Discussion Post Reply
I agree with your assessment related to the difficulty in policing distracted driving, particularly as it relates to cell phone use within a motor vehicle. As you noted, the statistics are alarming considering the cell phone related driving deaths have increased 10% from 2019 to 2020. Many of these issues are exacerbated by an increase in social media and cell phone apps that are often used while driving. Navigation apps in particular are very useful to consumers and often require a cell phone in order to properly leverage the benefits and efficiencies. Likewise, societal culture, particularly in the develop nations centers around constant entertainment and interaction. Consumers are constantly posting their latest exploits or behaviors via social media platforms. This behavior only increases the likelihood of accidents related to cell phone as consumers continue to post their daily lives on social media. I agree, that without proper intervention deaths related to distracted driving will only increase in the future (Abouk, 2013).
I however disagree with the concept of harsh lifelong punishments. I believe the punishment for distracted driving should escalate with each offense as oppose to being one large fine. Similar to other crimes, with each offense the fines and penalties should increase, with the magnitude also increasing with each offense. I also disagree with having dealership or other third parties having the ability to make consumer cell phones go completely black while driving. Although well intentioned I believe this form of power will only invite other regulations and restrictions that should ultimately be up to the consumer to decide. Ultimately, law enforcement should have a zero-tolerance policy as it relates to cell phone use in the call with the exception of very extreme cases. Those that are found to be driving while distracted should be fined with increasing magnitudes with each office, ultimately culminating into jail time (Atchley, 2012).
References
1. Abouk R, Adams S. Texting bans and fatal accidents on roadways: do they work? Or do drivers just react to announcements of bans? American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 2013;5(2):179199
2. Atchley P, Warden AC. The need of young adults to text now: Using delay discounting to assess informational choice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. 2012;1(4):229234.
