Cell Phones and Car Accidents - Research Paper Example

Cell Phones and Car Accidents Car accidents are usually caused due to distractions in driving: visual distraction, manual distraction, and cognitive distraction. These distractions can arise due to plenty of situations. Visual distractions are caused when the driver takes their eyes off the road for any reason. Manual distractions occur when the hands are used to tasks other than driving in a simultaneous manner. Cognitive distractions occur when the concentration of the driver is divided between driving and some other task. Cell phone is a device that causes all three of these distractions while driving. Visual and manual distractions occur while texting or handling the phone and cognitive distraction occurs under all conditions in which a cell phone is used. Specifically, cell phones cause a disturbed reaction time and impaired visual patterns. The drivers are unable to maintain the required speed and place on the road. They also cannot maintain a secure distance from other cars, and they lose a sense of their surroundings and the ongoing traffic. The number of car accidents caused by the use and abuse of cell phones are getting higher and higher as cell phones are becoming a bigger part of our society. In 2011, the National Safety Council (NSC) came up with an estimate of about 23 percent of all traffic crashes caused by cell phones. This totaled to about 1.6 million crashes. Out of this, about 1.4 million crashes have drivers using their cell phones and 200,000 crashes are caused by texting. A Nationwide Insurance public opinion poll of 2008 showed that 81 percent cell phone users have admitted to using a cell phone while driving. The use of cell phones, both handheld and hands-free, leads to a fourfold increased risk of crash. Texting alone tends to increase the risk of car crash by 8 times. According to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis in 2003, the annual cost of crashes caused by cell phones was estimated at $43 billion, and this has increased quite significantly since then. What are the reasons that make cell phones so dangerous while driving? How can such a useful device prove to be so fatal when used in a car? Numerous studies have been carried out to see the effects of cell phone usage on driving and all of them have concluded that cell phones present one of the greatest risks to safe driving and hence should not be used while driving. First of all, the use of cell phones while driving leads to a loss of concentration level of the driver and the attention load on the driver increases. Driving is a complex, multifaceted activity that requires numerous actions on the part of the driver i.e. steering, handling the gears, maintaining the following distance, controlling the lane position, controlling the acceleration, etc. In case of any unexpected events, the driver needs to have strong reflexes to react in a timely manner. For such activities, they need their full concentration and the use of cell phones prevents that from happening. To test this idea, studies have employed various memory tests in their studies which have been carried out following the driving and it has been seen that drivers involved in their cell phones while driving performed worse on the memory tests and tended to remember less of the objects they saw during their drive. According to a study by David Strayer and Frank Drews, the drivers who were multi-tasking i.e. using their phones while driving had 18% slower reactions, their following distance was 12% greater, and it took them 17% longer to recover any speed that was lost after braking. Moreover, the number of rear-end crashes also increased by two times when cell phones were involved. Furthermore, all these statistics were equal for both young and adult drivers, implying that no one was is protected from the dangers that cell phone usage presents. (647-648) The use of cell phone while driving also has an effect on the visual attention abilities of the drivers. Even in cases where the drivers are talking on the phone but keep their eyes on the road, they are more prone to an accident because their mind is not fully on their driving and is diverted towards the call. The distance between the driver’s car and that in front tends to decrease and the drivers tend to driver faster if they are conversing on a cell phone as their ability to gauge the level of distance is impaired. They also tend to miss the important traffic signs or any pedestrians crossing the roads, which leads to accidents. This is because the scanning pattern of the eyes becomes disrupted and lesser area comes into the view of the driver. In cases where the drivers text while driving, they constantly divert their eyes between the phone and the road. In one study, it was seen that drivers spend up to 400 percent more time with their eyes away from the road when they are text messaging. It has been found that sending or receiving a text can take the eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds on average. This is equal to driving blind on a football field on a speed of 55 miles per hour. (Olson 143) During texting or while using a handheld device for calling, the driver loses the functioning of one of their hands, and can only use one hand for driving. This gives them limited control over the car and in case of any unexpected event, it is more difficult for the driver to regain control of the car. Moreover, there is a strong link between hand and jaw movement, and hand movements tend to get synchronized with the speech verbalization which can lead to deterioration in the driving (Treffner and Barrett 231). There is degradation in the ability to perceive and act while driving; degradation occurs in the ability to perceive required information for control, and there is degradation in taking crucial actions. Some people claim and believe that the use of hands-free devices decreases the risk of accidents since both the hands of the driver are free to control the car. However, this has been proven wrong by studies and it is seen that both hands-free and handheld devices have the same level of risks associated with their usage while driving (Horrey and Wickens 203). The various studies all prove that the use of cell phones while driving is hazardous to health. All the bans placed on the use of cell phones while driving are justified. Heavier fines should be placed on drivers who abuse the ban. Moreover, drivers themselves can make small changes in their habits to prevent themselves from possible accidents. For example, they should keep their phones on silent while driving and if any urgent call has to be made, they should pull over to a safe area and then use their cell phone. Small acts of cautions as these could reduce the car accidents due to cell phone usage considerably! Works Cited: Horrey, WJ, and CD Wickens. "Examining the Impact of Cell Phone Conversations on Driving Using Meta-Analytic Techniques." Human Factors. 48.1 (2006): 196-205. Print. Hussley III, Ashley. "28 Percent of Accidents Involve Talking, Texting on cellphones." Washington Post. Washington, D.C: The Washington Post Co, 13 Jan. 2010. Web. . Top of Form Olson, Rebecca L. Driver Distraction in Commercial Vehicle Operations. Washington, D.C: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2009. Internet resource.Bottom of Form Strayer, David L, and Frank A. Drews. "Profiles in Driver Distraction: Effects of Cell Phone Conversations on Younger and Older Drivers." Human Factors. 46.4 (2004): 640-649. Print. Treffner, Paul J, and Rod Barrett. "Hands-free Mobile Phone Speech While Driving Degrades Coordination and Control." Transportation Research. Part F, Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. (2004): 229-246. Print. Read More