Mrs. Blevins
English 110-15
October 11, 2013
Phone Use While Driving
When driving, drivers should wait to use their phones unless there is an emergency if road side service is needed. Also drivers should be paying attention to the road signs and pedestrians instead of their cellphones. Drivers tend to lose attention while engaging cellphones which affords lives to be taken including the driver. “With advancing technology, the distractions to which drivers are exposed continue to increase. Seventy-two percent of individuals 18 years or older in the USA who own a cellphone admitted to using it while driving” (Stavrinos et al).
Unless there is an emergency, drivers should not be on the phone for long periods of time. Emergencies can include the need of road side services, being a witness to harmfulness on the road, or a family emergency. Other than an emergency phone calls can wait. Teen drivers tend to use their cellphones for texting or trying to talk to friends. Teens tend to feel that being behind the wheel of a car and using a cellphone is cool when in actuality it’s irresponsible. If teenagers really feel the need to use the phone, they should pull over or wait until they have reached their final destination. “A potential source of influence on adolescent risky driving could be parents’ distracted driving behavior” (Stavrinos et al). Teen drivers usually get all driving skills from parents. So if parents are using cellphone so are teens. Texting is big on cellphone use more than verbal talking, especially for teens. Texting is riskier than talking because the drivers’ eyes are being taken off the road. Teen drivers need to learn how detrimental focusing and prioritizing which phone calls or text are important. Business owners or assistants who always have to be on the phone are also risky drivers. Busy people are always checking emails, texts, and phone calls. Those drivers feel that business comes first and paying attention to the road
Cited: Stavrinos, Despina et al. "Distracted Driving Among Adolescents: Challenges And Opportunities." Injury Prevention 17.4 (2011): 285. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.