It’s was a dark night. The traffic was heavy; it was raining, and visibility was limited. There was an accident on the Interstate and three young people were killed. During the investigation it is revealed that one of the drivers was using a cell phone and failed to see the brake lightss of the car in front of them that had swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Though our instinct is to do what we can to prevent such tragedies in the future; we cannot control the weather. We can restrict driving at night, but that wouldn’t be reasonable. Nor would it be possible to restrict wildlife movement. Many think that legislation can prevent future tragedies. Their first reaction when an accident occurs is to find and place blame. The second reaction is …show more content…
Many people are forced to commute long distances to work and being reachable during those commutes allows those same people to leave work earlier since co-workers and supervisors can reach them at a moment’s notice. They can even participate in teleconferences while commuting. Allowing the use of cell phones while driving has increased the safety of citizens on the road. People are able and more apt to report crimes or suspicious behavior because of cell phone use. Initiatives such as Amber Alerts broadcast descriptions of vehicles and people suspected of kidnapping on highway signs and encourage drivers to call and report what they see. Emergency response time to accidents has decreased and calls are made frequently reporting drunk or reckless drivers. Cell phones also provide companionship to a driver that might be suffering from fatigue or boredom. Talking to someone while navigating unfamiliar roads is much more mentally stimulating than listening to a radio and can increase the safety of the lone driver. Many advocates of prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving mistakenly think that doing so will eliminate all distracted driving. What they may or may not understand is that distracted driving includes applying cosmetics, disciplining children, talking to other passengers, listening or tuning the radio, smoking, reading maps, etc… It is not the action of talking on the
Many accidents are blamed on distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage. However, some opponents feel that creating a law against cell phone use infringes their personal rights. Others think that banning someone from using their cell phones is equivalent to telling someone that they can't adjust their radio or chat with someone else in their car. However, using a cell phone, whether talking or texting, while driving can be extremely dangerous; it should be made illegal because it is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you, can lead to the death of loved ones, and it is even compared to the danger level of drunk driving. No matter what age the driver is, under no
In the scholarly journal “Distracted Driving: Prevalence, Problems, and Prevention”, Tiffany Overton, who has an MA and MPH degree, wrote a research report with her colleagues that clearly stated the impact cell phones have on drivers and provided potential solutions to the issue. They begin their report with a short introduction that briefs the acknowledgment on the negative impacts of distracted driving. Continuing on, Overton and her associates outline the topics their research report covers in means of identifying distracted driving and ways to reduce the issue in the United States. They define distracted driving as “eating, applying makeup, reading, smoking, and talking” (Overton), however, “the most prominent activity fuelling research
Distracted driving has been a big controversy for a while, whether we should ban cell phone use, radios, touch screen controls, or even eating and driving. “Drive now. Text later. (Author Unknown) There are many different takes on this topic, which makes it difficult for us to discuss it.
Numerous people may ask questions about why it is so dangerous to be texting or talking on their cellular device while driving. While others know the obvious answer and may begin to teach others about the hazards of driving while distracted. Countless people will think that nothing will happen to them; however, we will discover in this paper that they are very wrong. Distracted driving can kill you. Making proper choices while driving could keep you from getting a ticket, and could save your life!
The use of mobile devices while driving has become a major issue in our society. This is known as distracted driving, which is doing an activity that diverts the driver’s attention from the road. In the United States, 43 out of 50 states prohibits drivers from engaging in cell phone use, specifically, texting. Nonetheless, there continues to be news of deadly crashes resulting from driving distraction. According to National Occupant Protection Use Surveys, as many as 660,000 drivers are using a cell phone at any given moment. Don’t be one of them.
The invention of cell phones is an overall positive technological advancement in the 20th and 21st centuries. The use of cellular devices while driving, however, is dangerous. Because driving while using a cell phone is hazardous, many states have banned the use of handheld cell phones in motor vehicles. This law should be supported because the prohibition of handheld cell phones in motor vehicles results in safer, more focused drivers, and the development of hands-free cell phone products such as Bluetooth. The disadvantage is that drivers are now unable to use cell phones while driving, even in an emergency situation. Since their creation in the late 20th century, cell phones have become one of the biggest distractions to people while
As technology has flourished throughout the past decades, cellular devices have become a prominent fixture of our daily lives. Society continues to become increasingly dependent upon cell phones; thus leading to inquiries about banning phones while driving. Distracted driving is the number one cause of accidents, with cell phones being the most common. Just as alcohol delays a driver’s actions, cell phone use delays the driver as much as if they had 0.8% of alcohol in their system, causing a hazardous environment for the driver, passengers, and bystanders (“Statistics on Driving While Texting, GuardChild). Dialing or receiving a phone call elevates the risk of an accident 1.3 – 2.8 times (“Distracted Driving Is a Top Cause of Auto Accidents”, Law offices of Michael
It seems as though it would be fairly obvious that talking and texting on a cell phone while driving is careless and extremely dangerous not only to the driver but also to others to others driving on the road as well. Cell phones cause distraction while trying to drive, and people are no longer just talking on their cell phones, they are also text messaging, and surfing the worldwide web. Many believe that hands-free devices could be a solution to this problem, but the fact is hands free devices are just as dangerous to use while driving as hand held cell phones. Because of this cell phones should be prohibited in order to help prevent accidents.
