In today’s era, life without cell phones is unimaginable. It is being used in every field, and for everything. Easy to handle and easy to carry, I can use it anywhere, but only at one place I refrain myself from using it, is while driving, which requires my complete focus. This is a serious issue which most of the people don’t take seriously. It is equally harmful as drunken driving, as your senses get involved in talking with other person and could cause accidents. It requires a complete ban on Cell phones while driving, and laws for making such actions punishable. If call is very urgent then, the vehicle could be stopped for a while but nothing could be more important than life.
Driving and cell phones could prove to be troublesome for the driver. Cell phone driving has proved to be distractive and has increased the risks of accidents by 1.3 times. That is the reason why the Governors Highway Safety Association . 13 states, D.C, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Island and Guam prohibit drivers from using cell phones while driving . D.C. and 20 states ban all cell phone use especially for school bus drivers . Washington was the first state to ban text messaging while driving in 2007 and presently 44 states ban text messaging for all drivers . This is due to the increase in number of accidents due to cell phone driving jurisdiction has declared cell phone driving illegal. According to Dr Drews, if legislation wants to address the issue of driver’s distractions, they need to consider outlawing cell phone usage while driving . It is also being observed that the risk of cell phone driving is much higher than that of drunken driving as more people are found to be talking with cell phone while driving then drunken driving . The distracted drivers who are talking over cell phones while driving are found to be 5.36 times more likely to conduct accidents . Driving while talking over cell phones is as bad as drunken driving or may be worse which could not be accepted by the society .
- 636,000 crashes
- More than 300,000 personal injuries
- 12,000 major injuries
- More than 2500 death
- And US$ 43 billion damages every year
Government needs to take serious step to stop cell phone driving to control these damages. Though mobile phone driving is a common act these days, but has proved that it’s very dangerous, that is why jurisdiction has considered it as illegal. As in a study it was found that driver’s inattention is supposed to be prime factor in 20 to 50 percent of crashes. Studies conducted by , also proved that cell phone drivers faced driving difficulties, and exhibited more impairment than intoxicated drivers. The results have shown that taking on mobile phones while driving is more dangerous than driving with blood alcohol content of 0.08% , so if drunken driving is considered a crime, so should be talking on mobile phones while driving. At times hands free devices are being used instead of mobile phones, but are equally risky as proved in cross over studies, simulation tests and meta-analysis. The increase in workload involved in holding a conversation while driving caused the risks. Similarly with texting while driving should also be avoided as in a market research conducted by Pinger reported that around 89% of the U.S. adults feel that
Texting while driving is very dangerous and should be banned. Therefore use of mobile phone behind the wheels in any case is risky and dangerous and for safety reasons it should be strictly banned by the jurisdiction.
Works Cited
Drews, F., Strayer, D., & Crouch, D. (2006). A comparison of the cell phone driver and the drunk driver. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 381-391.
GHSA. (2014, June). Governor Highway Safety Association. Retrieved from www.ghsa.org: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
Lane, K. (2010, January 12). National Safety Council Estimates that At Least 1.6 Million Crashes Each Year Involve Drivers Using Cell Phones and Texting. Retrieved from www.nsc.org: http://www.nsc.org/pages/nscestimates16millioncrashescausedbydriversusingcel
NHTSA. (2010, September). U.S. DOT NAtional Highway Traffic Safety Administration Distracted Driver Report. Retrieved from www.nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811379.pdf
Strayer , D., Drews, F., & Siegel, L. (2006, January 29). Drivers on Cell phones are as bad as Drunks. Retrieved from unews.utah.edu: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://unews.utah.edu/old/p/062206-1.html
Unews. (2006, June 29). Drivers on cellphones are as bad as drunks. Retrieved from www.unews.utah.edu: http://www.unews.utah.edu/old/p/062206-1.html
