Cell Phone Usage While Driving

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. 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.