Misusing of Mobile Phone

The influences of mishandling mobile phones

Fok Ho Yin
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In recent years, mishandling mobile phones has caused amounts of social and safety risks. Mishandle of mobile phones means that using mobile phones in wrong ways, which including place, time and purpose. It is common for people owning a mobile phone nowadays in this technological era. As people being more convenience, more problems rise.

As a kind of interpersonal media, mobile phones are giving people with an opportunity to create new connections with others and to bear them (Power and Horstmansh, 2004). Mobile phone is a main tool which forming interactions efficiently in the social prospects. This kind of interpersonal media plays an important role in the field of communication. People are benefited to involve to larger social networks and can interact more frequently without limitations of time and venue with the use of mobile phones (Larsen, Axhausen & Urry, 2006; Ling, 2004; Pertierra, 2005; Rettie, 2008).

However, mobile phones have caused a lot of social hazards, if mishandled. Ling (2005) claimed that many of criminal acts are linked with mobile phone usages such as fights, theft and alcohol, etc. The overall trickery cases are the problem noticeably increasing. It is because the number of telephone deceptions is obviously growing. Thus, the concord of society or community is swayed. To prevent telephone deception cases, a succession of high profile public education campaigns and advertisements have to be introduced (Hong Kong Police Force Review, 2010).

The other deplorable impact brought by mishandling mobile phones is the safety hazards. Bianchi and Philips (2005) and Palen et al. (2008) stated that teenagers using mobile phones at the places which are prohibited such as petrol stations and hospitals. Using mobile phones in petrol stations will make risk of explosion, while mobile phones are used in hospitals, it would interrupt medical equipments that cause a risk in affecting patient safety in hospitals (Nursing Standard, 2009).

In addition, McEvoy et al. (2005) proposed that drivers using their mobile phones simultaneously while driving are usually inclined to serious safety risks. The use of mobile phones increases the risk of road crash while driving automobile (Bener et al. 2006a, b; Hancock et al. 2003; Lamble et al. 1999; Lamble et al. 2002; Redelmeier and Tibshirani 1997; Sagberg 2001; Violanti and Marshall 1996; Violanti 1998). Those traffic accidents are mostly due to the stray made from mishandling or misusing mobile phones while driving. The driving performance of drivers is thus being affected, especially the reaction when emergency or unexpected situations occur. These include a loss of lane maintenance (Briem and Hedman, 1995; Reed and Green, 1999), difficulties in making gap judgments (Brown et al., 1969), failure to identify road-relevant cues (Haigney and Westerman, 2001) and so forth. A new law has been launched in Hong Kong in July 1, 2001 to ban the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, to improve road safety and to preclude the problem form deteriorating (Transport and Housing Bureau policy chapter 6-legislation and enforcement). Offenders of the law ”Using handheld mobile phone/telecommunications equipment while vehicle is in motion” will receive fixed penalty tickets. Fracturing of the new law can lead to a maximum fine of $2,000 (Hong Kong Police Force Traffic Annual Report, 2010).