Cell Phone Usage While Driving Free Essays

Cell phones have grown in popularity enormously in the last twenty years. Having a cell phone has become a necessity for twelve year olds to senior citizens. Cell phones are the most widely used device of communication for Americans. We will write a custom essay sample on Cell Phone Usage While Driving or any similar topic only for you Order Now Not only are cell phones used for talking, but also many cell phones have capabilities to do everything that a computer can do. Due to the increasing popularity and ever changing technological developments, cell phone usage has increased while operating a motorized vehicle. Using a cell phone while operating a motorized vehicle would be fine, if it was not dangerous. Driving alone can be a dangerous action within itself. When cell phones are added to the equation, the danger factor is raised significantly. Anything that distracts a driver from focusing on driving can pose a potential threat. Drivers assume that they can multitask while driving. Cell phones are a necessity to American society. Drivers feel as if they have the right to use their phone when and where they want. Why do drivers willingly put their lives and others at risk? It is impossible for drivers to have total focus on driving if they are using their cell phones. Matt Richtell addressed some of the issues of cell phone usage while operating a motorized vehicle in his article â€Å"Safety Group to Call for Ban on Texting While Driving†: Studies show that motorists who send or receive a text message have a tendency to take their eyes off the road for five seconds to do so. That is enough time for their car to travel more than the length of a football field at highway speeds. Studies show that drivers who talk on the phone are four times likelier to crash than those who are not on the phone. But regulating or legislating against talking on cell phones while driving is likely to be less popular with the public than bans on texting, according to legislators around the country and some polls on the issue. (â€Å"Safety† B4) Although studies have shown that using a cell phone while driving can be fatal, drivers are willing to take that risk. If most drivers had their way, cell phone usage while driving would not be an issue. Most drivers will continue not to care about cell phone usage while driving until it hurts them or a loved one. Elisabeth Rosenthal addresses some of the issues involving an accident where a cell phone was the killer in her article â€Å"When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison†: The crash might once have been written off as a tragic accident. Ms. Curtis’s alcohol level was zero. [†¦] She had exchanged nearly two dozen messages with at least five friends. [†¦] Until Tory’s death I texted while driving, as have most people. I don’t think she realized the danger she was causing. (â€Å"When† A1) This tragic accident happened in Britain. The woman that was texting while driving was sentenced between four and seven years. The laws are stricter in Britain than the United States. The United States has made some progress regarding cell phone usage while driving. Congress is trying to encourage states to ban texting while driving. Congress should not let this be up to the states. This issue is a problem that should be handled on the federal level. Matt Richtell explains the policies that Senators are trying to implement in his article â€Å"Senators Seek a Band on Texting and Driving†: States that do not ban texting by drivers could forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds under legislation introduced Wednesday in the Senate. Under the measure, states would have two years to outlaw the sending of text and e-mail messages by drivers or lose 25 percent of their highway money each year until the money was depleted. We oppose sanctioning states since there is not yet a proven effective method for enforcing a texting or cell phone ban. â€Å"Senators† B4) Although Senators oppose outlawing texting on a federal level they should do more than implement a voluntary ban. People have been killed and will continue to die because of the use of cell phones while driving. Some states will not ban texting because they want to be well liked by the public. Congress has to do more than what they have done in the past. They will wait until; too many lives have been lost to actually implement a mandatory policy. Utah is an exception to this policy. Matt Richtell addresses some of the policies regarding cell phone usage while driving in his article â€Å"Utah Gets Tough With Texting Drivers†: In most states, if somebody is texting behind the wheel and causes a crash that injures or kills someone, the penalty can be as light as a fine. Utah is much tougher. [†¦] Utah passed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison. The new law, which took effect in May, penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. Utah is a great example for the United States and other states should follow their lead. Texting while driving is no different from being under the influence of alcohol while driving. Even if the government outlaws any cell phone usage while driving, drivers will continue use their cell phones. No matter what the government does, the ultimate decision lies within the driver’s hand. Is a text message or phone call worth risking lives? For some drivers it is. All it takes is one second and innocent lives can be lost. Unless drivers are willing to die, they should prohibit the use of cell phones while driving. How to cite Cell Phone Usage While Driving, Essay examples Cell Phone Usage While Driving Free Essays It’s an even greater challenge if I don’t have my eating glasses on I never wear them while driving. It takes two hands to type. My 20-something children can do it one handed, rarely looking at the keyboard. We will write a custom essay sample on Cell Phone Usage While Driving or any similar topic only for you Order Now The light changes. I’m almost finished. â€Å"Hurry, Hurry,† I tell my self, pulling into the intersection while pressing â€Å"send†. Boone. L. (2009, August 10). Cell phone usage while driving should be banned completely in the US do to all hazards it creates on a daily basis on US roads. As a professional driver (truck driver) he sees it everyday, drivers with a cell phone in hand testing while driving, or on the phone talking to someone, completely unaware of their surroundings, swerving, slowing down, ten, twenty, and even thirty miles an hour from the posted speed limit, not thinking for one second the dangerous situation that they are putting themselves and others in. He doesn’t understand how can drivers despite of all the advertising campaigns on television, radio, billboards, newspapers, and magazines, drivers still go a head and use that cell phone while driving. But one of the worst thing he sees on a daily basis, is the people that are supposed to be enforcing this laws (the cops) are the first to be breaking them. Just every cop he sees driving on the road is talking on the cell phone. Wright, like they say â€Å"lead by example†. Just the other day while driving on the highway as he was approaching an off ramp, he looks to the right and see a car with a young woman driving and a baby in the rear seat, she is on the phone, not looking to the left for one second to check the on coming traffic, and Just as she is at the point were the off ramp meets the highways, she takes a look to the left, and realizes that she has no room to go in to the highway and has to force her self to the shoulder and into the rays, almost crashing into the trees. How can she be so careless? What kind of person puts a baby and them self in that situation? Mansfield, S. (2000, Mar. )† A report by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that driving while using the cell phone probably is hazardous, but wouldn’t speculate how great the risk was, nor what other mitigating factors might be involve†. Now the numbers are staggering, Schroeder, P. , Meyers, M. Stinkbug, L. 2013, April) the statistics for 2011 on cell phone and driving say it’s estimated that at least 23% of all car accidents ACH year involves cell phone use – that’s 1. 