Tom Smith Professor Rafferty ENG327W Date A Call to Action: Regulate Use of Cell phones On the Road When a cell phone goes off in a classroom or at a concert, we are irritated, but at least our lives are not endangered. When were on the road however, irresponsible cell phone users are more than irritating: They are putting our lives at risk. Many of us have witnessed drivers so distracted by dialing and chatting and making calls in the car that they resemble drunk drivers, weaving between lanes, for example or nearly running down pedestrians in crosswalks. A number of bill’s to regulate use of cell phones on the road have been introduced in State Legislatures, and the time has come to push for their passage. Regulation is needed because drivers using phones are seriously impaired and because laws on negligent and reckless driving is not sufficient to punish offenders. No one can deny that cell phones have caused traffic deaths and injuries. Cell phones were implicated in 3 fatal accidents in November 1999 alone. Early in November 1999 at 9am in the morning, 2 year old Morgan Pena was killed by a driver not paying attention on account of his phone. Morgans mother Patti Pena reports that the driver “ran a stop sign at 45 mph, broadsides my vehcle and killed Morgan as she sat in her car seat, sipping on her juice box.” A week later, correction’s officer, Shannon Smith, who was guarding prisoners by the side of the road, was killed by a woman distracted by a phone call while driving his car (Besthoff). On Thanksgiving weekend of that same month, John & Carole Hall, were killed when a naval academy Midshipman crashed into there parked car. According to an article written by Stockwell titled, Phone Use Faulted in Collision published in ... ... middle of paper ... ... says Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of state legislatures (qtd. In Layton 9). Lon Anderson of the American Automobile Association agrees: “There is Momentum building” he says to pass laws (qtd. In Layton 9). The time has come for States to adopt legislation restricting the use of cell phones in moving vehicles. Reference Page: Bestoff, Len. “Cell phone use increases risk of accidentsm but users willing to take the risk.” WRAL.com Capitol Broadcasting, 9 Nov. 1999. Web 12. Jan. 2001. Stockwell, Jamie. “Phone Use Faulted in Collision.” Washington Post 6 Dec. 2001: 1-100. Print. Violanti, John M. Cellular Phones and Fatal Accidents. Accident Analysis and Prevention 30:4 (1998): 519-24. Print. Farmer’s Insurance Group. “New Survery Shows Driver Had Had ‘Close Calls’ with Cell Phone Users.” Farmers Quarterly.Farmers Insurance Group, 8 May 2000. Web. 12 Jan, 2001.
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% ...
Kratsas, USATODAY Gabrielle. "Cellphone Use Causes over 1 in 4 Car Accidents." USA Today. Gannett, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
One day Chandler Gerber 23, of Bluffton collided with an Amish buggy back in April of 2012. A three year old boy and a five year old girl were killed. A 17 year old boy who was in critical condition died several days later. Chandler was sending a text that said “ I love you” to his wife when he caused the accident. Drivers who were texting were 23.2 times more likely to crash to those who weren’t texting (Cell Phones and Texting). The increasing amount of crashes caused from texting and driving and growing and becoming more of a problem. Distracted driving is an increasing problem in the United States resulting in many accidents, but a solution to the problem would be banning cellphones while driving.
Seo, Dong-Chul, and Mohammad R. Torabi. "The Impact Of In-Vehicle Cell-Phone Use On Accidents Or Near-Accidents Among College Students." Journal Of American College Health 53.3 (2004): 101-107. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
While driving down the turnpike do you ever see an auto before you that is swerving or accelerating and backing off? At that point you think to yourself, "I would prefer not to take after behind or be in the path right alongside them." So you accelerate, and beyond any doubt enough the driver is utilizing their mobile phone. Actually, I am certain you have. Mobile phone utilization while driving is not just disappointing for different drivers; it is exceptionally perilous to all drivers who are on the road. At the point when a driver is utilizing a mobile phone, it doesn 't make a difference what sort of individual they are, or what their age is, or their sexual orientation, accidents don 't demonstrate any
With the rise of smart phone, and their accessibility to the public, society has made it as necessary as breathing, and has also made it the number one hazard for teens drivers. As many as 341,000 vehicle accidents in 2013 involve the use of the cell phone at the time of crash. This has been labeled the teenage killer as many of the incidents are caused by people in ages of 18-24, many states have passed laws against such act, but we have yet to find an effective way to enforce this law as this habit is more difficult to notice than drunk driving as many times the driver can sneak past the police, by hiding its cell phone below the view of the officer, where as in drunk driving you can see the signs. As of 2015 this seems to be the most common type of vehicle accident in the US.
