Should Using a Hand Held Cell Phone Be Banned While Driving

¶ … cell phone use while driving. Specifically it will discuss the increased use of cell phones in the United States, and the dangers of driving while talking on a cell phone. Talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous. Studies show it is just as dangerous as drunk driving, and talking on a cell phone while driving should be banned nationally, not simply on a state-by-state basis.

CELL PHONES SHOULD BE BANNED

Driving while talking on a cell phone has become quite controversial as more Americans use cell phones every day. Using cell phones in public can be annoying and downright rude, but driving while talking on a cell phone can be deadly. One analyst noted, "Driving and talking on a cell phone is like drinking and driving. In both cases, the driver's reaction time is slowed, especially in the event of a roadway mishap requiring urgent response. In addition, a driver likely cannot give the same level of attention to driving as when not using a cell phone" (Egan). Driver inattention is one of the main causes of accidents on the road today. People eat in their cars, change clothes in their cars, and now, with the touch of a button, they can conduct a business meeting while they rush down the freeway. As drivers dial, talk, seize a ringing phone, and hang up, they are paying more attention to their phone than the road in front of them, often at other driver's expense.

Behind the wheel of his SUV, Frederick Poust III dialed his cell phone. As he hit 'send,' the 27-year-old blew through a stop sign in rural Hilltown Township, Pa., and slammed into the side of a Grand Cherokee. In the Cherokee's front seat, Patricia Pena turned to see her daughter Morgan, 2, bleeding from massive head wounds (Ripley 68).

What is worse, Proust III was not charged beyond reckless driving in this incident! "The driver received two citations, for careless driving and for failure to observe a stop sign, and was fined $50. The driver was not charged with homicide by vehicle because the police determined that the driver was not reckless, only careless..." (Ferzan 597).

Many people believe it is perfectly safe to talk on the phone while driving, especially if they use a hands-free headset, which allows them to keep both hands on the wheel as they drive. However, research done by University of Utah psychologists shows that even hands-free cell phone models do not solve the problem of driver inattention, which the researchers call "inattention blindness." "The study concludes that that inattention blindness explains the researchers' widely publicized 2001 findings that users of hands-free and hand-held cell phones are equally impaired, missing more traffic signals and reacting to signals more slowly than motorists who do not use cell phones" (Blind). Their studies showed that drivers also reacted to cars braking in front of them more slowly, they accelerated more slowly after braking, and these reactions were even more pronounced as the density of traffic increased around the drivers (Blind). Therefore, these studies clearly show driving while talking on a cell phone is dangerous, and can be deadly.

Other opponents of a cell phone ban believe the problem is not using cell phones, but people who use them inappropriately. "Although there is anecdotal evidence of the dangers inherent in careless cell phone use while driving, opponents of regulation suggest that the problem is not with the phones themselves, but rather in their inappropriate use" (Kanallakan 17). This may be true, but since many cell phone users refuse to recognize the danger they create when they get behind the wheel and use their phones, this argument does not hold water. Cell phone users can create havoc when they drive, and since it seems many simply do not have enough common sense to recognize it, cell phones need to be regulated to ensure safer roads, and to save lives.

Talking on a cell phone should be banned to save lives. It is that simple. If talking and driving had been banned, Morgan Pena might still be alive today. If more people realized the dangers of talking while driving, perhaps common sense would take over, but it seems most Americans value convenience over common sense, and so, they must be regulated in order to conform. Certainly there will be offenders, who still must talk on their cell phones while driving, but if caught, they would face higher retribution, and if they caused an accident, they would face higher retribution, and certainly their car insurance rates would skyrocket. This is as it should be, as they are a danger and a menace to those around them on the roads and highways of America.

The Utah psychologists had conducted earlier studies which showed drivers missed traffic signals while they were talking on the phone, and it did not matter if the phone was hands-free or not. They also discovered that other types of driver distraction were not nearly as dangerous as the use of cell phones. "The earlier study also found there was no impairment of drivers who either conversed with a passenger or who listened to the radio or to books on tape" (Blind). Drivers will always be distracted, but anything that can be done to keep drivers from becoming overly distracted is not only important, it is imperative. As more and more Americans spend more time in their cars, the problem will only increase, and it must be dealt with now, before any more people die as a result of carelessness and confusion.