Computers & Technology >
Phone Technologies & Issues
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedShould cell phone use be banned while driving?
Results so far:
| Yes | 69% | 3367 votes | Total: 4882 votes | |
| No | 31% | 1515 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesAccording to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 236 million people subscribed to cell phone service as of May, 2007. This number is up from 4.3 million in 1990. This has led to a rise in the number of people who drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time.
How many times have you been cut off on the highway by a driver talking on a cell phone with not even the courtesy of a signal from the offending car? Can you count how often you've almost been side-swiped by a phone-talking driver who isn't paying attention to where his or her car is on the road? Have you ever had your heart jump into your mouth when you looked into your rear-view mirror and saw a person on the phone who didn't see your car stopped in front of them? And how many accidents have you seen or heard of, where one of the drivers was on the phone?
A study released in 2006 by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near crashes involved driver inattention, and that the most common distraction was cell phones. It's important to note that while the study also found that cell phones were not the most common cause of crashes, this figure could significantly increase as the number of driving cell phone users rises.
Additionally, survey results from the NHTSA and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis found that the number of drivers who are using hand-held cell phones rose, on average, by 2 to 6 percent over the last two years within various age groups. Another study, in Perth, Australia, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that drivers who use cell phones were four times as likely to get into serious, injury-causing crashes. The study also found that switching from hand-held to hands-free devices didn't reduce the risk of crashing.
Cell phone advocates can point to drivers' rights, contradictory studies and that blame should be placed on drivers, not mobile devices. But the aforementioned figures can't be ignored. As our population increases and the number of people on the road who talk on cell phones rises, it is imperative for society to regulate dangerous behavior, because the majority of citizens can't be counted on to regulate themselves, as the numbers clearly show.
Therefore, hand-held cell phone use should be banned or regulated for the safety of the growing number of drivers on America's roads.
Learn more about this author, Paul Kerstein.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
I love my cell phone and most people do. Cell phones make it easy to contact our friends and loved ones in case of an emergency. Cell phones make our jobs easier by helping us get in contact with people we work with almost immediately. Cell phones are definitely a big part of our society and are not going away any time soon.
Banning cell phone usage while driving would be like banning a person from tuning their radio while driving, lighting a cigarette, or adjusting the temperature of the air conditioner or heater. All of these things most drivers do on a daily basis.
These days we see people following their printed Google maps to their destination, we see people looking at their GPS to guide them, and we see people who, unfortunately, just don't pay attention. Should we ban those things too? Are we going to have to ban people who just don't look where they're going from driving their car eventually too?
There are proper methods of cell phone usage while driving. There has been a lot of strides made in the "hands free" department. People are able to set their cell phone on a charger or us a special made kit and talk through a loud speaker which would not be any different than talking to the person beside you if you're carrying a passenger. Most cell phones made today have speaker settings on them so you can hear the person you're talking to loud and clear without having to hold the phone to your ear. We also have blue tooth wireless headsets and wired headsets which allow a person to set their phone down, utilize the headset and keep their eyes on the road.
We are always going to have people that don't concentrate on the task at hand. We are always going to have people who are digging around in their car looking for something instead of paying attention to the traffic ahead. We are always going to have people who just don't pay attention. If we are going to ban cell phone usage while driving, then maybe we should just ban driving all together and lets make every one walk where they need to go. Imagine how many accidents we could prevent by doing that. We could also take the cars away and let every one ride their bikes to work, to their vacation destination, or to the park.
This country has had issues with drunk driving or driving under the influence of mind altering drugs for many years. Even though the laws have changed to help our law abiding citizens, its still not enough to keep the "bad guys" off of the road. Plenty of people go out after a good party, get in their cars and drive home and some end up killing people. Cell phone usage is a lot safer than driving under the influence. People are still going to use their phones as they please and the only difference is, they'll just be looking around every bend to see if the police are sitting in the medium waiting to pull them over - much like speeders which also cause accidents.
Learn more about this author, Scott Wolfe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
