Cell phones have become a huge part of modern life.. Cell phones play a large role in our society from keeping track of the kids to calling for help in emergencies. As the popularity of cell phones increase, concerns over hazards and car accidents they cause has increased also. A law should be passed stating that all cell phone use be illegal while driving.
Talking on a cell phone while trying to drive a car puts the driver, other drivers, and pedestrians in danger. The risk of a passenger, another driver, or a pedestrian being killed by a driver using a cell phone is 1.5 in a million per year. There are three dangers associated with driving and cell phone use. First, drivers must take their eyes off the road while dialing. Second, people can become so wrapped up in their conversations that their ability to concentrate on driving decreases. Lastly, people are constantly reaching for their cell phones to make or answer calls, making it impossible to keep both hands on the wheel. Adding to research that suggests that cell phone use while driving is hazardous, Progressive Insurance found that 46 percent of 837 drivers who used cell phones while driving swerved into another lane, 23 percent tailgated another vehicle, 18 percent almost
hit another car, and 10 percent ran a red light. Of those surveyed, 90 percent admitted to using their phone while driving alone. Cell phone use while driving is basically the same as driving after drinking alcohol, both cause the driver to have poor speed maintenance, poor lane control, slow starts at signaled intersections, abrupt lane changes, sudden stops and cutting off other drivers. Driving while talking on a cell phone increases your risk of an accident from 34-300 percent same as driving drunk. Several states have attempted to pass laws to ban cell phone use while driving. Cab drivers in New York are not allowed to use cell phones while driving.
On the other hand, those who appose banning cell phones while driving argue that when states issue drivers licenses, an individual motorist has been given the chance to be both responsible and capable of making decisions behind the wheel. Also, holding a conversation on a cell phone while driving is no more distracting than talking to a passenger. Lastly arguing that a driver should be able to chose whether or not to use a cell phone while driving and any attempts to legally prohibit this is taking away the personal rights of motorists.
Over the past two decades the use of cell phones has grown significantly and statistic from the past two years have proven that driving while on the phone or texting is becoming one of the leading causes of traffic accidents today. In 2011, a survey of more than 2800 American adults revealed that even thought they know that using a cell phone or texting while driving is distracting, they do it anyway, and teens surveyed admit that texting while driving is their number one distraction. "Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% ...
Cell phone use including hands-free should be banned in Texas. People claim they never use their cell phones while driving, but in reality they do. Cell phone use is one of the biggest distractions while driving. It takes away your reflexes and your attention off the road. One in four crashes involves driver distraction (txdot.gov). Drivers who use cell phones in their vehicles have a higher risk of collision than drivers who don't, whether holding the phone or using a hands-free device (txdot.gov).
Texting while driving is a lot more dangerous than drinking while driving. Talking on the phone or texting while driving delays reactions. “Talking on the cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as a seventy year old. Texting on a phone while driving is 48 times more likely to have a car accident (“Statistics”).” According to a study done by Rossi crashes happen every fifty five seconds all over this world. In ten years time it is estimated that there will be 16,000,000 car wrecks worldwide. Taking your eyes off the road for that short amount of times, it only takes just five seconds to check that one text message is twenty three times more dangerous.
People are distracted enough as it is without have their cell phones attached to their ears while driving. The topic of using a cell phone while driving has been debated for many years, because there are two types of people with two different opinions. On one hand people have things that require their attention at all times, and on the other people cannot give their full attention to the road and fellow motorists if they are using their cell phone while driving.
“When a driver ‘talks and drives’ they are not only putting themselves at risk, they are also putting everyone around them in a dangerous situation” (ComparisonMarket.com). A study conducted last year by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, had cameras placed inside one hundred cars and trucks to track drivers' activities before a dangerous event occurred. Research shows users of cell phones while driving caused far more crashes and near misses than non-users. These statistics do not change even if the hand held device becomes hands free by means of a blue tooth or speaker phone. Hands-free cell phones may allow the driver to keep both hands on the wheel however, devices such as headsets or voice activated dialing led to longer dialing times causing the same level of driver distraction. Even though a study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims bans on handheld cell phones in many states seem to have had no impact on accident rates, drivers still should not use a hand held phone while driving in the car because car accidents associated with hand held phone use account for nearly three hundred deaths per year showing cell phone users are four times as likely to get into an automobile accident serious enough to cause injury.
David Hosansky states that the use of cell phones and texting should not be allowed while driving. The increased uses of cell phones and texting while driving has become the center of safety conversations. In fact, there are more than 5,000 deaths related to the use of cell phones and texting while driving over the last decade. Even if laws were put in place it is believed that motorists would still find it hard to put down their phones down. Hosansky also gave an example on the hazards of texting while driving, especially among young drivers. There are very few states that have implemented laws restricting the use of cell phones or texting while driving. David Hosansky is a freelance writer in the Denver area. This article seems to have been written for the general public and thought to be informative. I found this especially helpful and informative in finding this is not just a local problem.
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.
The biggest problem is young adults and teenagers when you are young you think nothing will happen to you. In 2009 a study found that physically dialing a phone while driving increase the risk of a crash as much as six times(consumer reports 2011). When texting and talking on the phone it takes ones eyes off the road which causes you to be driving blind.
... driving is avoidable. Using cell phone while driving is very dangerous and life risking because drivers would be easily distracted. Using cell phone while driving is unnecessary, unless in emergency situations.
The use of cell phones while in 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).
First and foremost, the risk of using a phone while driving is a big chance of an accident more than what the people think. According to the Harvard study “Texting while driving and other forms of distracted driving are responsible for more than 1 million crashes, 400,000 injuries, and 3,000 deaths in the U.S. each year—and those numbers are likely to in...
The use of mobile phones while driving are a major destruction to the drivers, it is definitely no different from a mother trying to nurse a baby at the back sit. A good percentage of road accidents has been attributed to driver destruction. (David and William, 2001) There are evidence of cell phone related road carnages and this remains to be a concern. In 1999 a girl was killed by a driver when he got destructed by a phone, same case reported last year and even the death of a state corrections officer on North Carolina. However much drivers say they have a right to use their mobile phones, they should know of the destructions it causes when
Also, there are cases when mobile phones use while driving becomes important. Such happens when people need to respond to emergencies. Mobile phones are primarily used for communication purposes. Mobile phone use while driving if banned might show that the government is impeding the right to communicate. The government just needs to ensure that mobile phone users are also responsible enough. This is done through rigorous dialogue and not those proposed legislations. For example, mobile phones is necessary if someone is chasing you in a car, then you might have to call the police. If there is an emergency, like someone was sent to the hospital, it would be nice to be able to receive that information, even if you are driving.
In 2005 in the UK 13 deaths and over 400 injuries were attributed to accidents where drivers were using cell phones, deaths which could have possibly been avoided. There are 4 main reasons for banning cell phones at the wheel:
Cell phone use by motorist is dangerous and can cause accidents resulting in deaths and injuries. Furthermore, Nations and states should take the lead in outlawing this dangerous act. Prohibition of Cell phone use by motorists globally is the solution. Since a driver cannot concentrate fully on driving while making a phone call, he remains as impaired as someone who drives while intoxicated. In addition, imagine the risk one puts himself in when he is being driven by a drunk driver .This is the same risk that a motorist speaking on phone faces. If lawmakers are serious about addressing the increasing number of deaths related to motorists using cell phones. Hence, they should ban use of cell phone use by motorist.