Yes

by P Cooper

Created on: October 27, 2008

Unfortunately, yes. Although I'm sure there has been a lot of time and money spent on research to try to determine if talking on cell phones while driving is hazardous, just spend a little time out there on any given day in any somewhat busy traffic area, and you will see some of the rather thoughtless things drivers do while concentrating on their cell phone conversations instead of driving their cars.

The cell phone is a wonderful invention, and being able to pick up the phone anywhere or anytime and place a call is a great freedom to have at our fingertips. Who doesn't have a cell phone these days? Who doesn't pick them up and use them freely, wherever and whenever. Our lives are busy. Society tells us we can do everything we want to do. People are using cell phones more than ever to conduct business while on the road, moms are running their children from activity to activity and are keeping up with the family by using cell phones, and the list goes on and on in why we cannot live without these little gems in our lives these days. I can't think of one place I've been in the past year where there hasn't been someone talking on their cell phone. Everyone is multi-tasking and trying to get as many things done in a day that they can.

The problem is, it's become such a phenomenon to talk on the phone wherever we are, that people everywhere seem to have lost all common sense and manners for where and when to use these little marvels of technology. The simple fact that signs are now posted at gas stations, restaurants, banks, and movie theatres, telling us to turn off our cell phones, should be clue enough that we're giving it absolutely no thought as to when and where we place that all important call that can't wait for another time. We give no thought to the fact that most people don't care to hear our phone conversations or how rude it might be to try to conduct business at the bank or grocery with the phone hanging off our ear. And, we give no thought to the fact that while we're yakking away on the phone while driving, we're simply not giving our full attention to what is most important at the time. If the truth be known, I would bet that most of these yak sessions could wait until a later time when we're not on the road.

Talking on the cell phone while driving is heightening the probability of causing an accident. As a driver, we are in charge of a machine weighing thousands of pounds. Having a driver's license gives us the authority to take that machine out and drive it on the road without causing an accident in which we or anyone else may be injured or killed. When taking our driver's test, we don't have a cell phone in our hand. Our minds are to be kept on the road, on our driving, and on those around us at all times, as it should be. Just because we may have the ability to dial and hold a phone while driving, doesn't make it the smartest thing to do, anymore than it would be in putting on makeup while driving, going through the mail, or reading a book. The bottom line is that if you have a cell phone in your hand while driving, it lessens your ability to react in a manner you might need to, should the situation arise.

Personal experience in watching those around me on the road every day shows me that people who drive while on a cell phone do not have their minds primarily on their driving. Too often I've seen drivers who are also on the phone travel much slower than the speed limit, enter the highway going so slowly that they put themselves in danger along with all those people behind them, or they go through yellow and/or red lights and miss stop signs completely. I've also seen them turn right in front of someone coming towards them, or they pull out right in front of other cars. It's a bit obvious that the distraction is the phone in their hand.

Most of us lead fast-paced lives, and we forget that regardless of who pays for the phone and its service, it is a privilege to have that phone, not a right. Laws in America do not stop us from having the freedom to place a call whenever we want to, even while driving. There will always be those who take things to an extreme, the ones who abuse the privileges, and it's because of these that the judicial system will become involved to tell us what we can and cannot do. Although I don't like it or look forward to it, I know the time will come when it will be necessary to ban our cell phones while driving. It will become a proven fact that more accidents occur and more people are injured or killed from accidents where one or more of the drivers were on a cell phone at the time of the accident. Perhaps it's time we all slowed down the pace of our lives, stopped some of the multi-tasking, and started doing one thing at a time to the best of our ability. Ignore the cell phone and just drive.

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