Driving while talking on a cell phone, even hands-free, is the equivalent of driving drunk. Cellular use while driving is common, but dangerous. Due to the number of accidents that are related to cell phone use while driving, some jurisdictions have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Drivers who use a handheld device are four times more likely to get into a crash serious enough to cause injury. At any given moment during the daylight hours, over 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. are being driven by someone using a handheld cell phone, according to research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
You shouldn’t talk on your cell phone while driving because being distracted by a phone conversation is similar to driving while intoxicated. Talking on the phone while driving can cause you to react more slowly when an unexpected driving hazard emerges or perhaps to never see the hazard until it’s too late. Of all the distracted driving-related accidents, nearly 18% of them were caused by people being on their cell phones. Even if the driver wasn’t physically holding the cell phone but was on some sort of a hands-free device, he or she was still distracted from the surrounding environment, which led to accidents.
When you first get into your car, put your phone away. If that means putting it in your purse or pants pocket, or if you simply have to put it in the cup holder or glove box, do that. If you do receive a call or text message, don’t react to the phone. Just let it ring or make noises until you get to a place where you can safely pull over and respond to the calls and texts. Don’t text while driving. Yes, you may hear this from a lot of people on a frequent basis, but they are only giving you this advice because they care about you and want you to be safe. They also don’t want to see you get into serious trouble for causing a wreck because of distracted driving. Bottom line: use common sense and be safe while you are driving, and you shouldn’t encounter any legal problems.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
No, it is not safe at all to talk on the phone while driving because it 's a distraction.…
- 263 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
I agree that driving while using a handheld cellphone is bad because it can lead to a car crash, the driver isn't focused on the road, and not paying attention to other drivers and not all hands are on the wheel. One reason why I believe that driving with a cellphone should be illegal because it can lead to a serious car crash in some cases. The driver may not be focused on the road and they hit a car dead on. Another reason why I agree with driving with a cellphone is illegal because the driver may not be focused on driving. They most likely be focused on talking to someone on the phone, Face time , Facebook, Snap chat , Twitter. Some people will forget that they are driving if they are really into there phone. The last…
- 320 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Using the cellphone while driving can kill and should be outlawed. What makes so dangerous is that you are not focusing on road. In the article How the Brain reacts by Marcel Just and Tim Keller -Marcel is a D.O professor of psychology…
- 238 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
There are a numerous amount of careless things a person could do; texting while driving is in my personal top five. So many people are glued to their phones now that they can’t go five minutes without their fingers frantically clicking away at the buttons or laughing obnoxiously to someone on the other line. Too many are dependent on technology, so much so that just answering a simple text could result in a devastating accident. Something that most don’t think about while driving is how using your cell phone can distract you for just enough time to realize that you truly have no time left. By the time the phone is put down and the driver looks up, it is way too late. If a person is caught texting or talking on their cell phone while driving, it is my opinion that they get their license taken away from them.…
- 547 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
If that means putting it in your purse or pants pocket, or if you simply have to put it in the cup holder or glove box, do that. If you do receive a call or text message, don’t react to the phone. Just let it ring or make noises until you get to a place where you can safely pull over and respond to the calls and text keep in mind that you don’t have to be constantly glued to your phone. Even if you’re having an important conversation, your friends and family members will more than likely understand if you can’t respond for several minutes. In fact, most people would probably rather have you be safe than take a chance on responding to a text message and cause a terrible accident. You may think using hands free or voice activated is safer than actualy having the phone in your hand but its not. You are still being distracted. Drivers need to be aware of the dangers and keep their attention on the road, not on their cell phones or other mobile devices. Despite all the consequences I have listed I believe its best to simply not have it anywere near you while driving. Of course we may need them but not while driving it can wait! It's dangerous, just don’t do…
- 825 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
A couple of years ago cars were the greatest invention of mankind. People felt blessed…
- 146 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Using a cell phone while driving can cause the driver to take their eye off the road and cause them to think about what’s going on with their cell phone. When a phone call comes through on the driver’s cell phone, this distracts them from paying attention to the road. This is a major cause of accidents and deaths on the road. This also is putting drivers life in danger. While drivers may think they can handle talking on the phone they tend to miss visual and audio clues to avoid crashes. For example, there could be a crash on the highway. Drivers pick up their cell phone to call spouse or a friend to inform them of the trouble car crash. In the split second you looked down to dial the number you didn’t see the sign that said “right lane closed.” You then look up and realize that you are now in the right lane were the accident occurred. Before you could slow down or even stop you run into the back of a car that was just in an accident. Now because you picked up your cell phone instead of consternating on the road you put yourself in a situation you did not have to be in. This is just a few reasons why concentration on the road is so critical to prevent accidents.…