Many issues exist regarding how distracting a cell phone is when used while driving. Cell phones are a major distraction. In fact, the United States has over
The need to regulate the use of cell phones, in any capacity, while driving is vital to halting this dangerous behavior. The article, “It’s dum 2 txt while u drive,” reports “Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveals that nearly 6,000 people were killed last year in accidents caused by distracted drivers. And 515,000 people were injured” (08A). Though this article focuses on the dangers of texting while driving, the statistics regarding distracted drivers, including those using cell phones in other capacities, are staggering. The logical thing to do is to ban their use, period, while driving. The article, “Driving Us to Distraction” reports, “research is beginning to show that driving while simply talking on a cell phone – including using hands-free technology – can prove dangerous, even deadly” (45-46). The article goes on to report unsettling results from a simulator study held by David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah. “Participants in one of Strayer’s simulator studies were faster to brake and caused fewer crashes when they had a .08 percent blood-alcohol content than while sober and talking on a cell phone” (45-46). The results imply that simply talking on a cell phone while
Since the mid–1990’s, cell phones have been a part of our daily lives. Cell phones allow us to communicate with anyone, anytime, and anywhere even while we are driving, they are convent and make our lives easier. But is it safe to use a cell phone to talk, text, take pictures, surf the web, etc. while driving? Many drivers, especially young drivers think so. Many drivers do not think that glancing down at a cell phone for a few seconds to send or read a text, or to make a phone call is a distraction while driving, can cause an accident or even death. I believe that cell phones should not be used while driving. There are laws against using cell phones while driving in all but one state,
It is known that the use of cell phones while driving decreases driver awareness and overall road safety, and in response to this knowledge, some states have passed laws that have prohibited the use of handheld devices. However, there are no laws banning hands free cell phone usage, despite research claiming hands free devices are just as dangerous handheld devices, but does their usage distract drivers enough to the point where states should legally ban the total use cell phones while driving? The following will introduce arguments for both sides of this topic, one for hands free cell phone usage and the other against cell phones usage entirely.
Drivers are at a four times greater risk of a crash. “Texting while driving increases the risk of accident 23.2 times over unimpaired driving” (quote garden). Even though it’s pretty obvious to most people what the dangers that are associated with using your cellphone while driving may be, a series of recent articles and studies in the New York Times suggest that these risks are remarkably higher than what many people may have realized. Basically what they found were, drivers who were making phone calls tended to be four times more likely to cause an accident compared to other drivers; hands-free devices, like bluetooths, were found to not be significantly safer; if you’re a person who texts and drives, it’s twice more of a risk than just talking on the phone. Although some of this data was composed a number of years ago, it was only just released recently through the freedom of many information requests. I found that the latest research that was just published stated that truckers who were
“It is not about how good of a driver an individual is. It is about the 5 seconds a person takes their eyes off the road. Do not risk it.” (Unknown Author) A safety tip everyone should keep in mind while operating a vehicle is no texting while driving. In the last decade, cell phone use has led to rising concerns about distraction during driving. One of the reasons for the growth of cell phone usage is to communicate with each other within seconds whether at an office, home, or outside driving a car etc. Another reason for the rise of cell phones are safety reasons. Therefore, cell phones should be banned while driving, due to less control of vehicle while driving, ability to concentrate and focus on the road, and attempts to decrease automobile accidents, collisions, and fatalities.
It is known that the use of cell phones, specifically handheld use such as texting, while driving decreases driver awareness and the overall safety of roads. In response to this knowledge, some states have passed laws that have outlawed the usage of handheld devices, and while there should be laws that definitively outlaw handheld usage, is there enough empirical evidence to outlaw hands free usage of cell phones? In other words, does handsfree usage of cell phones, via bluetooth, speakerphone, etc., distract drivers enough to the point where states should legally ban the total use cell phones while driving. The following essay will introduce arguments for both sides of this topic, one for hands free cell phone usage and the other against cell phones usage entirely.