Why It Is Dangerous to Use the Cellphone While Driving

Why it is dangerous to use the cellphone while driving.

        According to Pew Research Internet Project, American adults have a cell phone 90% of the time. Can you imagine your life without a cell phone? Nowadays, cell phones are the most popular technologic product. The cell phone makes people’s life useful, such as through text messaging, surfing the internet, and receiving phone calls. We had spent a lot of time with cell phones. However, such a great cell phone is not only useful, it also becomes dangerous. The cell phone is putting many people’s life at risk because there are many car accidents by using cell phones while driving. Even though people know to use a cell phone while driving, it is increasingly dangerous for the driver and pedestrian when a person drives while on the phone. How dangerous is it to use a cell phone while driving? According to statistics, every year, 21 percent of car accidents are occurred by using cell phones while driving (“Texting and Driving”), this shows how texting while driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving (“Texting While Driving”), and talking on a cell phone while driving is also as dangerous as texting on the road (“Dangers”). There are laws in the United States about texting while driving; 44 states banned texting while driving, and 12 states prohibited using hand-held cell phones for all drivers while driving (“Distracted Driving”). Despite the ban of cell phone use, people still use cell phones. Even though states have laws to enforce the phone usage while driving, people still use cell phones because they have never been caught using it. Drivers doubt that it will be them inside an accident, but no one knows until they are really in one. The U.S. needs to strictly ban cell phone use while driving.

        Here are some people’s experiences. “Accident.” This word changed Yvonne’s attention while driving. Yvonne Mondragon, from Longmont, Colorado, was driving to home after she finished her work at evening. She received some text messages from her friend while she was driving, and she just looked down to read the messages. After 3 seconds, she looked back at the road. The traffic already had stopped. She did not have enough time to brake, so she turned her vehicle into another lane without looking at other cars. Luckily, there were no cars in her lane. After the happening, she always puts her cell phone in her trouser pocket while driving. “That really changed things for me,” she said. “Sometimes I want to look at my phone, but then I remember that moment.” And “5-year-old Xzavier was crossing the street near his home on Oct. 10, 2010, when he was struck by a young woman who was texting while driving. Xzavier, who had dreamt of becoming a football player, was paralyzed from the diaphragm down.” (“Shibboleth”). There are many car accident like Yvonne, Xzavier in the world. Also, there are young people that have been killed or injured in an accident, and it is likely that they had a dream about their future. Using cell phones while driving are increasingly dangerous for the driver and pedestrian. Also many lives put at risk each day by drivers who disregard their own safety and the safety of others.

        Using a cell phone while driving is becoming a controversial issue. “According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, texting while driving kills 11 teens each day.” (“Texting and Driving”). 3,328 people, including adults and teens were killed in the car accident due to distracted driving just in the year of 2012. This result had decreased from 2011, when the number of death was 3,360. However, the number of injured people increased from 387,000 in 2011 to 421,000 in 2012. It was as much as a 9 percent increase (“Distracted”). Every year, 21 percent of car accidents involving teenagers were the result of using cell phones while driving. This problem does not occur on just teen drivers. Over 25 percent of adult drivers also report sending text messages while driving. (“Texting and Driving”) Using a cell phone while driving causes a big distraction. Many people hurt, and died by some drivers who are texting messages, and talking on cell phones while driving. If we still use cell phones while driving, number of death, injured will never decrease. That will be increase.

        “You understood that drinking and driving is a serious risk but had less understanding about the dangers of texting” (“Texting While Driving”). Writing a text message takes more time and attention of a person than talking to people through a cell phone. “Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting” (“Distracted”). Recently, the transport research Laboratory have shown that texting while driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving. According to the report, a driver who uses a cell phone for sending messages while driving increases the possibility of an accident. Their reaction time is aggravated by 35 percent. It is really worse than drinking drivers who are 12 percent slower. Also, people who text and drive at the same time lose their concentration on the road by 91%, so they are prone to get out of their lane while texting (“Texting While Driving”). Sending text messages make visual, auditory, physical, and mental functions distracted. We know drinking and driving is really dangerous, but, as you can see, texting messages are more dangerous than drinking and driving. We have to realize the danger of texting while driving.

         Moreover, talking on a cell phone while driving is also as dangerous as texting on the road. “At any one time, 9 percent of drivers are talking on cell phones, making them 4 times as likely to crash.” (“Dangers”). A lot of people talk on cell phones while driving, and they might feel pleasure with their conversation partner. However, that feeling will turn painful, because when people talk on a cell phone while driving, that requires a multi-tasking of the brain. It wouldn’t be so safe doing it. Nowadays, many drivers use hands-free devices, and think that hands-free devices provide safety, when it actually doesn’t. The brain uses a great amount of sight concentration while driving, but when the driver begins a call on their phone, concentration decreases even more due to the phone taking away another part of brain’s concentration, so that creates the danger. AAA foundation investigated about talking on a cell phone while driving on traffic safety for 30 days. Almost 70 percent (yet nearly 2 in 3 drivers) of the respondents said that talking on cell phones were an intimidation for their personal safety. Even though they realized that talking on a cell phone while driving is really dangerous, they continued use cell phones. (“Dangers”)