3 million crashes, 3,331 people were killed and 387,00 were injured, and in 2012, 24% of all car accidents each year involves cell phone use, 3,328 people were killed, and 421,00 were injured. With this type of statistics, and as we can see, on the rise every year, what are the law makers or the government waiting for, to establish a ban on cell phone use while driving. States have proposed bans on cell phone use while driving, for example: Excerpt by Mansfield, S. (2000, Mar. ) in Arizona, a person shall not operate a motor vehicle on a Agway while using a cellular telephone, a computer, headphones or earphones, excluding hearing aids or other devices for improving the hearing of the person, and any other electronic device not installed by the manufacturer an that is not essential to the operation of a motor vehicle. In Colorado, â€Å"mobile communications device† means a cellular phone, citizen’s band radio, or other device that enables a person in a motor vehicle to transmit and receive audio signals†¦ No person shall use mobile communication device while operating a motor vehicle unless the device is pacifically designated to allow hands-free operation. Like the states mention above, in 2000 there were seven more states, that propose bans on cell phones while driving and nothing has come out of this proposals. From the year 2000 to present, the numbers on this surveys and studies that are been conducted by this government entities and private companies are still on the rise, and drivers don’t seem to want to change their habits while driving, and all the debates between state legislators don’t seem to be getting them no were, and at least for the moment don’t for see any hangs in the laws any time soon. What can we, as responsible adults, and drivers do to help minimize this hazards that are been created by irresponsible drivers everyday. How can we get this so called legislators, to change their minds and finally approve bans that we so desperately need to make our roads much safer than what they are now. Have we not seen enough? How many friends, family members, families, and children, or loved ones need to be killed or affected, before someone does something about this absent minded killer. How to cite Cell Phone Usage While Driving, Papers Cell Phone Usage While Driving Free Essays Cell Phone Usage While Driving The cellular phone has brought many services and many different ways of communicating. It has definitely made communication so much easier. However, when it comes to road safety, the cellular phone may be considered a risk especially when text messages and calls are received. We will write a custom essay sample on Cell Phone Usage While Driving or any similar topic only for you Order Now On January 11, 2009 I got in a serious accident because of using the cellular phone while I was driving. I was driving to my friend’s house and I just received a text message. I was driving 45 mph in 35 mph zone and texting the same time. As soon as I looked up I passed a stop sign and collided to the car that was in front of me. My car was damaged and my insurance went up. Ever since the introduction of text messages, society has grown aware of the dangerous of texting while driving. Even though all people understand how it affects their life and the other people’s life, they still use their cellular phone. I was reading the Gazette newspaper the other day and according to the national highway traffic administration, 16% of all fatal crashes in 2008 were caused by driver distraction. One of the most obvious things that happen when a driver is texting while driving is that the driver would avert his eyes form the road for around five seconds. This is more than enough time for a person to run in front of the vehicle or for the vehicle in front of you to make a sudden stop or to miss seeing the light change. The Washington Post news paper edition of June12, 2010 talks about a study that was done by University of Utah psychologists using a driving simulator under four different conditions: with no distractions, using a handheld cell phone, talking on a hands-free cell phone, and while intoxicated to the 0. 08 percent blood-alcohol level, 40 participants followed a simulated pace car that braked intermittently. Researchers found that the drivers on cell phones drove more slowly, braked more slowly and were more likely to crash. In fact, the three participants who collided into the pace car were chatting away. None of the drunken drivers crashed. Now laws have been enforced to prevent accidents from happening on roadways. States such as California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Washington D. C. have passed laws that prohibit the use of hand held cell phones while driving. Maryland becomes the seven states to pass the cell phone use while driving. A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cell phone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries but Americans have largely ignored that research. Instead, they increasingly use phones, navigation devices and even laptops to turn their cars into mobile offices, chat rooms and entertainment centers, making roads more dangerous to other drivers. District of Columbia require drivers who talk on cell phones to use hands-free devices, but research shows that using headsets can be as dangerous as holding a phone because the conversation distracts drivers from focusing on the road. Older drivers were slightly less likely to get into accidents than younger drivers; they tend to have a greater following distance. Their reactions are impaired, but they are driving so careful they were less likely to smash into somebody. Also new drives are especially on the top list to have an accident when they use a cell phone while driving. The reasoning for this is that new drivers have less experience in focusing on driving during distractions. Also teen drivers send text messages while driving. Since text messaging involves the hands and the eyes, this is thought to be more distracting and dangerous than when drivers use a cell phone while driving only for speaking and listening. Now days most of the new cars has phones that is already built in the car and using that is would be dangerous as picking up the phone and dialing. Overall, if drivers feel they cannot use a handless device or if they are easily distracted on the road by their conversation, then they should not be driving, because they are a danger to others on the road. Also if they need to talk or text they should pull up to the side and finish their business before they get back to the road and driving. How to cite Cell Phone Usage While Driving, Papers