Cell phones have brought great convenience for people’s daily life,
and using cell phones have become so popular that many times people do
not realize when, where, and how they are using their cell phones.
Research shows that using cell phones while driving will greatly
increase the risk of a collision by four-hundred percent, putting the
driver and others’ life in danger. Twenty percent of all motor vehicle
accidents are caused by drivers using their cell phones. Using cell
phones while driving is unsafe, irresponsible, and even illegal in
some states; If everyone does their part by not using their phones
while driving, the streets and highways can become a safer place.
Operating a vehicle requires the driver’s full attention to safely
control the vehicle and to be able to respond to events happening on
the roads, and when using a cell phone, whether texting or making a
phone call, it will distract the driver from operating the vehicle
correctly. Driver distractions are the leading cause of most vehicle
crashes and near-crashes; according to a study released by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech
Transportation Institute, eighty-percent of crashes and sixty-five
percent of all near-crashes involve some forms of driver distraction.
The study also shows nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes
involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a
million were injured; and more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by
someone using a hand-held cell phone on any given day in 2008 ("Driver
Distractions -Don’t Be A Statistic"). The Secretary of the Department
of Transportation, Ray LaHood, said, “Every single time someone takes
their eyes or their focus off the road, even for just a few seconds,
they put their lives and the lives of others in danger.”
Many studies have proven using cell phones while driving will decrease
the driver’s performance and slow the reaction time by forty-percent.
The main reason people should not text while driving, is because it
distracts you; The driver has to take at least one hand off of the
steering wheel, which in turn impairs the steering. There have also
been studies that have compared driving distracted by cell phones to
that of being intoxicated; like a study conducted by the University of
Utah reports that a driver on a cell phone is just as impaired as a
driver with a blood alcohol content of .08. Reading and texting
messages while driving cause up to a 400% increase of time spent with
driver’s eyes off the road. It has been reported that drivers are
slower to react to brake lights by eighteen percent when they are
talking on cell phones (“How Driving Distracted can Affect the Lives
of Others”). Jeremy Matthews, who had a car accident involving using
cell phone, explained his experiences of using cell phones while
driving, “I was involved in a car accident because the driver behind
me was using his cell phone and slammed into the my car when I put on
my brakes, but thank for use of seatbelts both the other driver and I
were not injured during the accident.”
College students were found to use cell phones while driving more
frequently than any other age group in a government study, according
an article from the Journal of American College Health (Cramer). Many
of people agree that cell phones are the most important part of their
life; it helps people keep in touch with their co-workers and friends,
synchronized with their everyday schedule, and even update their
social networking sites, such as Facebook. I have found myself many
times stopping in the middle of the crosswalk to let the cars pass
through first, because the drivers were using their cell phone and
were not pay their attention to their surroundings. Since motor
vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and disability for
young Americans, college students have more responsibilities than
anyone to cease this dangerous habit.
There have been plenty of issues surrounding about the use of cell
phones while driving. The alarming statistics have motivated lawmakers
trying to pass a bill which will make it illegal to use cell phone
while driving. Seven states and the District of Columbia states have
already made it illegal to using cell phones while driving and
seventeen states and the District of Columbia have banned text
messaging while driving. The prohibition of using cell phone while
driving cases many debates (“Cell Phone Laws”). Some people believe
the states that are trying to ban the use of cell phones are violating
the personal rights of the motorist. Chelsea Litras, a student I
interviewed, said, “For someone to try and ban me from texting while
driving is an injustice.” In contrary, Lei Hu, another student I
interviewed, argued “no matter if using a cell phone is a personal
right, when a driver put other lives in danger by using cell phone, it
is not a personal right anymore. It should be banned for the
consideration of the safety of both the driver and others’ life.”
Cell phones have become a necessity of most Americans because of their
useful and reliable applications and features that people now rely on
to get through a day; Drivers have to make the safe decision by
staying focused on the road, and resisting the urge to answer a phone
call to prevent the potential dangers. Statistic data and scientific
studies have proven that using cell phones while driving is unsafe,
even with hand free devices. A car accident, injury, or even death is
not worth reading a text message or checking an email. It is time for
driver’s to act responsible and ethical by putting away the cell phone
until they have arrived to their destination.
Works Cited
"Driver Distractions - Don’t Be A Statistic". California Department of
Motor Vehicles. Nov 15 2009
<http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/
“How Driving Distracted can Affect the Lives of Others” Fed Prime
Rate. Nov 15 2009
<http://www.wsjprimerate.us/
"Cell Phone Laws". Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Nov 15 2009
<http://www.iihs.org/laws/
"New Research Finds Increase in Use of Hand-Held Devices Among All
Drivers". NHTSA. Nov 15 2009 <http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/>.
Dennis, Michael. "Accidents caused by Cell Phone Use". eHow. Nov 15
2009 <http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/>.
"Distracted Driving". National Motorist Association. Nov 15 2009
<http://www.motorists.org/
Cramer, Sheryll. "College students use cell phones while driving more
frequently than found in government study". Journal of American
College Health. Nov 15 2009
<http://www.highbeam.com/doc/
For today's world mobile has became the mandatory equipment. Though it has many drawbacks people never stay without it. Like text while driving may be risky and dangerous but people avoid such things and use them. I don't touch my mobile when driving and use mobile application of Drivesafe.ly for texting.
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