of it being due to carelessness or not being conscious of the things that a person ingests or their surroundings.One of the top non-disease killers is death from automotive accidents. In a statistical gathering by the CDC, deaths from automotive accidents were the leading non-disease killers from ages 5-24 and the second one in ages 25-65+Read MoreThe Cons of Texting and Driving918 Words   |  4 PagesAs indicated by Jonathon Burkett, there is a difference between texting and driving. When driving, your eyes have to be open while looking at the road ahead of you. You need to be watching the cars around you and looking at streetlights and road signs. When you are texting, you are focused on the texting device and what you are going to type next. How can you do both (driving and texting)? You can’t; therefore, stop before you take the life of someone else or even your own. People text and driveRead MoreMotor Vehicle Accidents And Economic Stress946 Words   |  4 PagesMotor Vehicle Accidents and Economic Stress In today’s society, motor vehicle accidents can cause serious economic stress on the average U.S. citizen. In America today, the average legal driving age can start out at the age of eighteen. Unless those new drivers have had plenty of time behind the wheel, they are subject to a higher risk of a motor vehicle accident that could result in economic stress. Economic stress can come in all varieties. It can range from an influx in vehicle insurance premiumsRead MoreTexting While Driving Is A Problem904 Words   |  4 Pagesmessaging while driving has a severe the negative effect on drivers ability to maintain a central lane position, or more serious those cause can death on the road. Texting while driving can be compared to driving while being drunk. The author asserts that 30.2 million persons aged 21 years or older had driven under the influence of alcohol at least once during the past year. (Dubois, et al). As a result, many accidents have taken place by the most of teenage rs and adults people who are driving while beingRead MoreMotor Vehicle Safety Essays903 Words   |  4 PagesMotor Vehicle Safety Motor accidents are one of the leading causes of unintentional injuries in the United States. In the year 2000 the National Highway Trafï ¬ c Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that around 41,000 people were killed in traffic accidents within the United States. This mortality rate has since dropped 25% from 2000 to 2009 (Rockett et al., 2012). There are many reasons for motor vehicle injuries, ranging from lack of seat belt use, elderly drivers, alcohol and young childrenRead MoreLegal Driving Age743 Words   |  3 PagesLegal Driving Age Many youth ages sixteen to eighteen are audacious, they mostly want freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility and most young adults lack this. They want to have fun before they turn into adults.There are too many problems with minors when it comes to driving. Can we risk the safety of Canadians for juvenile teens? Can we let them rampage through our streets for entertainment? Youngsters are known for partying, sneaking out, drinking; when it is illegal and we can not have