Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Miss A Call, Save A Life



            Technology is such a present distraction in today’s society and the majority of people seem to be obsessed with it. It seems that one cannot go anywhere today with out hearing someone talking on the phone at a restaurant or texting and not paying attention to where they are going. Although the advances in technology are outstanding, they have taken a toll on many peoples lives. One of the main problems with one of technology’s greatest inventions: the cell phone, is that many people try to use it while driving, whether it be talking on the phone, texting, or checking one of their many social networking profiles. Every one is guilty of this from time to time even though they know what the potential consequences could be. However, through my experiences it has shown that many of these people are sure that the use of a phone while driving will not affect them because they are great at multi tasking. There are countless excuses to why people think it acceptable to use a cell phone while driving, however, it is my strong opinion that cell phones should not be used while operating a motor vehicle.
            There have been countless stories through out the years that have surfaced about fatal car accidents that have caused people their lives due to cell phone use while driving. One story I find incredibly heart wrenching is that of a girl named Taylor Sauer. She was a recent high school graduate with a grade point average of 3.9 and was now attending Utah State University (Inbar). The story goes that she was making a four-hour drive home from the University to visit her parents, however, she was texting while driving (Inbar). This proved to be fatal. The young girl knew this was not safe; her last message to her friend being “I can’t discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha” (Inbar). Soon after that her car, which was going a steady 80 miles per hour, hit a tanker truck that was going up a hill at only 15 miles per hour (Inbar). This is the story of a girl only 18 years of age; she was just as old as many of us when she lost her life due to a message that could have waited. The story of the intelligent Taylor Sauer is one that should be told both in memory and in an effort to make every one aware of the devastating consequences of phone use while driving.
            Cell phones kill. Phone use while driving endangers not only the life of the person using it, but any passengers they may have and the other people on the road as well. A prime example of this is the story previously stated. From a young age children are using technology, therefore, by the time they are able to drive it is a natural instinct to answer a phone call or text; no on ever thinks twice about the consequences of looking down at that phone for those two seconds it takes to answer. On January 5, 2013 the West Bridgewater Police Department conducted a “texting while driving sting.” Between the hours of 12 and four pm police officers were told to focus primarily on people who were texting and driving (Graeber). The results were shocking, with 51 stops for texting (Graeber). The people who were stopped ranged from ages 16 to 40 with 36 percent being women and the remaining men (Graeber). This is evidence that phone use while driving is not just happening among the younger generation. While there are laws in Massachusetts against texting and driving and even talking on a cell phone for people under the age of 18, not every state has these laws. In the United States there are 39 states that have banned texting while driving and 10 states have banned talking on a hand held phone while driving (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety). Although this sounds like a large number, there are still six states that have no laws at all and five states that only have partial bans on cell phone use in a car (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety). All states need to become more aware of the dangers of using a cell phone while driving and set laws in place against it because the affects can be deadly.

 Fig. 1. This advertisement illustrates the true dangers of texting while driving through the image of a body in a morgue with a cell phone that reads, “wanna chill later?” (


            Cell phones are a convenience, not a necessity. Every where we go we see someone on a cell phone; either talking on it, texting, playing games, watching movies, or using one of the many social networking sites. Today there are a countless number of things that one can do with one of the highly intelligent hand held devices. Among everything that one can do with a cell phone, the last thing one should be doing is using it while operating a motor vehicle. Although many people are guilty of doing this, it is “Generation Y” that is highly at fault. Generation Y consists of people born around the eighties. These are people who started to grow up with technology, with cell phones, computers, and televisions. Growing up with all of these technological advances over the years has made us feel as though they are crucial to our every day lives. However, cell phones, computers, and televisions are not necessities! It appears that with cell phones in particular there is an addiction. According to an article from the “Leadership Journal,” the term for someone with a cell phone addiction is “nomophobia” (leadership Journal). It was stated that 66 percent of people fear losing or being without their cell phones (Leadership Journal). Just like anything else that is harmful to ones health or addictive; drugs, alcohol, tanning, cell phones are as well. Therefore, one of the main causes of deadly car crashes each year is the cell phones that humans have become so reliant on and so addicted to.
Cell phone use while driving is an immense distraction. There are numerous ways in which people driving a car are distracted by using a cell phone. It seems as though wherever we are, if a cell phone rings our attention is immediately diverted. Whenever someone takes his or her eyes off the road to answer a call, answer a text, update a status, or even check the time it is a distraction. Distraction.gov states that: “Sending or receiving a text takes a drivers eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind” (VTTI). This is a perfect example of just how much of a distraction cell phones are in a car. When it comes to talking on the phone while driving many people have one hand on the wheel and the other on the phone holding it to the ear, which clearly displays a risk factor. Not only that, but when someone is having a conversation they are not fully engaged in what is happening on the road. There may be sounds such as the honk of a horn or siren from an ambulance that they may not notice as a result of the attention being on the conversation. Also according to Distraction.gov, “Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%” (Mellon). At a young age teenagers are able to receive their license and along with inexperience comes distraction. In an article called “WR U txting b4 U crashed?” the authors explain that 426 college freshman completed a survey and 73 percent reported that they text while driving (Buchanan). This is an extremely large number, however, this was not the most shocking part. 92 percent of the students reported that they believe texting affects their concentration while driving, yet they still continue to do it (Buchanan). This is a prime example of how even though people know that using a cell phone while driving is a distraction they continue to do it anyways.

Fig. 2. This image shows just how distracting texting while driving can be by making a point through putting the words on the windshield of the car which one can not see through (Still Ad).

            Although many believe that using a cell phone while driving is not a good idea, many also believe that it is not only manageable but acceptable as well. Many people believe that using a cell phone while driving is just the same as holding a conversation with a passenger, eating a snack in the car, or playing with ones IPod or mp3 player. It can be argued that there cannot be a law for all behaviors that are deemed unacceptable and therefore a ban on all cell phone use while driving is not necessary. Many people take part in illegal actions while operating a motor vehicle every day such as drinking and driving and smoking weed and driving even though both are illegal. If people are not taking these laws seriously there is absolutely no way that they will take an even minor law such as no cell phone use while driving seriously. Some may also argue that it is important to have a cell phone while driving in case of an emergency, which is valid. If there is someone that is following a driver with extreme road rage it is likely that the driver will not want to pull over to make an emergency phone call, rather they will safely be able to call from their moving vehicle.
            One of the main reasons people do no want to have a ban on cell phone use is because they believe that the law will not really help for the reason that people do things in the car that are equivalent to cell phone use such as eat or hold a conversation with passengers.  However, when one is holding a conversation with a passenger their eyes are not being taken off of the road. It has been proven that the cell phone laws have decreased the number of car accidents. According to the National Safety Council, in 2010, drivers using cell phones caused 28 percent of all car accidents in the United States. This is a prime example of why cell phone use needs to be banned in cars! Many also believe that the law will be ineffective for the reason that drinking and driving is illegal yet people do it anyways. However, it has been proven that cell phone use while driving a car can be just as bad as when one is intoxicated at the legal limit, which is 0.08. This reaffirms just how dangerous cell phone use while driving can be which is why it needs to be banned in all states.
            When a driver uses a cell phone while driving they are not only putting themselves in danger, but all of the people around them. They could crash and hurt himself or herself or a passenger, they could hit someone walking a dog or even a child on the street; they could even collide with another car.  Using a cell phone while driving is distracting, inconvenient, and most importantly dangerous. Although many states now have laws against texting and driving, I believe that each state needs to have a law banning any form of cell phone use in a car. With these laws in place, the road would be a much safer place.


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