“BREAKING NEWS, yet another driver dies from the distraction of texting while driving”. These stories are constantly on the news and seem to be inevitable. Car accidents are the leading cause of teen deaths in the United States combining with inexperience and distractions, such as texting while driving. No state bans all cell phone use for all drivers. Driving and the technology we have today are not a good combination, and there are phone applications and devices to prevent this conflict. “Over 16,000 people die each year and with the increase of technology in people’s daily lives this number is only going to increase”. More and more people die each day from the effect of texting while driving, it is time for the United States government to take a stronger stand and regulate more laws to reduce this number.
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.
Kelsey Raffaele was driving home one day, when her car ran off the road and had hit a snow bank and spiraled into oncoming traffic. She then got T-boned by a SUV. She was rushed to the hospital where she died without even regaining consciousness. Police had recreated the scene with chalk and had thought to have been the causes from just a novice driver. Until they had found a cellphone in the back of the mangled car. Kelsey was actually on the phone while driving, and had crashed. The last words Kelsey got to say was “I’m Going to Crash” over the phone to a friend (Lowy). She is not the only one who uses cellular devices and drives, she was just one of the few who did and got in an accident. There is more than just texting, there’s GPS, radios, Mp3 players and another big one is other passengers. Distracted driving is getting easier for you to do and for more than one reason, there’s the new technology that keeps coming out keeping our eyes from the road, texting is probably the worst distraction and passengers really help lead to car accidents.
Some people argue that just as many car accidents would happen if the use of cell phones were not involved. According to Shows Cellphone Use, “Using a cellphone while driving may be distracting, but it does not lead to higher crash risks.” It is hard to miss the number of drivers with phones glued to their hands. As they dangerously multitask while driving around other vehicles and pedestrians. Those who decide to use their phones are simultaneously contributing to a lack of visual, manual, and cognitive attention a driver needs to remain focused (Injury Prevention, 2015). With the potential of crashing being 23 times greater than the risk posed by drunk driving (No Texting, 2015). With statistical information providing a connection between distracted drivers and increased accidents, it is hard to believe there are some who feel it is not
The invention of the cell phones have changed the lifestyle, and the way people communicate. Despite their effective way of communication, the use of a cell phones while driving results in negative effects to driving performance. Many statics show that driving while talking is a serious issue, because it is the cause of many accidents. The solution is to make cell phone use while driving illegal, and creating phone applications or preventions that will make it difficult to text while in a vehicle. Furthermore, operating a cell phone at the wheel is on the verge of being banned by law in every state, and some have already started this solution to the problem. Cell phones have now become a necessity but have also become a burdens to the human
Not only does it put the driver of the car in danger, but it also puts the passengers and the surrounding cars at risk. Using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be just as dangerous as driving under the influence. At any given moment during the day, around 800,000 people are driving cars while using a hand-held device, which unfortunately puts everyone else at risk of a car crash. In the recent year, 21% of fatal car crashes involved the use of a cellular device (Prof. David J. Hanson, 1997-2015). Unfortunately, humans, especially teenagers, cannot put down their cell phones while they drive due to the many notifications they receive. They are addicted. This points back to how the cell phones are affecting the mental health of humans. In 2007, Bailey Goodman, a seventeen-year-old, was killed along with four of her friends in a car accident. Goodman
People are constantly fixated on their phones, checking social media and texting and they seem to have become accustom to doing this wherever they please, whether it be at dinner, at work or in the car. The use of a cell phone while driving is extremely dangerous and destructive to not only the driver, but also everyone driving around them. Every year, twenty one percent of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of using their cell phone while behind the wheel. This statistic is expected to grow as much as four percent every year. But, texting and driving is not just a problem among teen drivers. One-fifth of adult drivers in the United States also report sending text messages while driving (“Cell Phone & Texting Accidents”). To help fight this problem, the government needs much take a stronger stance and try to stand up against texting and driving to make the idea a bigger deal and implement harsher punishments, as well as stressing the damaging effects of texting and driving to children and teens early on in
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.