- 661 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The use of cellular devices while driving is now illegal in some states. This is due to the fact that when drivers behind the wheel of a car their only priority should be to drive. While driving and on a phone at the same time a driver is going to be distracted, and when drivers are distracted they are more likely to cause or be involved in an accident. Although it may seem entertaining and fun, driving while using a cellular device can lead to major problems. For example, driving while on a handheld device will lead to distracted driving. It has been scientifically proven that humans are not good at multitasking. We tend to put most of our focus into one thing at a time, while leaving the other task setting in the background. Because of this…
- 515 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The National Safety Council states that: “cell phone use while driving causes 1.6 million crashes each year.” Texting while driving is mostly operated by teenagers, but as society develops a lot of adults are starting to contribute to it as well. Texting while driving is very distracting to the driver. Texting while driving has also become a recent and huge problem in our communities. About 78 percent of people own cell phones today and just imagine how many of those people own and operate a vehicle. A lot of people like to use social media while driving such as snapchat, facebook, twitter or instagram and that is just as equally as bad while driving. Some other people like to play games while driving. Cell phone companies have evolved phones…
- 1256 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Most people know it is dangerous to use phones while driving the drivers knows their putting their lives and other lives at risk, but they still do it. Over the years people have tried to come up with solutions to texting and driving. People have tried…
- 1461 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
“Beware the Dangers of Texting While Driving.” Texting While Driving July-Aug. 2010: n. pag. http://www.google.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. . Cell phones have brought us a lot convenient ways to talk to people. When it comes to road safety, the cell phone is very hazardous. Accidents have increased dramatically since texting has become more popular and people have taken chances of texting while driving. Even the small amount of time to glance at your phone to send a text is enough time to cause a deadly accident. Also, if your texting while driving your concentration on the text and it prevents the driver from thinking quickly in any driving situation.…
- 782 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Texting while driving takes away the one thing that absolutely everyone counts on while behind the wheel, vision. No matter where the phone is placed, whether it is on the dash board or on the steering wheel, one’s eyes are not where they need to be. People’s eyes are supposed to be one the road at all times. Texting takes that away and it doesn’t matter how quick someone thinks they are, there is always a possibility. Just for that split second of reading a message that is o so important, a crash could happen. Eyes are the most important thing needed when driving and when not on the road a lot of harm can be caused.…
- 2911 Words
- 12 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Texting while driving is not a good habit, with just moving our eyes from the road to answer a simple message can cause someone life. According to Ian Mulgrew, a journalist author from Canada, many accidents are blamed on distracted driving and most of the distractions are caused by cell phone usage. There are many laws being established to try to prevent distracted driving from happening; although they can’t completely stop it. No matter what age of the driver is, under no circumstance should they be texting while driving. Texting or using a cell phone while driving is very hazardous to yourself and the people surrounding you. However, the lives of innocent people are being taken every day due to a simple distraction. According to Mulgrew, car crashes are four times more common to take place while the driver is on their mobile device over any other causes. According to Bret Schulte, talking on a cell phone is not as dangerous as texting these days.in addition, while talking on the phone, it is easier to still keep focused on the road in front of the driver. But when they engage in a text message, it’s not possible to look in both directions at once, therefore all of their focus goes straight to the screen of the cell phone. It’s hard for all drivers, especially teenagers, to put down the cell phone and put their hands on the wheel, which results in many car crashes.…
- 2224 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
Last year, 16 percent of the United States fatalities were made up by car accidents involving cellular phone. The year before that, in 2008, it was only 10 percent. Both of those numbers are HUGE and this what can happen when drivers engage in distractive driving while operating a cell phone. (OVER HEAD) Now why is drinking and driving illegal but not driving while using the cell phone? I’m not talking about talking on the phone while driving, because we engage in talking with passengers in our vehicles often, but driving and holding a cell phone weather its internet, texting or driving with one hand and talking with the other is extremely unsafe!…
- 1633 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
Even though a lot of places in the United States are completely illegal to use the cellphone while a person is driving, there is still a lot of states in US where this rule is not applied, and it has been very dangerous for the drivers. Most of young people between the ages of sixteen and seventeen specially, text while driving, making them pay more attention on their phones than the road, which is not a mature attitude. Most of young drivers do not know how bad a car accident could be until they get involved into one. If a person is using the cellphone while driving, it just shows that the person is giving more attention to a electronic device, than paying attention on the street while conducting a heavy and big vehicle on movement, eventually causing an accident most of the times.…
- 575 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays