Distractions when utilizing a cellular telephone is becoming extremely prevalent in present day. A cell phone is a telephone with access to a cellular radio system so it can be used over a wide area without a physical connection to a network. In 1843, Michael Faraday, studied to see if space could conduct electricity. In the year of 1865, Dr. Mahlon Loomis was the first person to communicate through wireless atmosphere. He came up with the idea of transmitting and receiving messages through atmosphere as a conductor. Then, in 1973 Martin Copper, came up with Motorola and by 1977 the first cell phone was made in Chicago. While this paper shows the distraction of cell phones, many people understandably wonder how this risk compares to other issues, for example talking with passengers or listening to a radio ("Understanding the distracted," 2012). Drivers talking on cell phones make more driving errors than drivers talking with passengers ("Understanding the distracted," 2012). Drivers are more likely to drift out of lanes and miss exits than drivers talking with passengers because if there is an adult passenger then it can be inferred that they will help drivers by monitoring and discussing traffic ("Understanding the distracted," 2012). Also, passengers tend to suppress conversation when driving conditions are demanding while when talking on cell phones callers cannot see when a driving environment is challenging and cannot suppress conversation in response ("Understanding the distracted," 2012). Listening to music does not result in lower response time, according to simulator studies ("Understanding the distracted," 2012). But when the same drivers talk on cell phones, they do have a slower response time ("Understanding the dist... ... middle of paper ... ....1016/j.jsr.2011.01.004 Strayer, D. L., & Drews, F. A. (2007). Cell-phone: Induced driver distraction. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(3), 128-131. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00489.x Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., & Crouch, D. J. (2006). A comparison of the cell phone driver and the drunk driver. Human Factors, 48(2), 381-91. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216443961?accountid=12711 Tessier, J. (2013). Student impressions of academic cell phone use in the classroom. Journal of College Science Teaching, 43(1), 25-29. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1437615437?accountid=12711 (2012). Understanding the distracted brain why driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior. White Paper, Retrieved from http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/Distracted_Driving/Documents/Cognitive Distraction White Paper.pdf
The article “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” reports the experiment and findings about how cell phones in sight not only effect your relationships, but also your ability to complete motor tasks. In this study, three groups were present and they differed from one group only being able to see their group leaders cell phone, while the other group had sighting of their own cell phones and the last one had no visible cell phone. The first two groups suffered from completing the complex tasks, but the group with no cell phone differed from having a harder time completing the tasks. Like “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” both articles address how cell phones can be distracting when driving. From the article, “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” Thornton, a professor from the University of Southern Maine states, “You could probably text and drive somewhat safely if you’re on a straight road, and there’s no traffic, and you take your time.” Although it is stated that it could be some what possible, those occasions are rare when it comes to the driving conditions. Not only do cell phones affect driving, but a common theme brought out in many of the articles is how they effect interpersonal relationships. This article talks about how they play a role in our social communication, just like all the
Another negative effect that mobile phones impair is mental focus while driving. People who are driving have their minds on the task in front of them with their full attention on the road. So when a person is conversing on a phone their attention is split as he or she is trying to multi-task both talking and driving at the same time. An article written by Nathan Seppa, the cause of “split attention”, he noted that David Strayer a psychology professor and his team studied to understand what impairs drivers when they talk on the phone. They conducted an experiment with drivers to see the effects of how varies distractions compare to each other. Strayer’s team accompanied drivers and assign them different distractive tasks while they maintain their eyes on the road in order to assess the effects. In the team’s findings they found that one most distracting tasks was talking on a mobile phone, which caused a driver’s performance to decline significantly. The typical tasks that drivers should perform on a regular basis, such as observing traffic changes, looking in rear-view mirrors, and watching for pedestrians was reduced overall (Seppa). Not many people can multi-task a conversation and driving at the same time without some drawbacks. Another drawback to a person focus was “unintentional blindness”, described by Simons, as “looking at something and not seeing it” (Seppa). So a person who is talking on a phone can end up not seeing an object whether it is a car, a stop sign or a pedestrian that is right in front of him and her. Many experiments were conducted by professionals to understand how “unintentional blindness” can affect a person’s perception, but one notable professional, Simmons, conducted a test of this concept:
This paper examines the dangers that arise when cell phones are used at the same time as operating a vehicle. The paper will explore the following question of why this is a problem and why the research is important. The variables investigated are the use of cell phones while driving, whether speaking or texting, and the accidents and fatalities caused from the distraction. Data of the accidents and fatalities caused by drivers distracted by their cells phones is stated to research and further explores the age group and gender of the people involved into the accidents to uncover patterns. Possible outcomes of the implementation of laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving are discussed as well as the sampling measures used to survey and research the variables.
Several individuals need to be constantly sending messages to their friends and family members with the use of a cellphone while driving. More and more drivers have the urge to use their cell phones while driving. This dangerous mixture can result to be even deadly. “As one researcher concluded, a cellphone draws attention away from the routines that would provide a good representation of the driving environment” (qtd. in Seppa 3).
The several effects of distracted driving are deadly. Andrew Lavallee points out that “texting while driving is unsafe. Not only are a driver’s eyes off the road, one or both hands are off the wheel.” “We think it is incompatible with safe driving” (qtd. in Lavallee). “Study upon study showed that talking on a cellphone was far more dangerous than she’d realized – that a driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash” (qtd. in Hanes). Stephanie Hanes also mentions that, “Unlike a conversation with a passenger, the electronic conversation takes a driver into a virtual space away from the road.” Subsequently, this causes severe problems and deadly
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
Some people argue that just as many car accidents would happen if the use of cell phones were not involved. According to Shows Cellphone Use, “Using a cellphone while driving may be distracting, but it does not lead to higher crash risks.” It is hard to miss the number of drivers with phones glued to their hands. As they dangerously multitask while driving around other vehicles and pedestrians. Those who decide to use their phones are simultaneously contributing to a lack of visual, manual, and cognitive attention a driver needs to remain focused (Injury Prevention, 2015). With the potential of crashing being 23 times greater than the risk posed by drunk driving (No Texting, 2015). With statistical information providing a connection between distracted drivers and increased accidents, it is hard to believe there are some who feel it is not
"Understanding the Distracted Brain: Why Driving While Using Hands-Free Cell Phones is Risky Behavior." National Safety Council, 1 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 May 2014. .
The use of cell phones while a vehicle in motion should be banned throughout the United States. Texting, searching the internet, talking on the phone is a very big distraction, and could cause someone to get hurt or even worse; killed and the current teenage generation thinks talking on a cellphone while driving is second nature. It’s a known fact that the use of cell phones while driving can be deadly. It only takes one split second for a person to look away from the road to cause an accident. So-called distracted driving crashes claimed 5,474 lives and led to 448,000 injuries across the country last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA]. (Mayerowitz, Scott, and Lisa Stark. par. 4)Yet people continue to talk, text and browse the internet while operating a motor vehicle.
demand for better cell phones is skyrocketing. With new technological advancements happening everyday with cell phones, people are starting to depend on a cell phone for everyday task. Although cell phones allow the user to contact friends or family with the touch of a button and allows them to play games in times of boredom. As a result of everyday use, cell phones have affected relationships, the brain, and health.
Not only does it put the driver of the car in danger, but it also puts the passengers and the surrounding cars at risk. Using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be just as dangerous as driving under the influence. At any given moment during the day, around 800,000 people are driving cars while using a hand-held device, which unfortunately puts everyone else at risk of a car crash. In the recent year, 21% of fatal car crashes involved the use of a cellular device (Prof. David J. Hanson, 1997-2015). Unfortunately, humans, especially teenagers, cannot put down their cell phones while they drive due to the many notifications they receive. They are addicted. This points back to how the cell phones are affecting the mental health of humans. In 2007, Bailey Goodman, a seventeen-year-old, was killed along with four of her friends in a car accident. Goodman
I, as a driver, too, think that cell phone use while driving is a distraction. Even though I personally don’t own a phone, I have used one. I noticed that talking on the cellular phone and driving doesn’t make it hard to focus on the road. But it is difficult and a major distraction to dial-up a number without losing focus on the road. Dialing a number is the main distraction about cel...
Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time. A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front.
Over the last few decades, the use of cell phones has become a very common tool. Furthermore, Technology has certainly advanced, and the cell phone is becoming the most preferred mode of communication. The demand for a cell phone is growing every day. In addition, the use of wireless technology is affordable, and anyone can buy a cell phone at a reasonable price. They come in all shapes and sizes. They range from black to bright metallic white. American public use of cell phones is increasing everyday. As the number of people using cell phones increase, the use of cell phones while driving will also increase on our streets and highways. At the same rate, motorists still converse on cell phones and write text messages while driving. Motorist will also engage in other activities apart from driving. For example, drivers will text when driving, and they will dial numbers. Drivers will receive calls and converse with the recipient for long periods. Again, driving demands your full attention, and your concentration needed when talking on the phone. However, it means that the driver has to divert his attention to the conversation, which leads to less concentration on the road. On the contrary, one can therefore connect motorist’s accidents and cell phone usage while driving.
Strayer, D. L. & Johnston, W. A. (2001) Driven to distraction: Dual task studies of simulated driving and conversing on a cellular phone. Psychological Science, 12, 462-466