Dangers of Using Mobile Devices while Driving - Case Study Example

Running Head: Texting-talking on Cell phones while Driving Texting-talking on Cell phones while Driving [Institute’s Texting-talking on Cell phones while Driving According to Transportation Statistics Annual Report (RITA, 2001), 120 million Americans subscribed to the cellular phone service and since then, there is a drastic increase in this number of mobile phone subscribers. With the well-spread usage of cell phones, dangers due to texting and talking while driving have increased enormously. Cell phones have now become a necessity for everyone and its usage is beyond limits. Moreover, there is an ever-increasing trend of texting and talking through text messages among the youth due to its affordability. In most of the cases, youngsters driving a vehicle with a cell phone in their hands and busy in texting or talking via hands free devices are the unskilled drivers that do not concentrate completely and as a consequence, cause fatal accidents. According to a research, activities like texting and talking while driving is more risky and dangerous than intoxicated driving (Hales, 2008). Roadways have now become the second home for most of the people as they spend a lot of time travelling and their vehicles have transformed into dine-in restaurants, mobile libraries, saloons, digital and cellular cafes and what not. While driving one has to be attentive and must make sure that the vehicle is being carefully operated as in case of any act of carelessness, not only the driver and passengers of that particular vehicle are at risk but everyone who is present at that moment on the road falls into a circle of risk and danger. Moreover, taking ones eyes off the road can lead to severe accidents while driving. The reason behind is the decrement in a person’s visual capacity when he is directing his attention towards a sound, which is most likely to occur if the driver is texting or talking. Youngsters in their excitement and careless attitude ignore these small but extremely important measures that are extremely significant while driving. The potential risks induced by this phenomenon have given rise to many public awareness programs for the youngsters in this regard. Presently, under President Barack Obama’s administration a non-profit group called “Focus Driven” (Carroll, 2010) has launched an initiative for prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving. Relatives of the victims of reckless driving have organized this group and their main aim is to encourage the legislature for making such activities illegal. Nationwide insurance’s DWD (Driving While Distracted) (Nationwide, 2010) is also leading a charge against talking and texting while driving. It believes that roads can be much safer by solving driving while distracted problems through legislature, public awareness, and latest technologies. Distracted Driving is a term used for all irresponsible behaviors behind the wheels. According to psychologists, a distracted driver is suffering from ‘inattention blindness’ (RITA, 2001), which prohibits him to process what, is within his eyesight. Nationwide Insurance is working with Aegis Mobility to reduce DWD crashes by advising the callers and texters that the person they are trying to reach is driving at the moment. Different awareness programs are in progress for years to induce a positive change in driving laws, and creating awareness by working with student groups and accentuating the importance of these changes in front of the federal government in order to regulate new cell phone laws. In October 2009, the US Department of Transportation (RITA, 2001) organized distracted driving summit, where experts indicated the worsening of distracted driving day by day. According to the US Department of Transportation (RITA, 2001), 6,000 fatalities out of 40,000 a year have resulted due to distracted driving. As stated earlier, the distractions caused by mobile phones is much hazardous than that the distraction resulted by drunkenness (King, 2008). With the increased use of smart phones teenagers does not attract to texting and talking but GPS, Bluetooth devices and other entertainment gadgets as well. Texting is a virtual communication that never stops; a research indicates that 73% of teens admit to texting while driving. Moreover, 28% of the accidents were due to the fact the drivers were busy with their mobile phones (RITA, 2001). Few states have banned hand-held phones but use of Bluetooth and other hands-free devices is inevitable (King, 2008). However, there is an urgent need to understand that these devices are no less dangerous than the use of cell phones, as they are also a cause of disturbance in focus and concentration of driver. Law enforcement and safety experts are trying to make laws against the use of cell phones while driving and making it a legal binding. Seven states; “California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington and the District of Columbia” (Cellular-news, 2009) have jurisdiction-wide ban on using hand-held cell phones for the drivers. Under Utah law, no one using a phone without violating speeding law has committed any offense. Various states and the District of Columbia have restricted the utilization of cell phones by the school bus drivers and novice drivers. Cell phone is a serious hazard according to the study done by Center for Auto Safety (CAS) in ‘National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’ (NHTSA, 2010). A research by Harvard University estimates that about twenty-eight percent of vehicle accidents happen due to the drivers that talk or text on cell phones. During the year 2008, approximately six thousand people died and 0.5 million got injured due to inattentive driving (King, 2008). Drivers under 18 did have the lawful binding of not using cell phones while driving by the Indiana General Assembly last year. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has formulated rather revised their Cell Phone Driving Laws for January 2010. Under this law, an officer may ticket a driver for using cell phone without any other traffic offense. State legislature has banned the use of cell phones for all drivers and especially for the youngsters. GHSA requires “drivers not to use cell phones or any other electronic devices, computers and faxes which could distract their attention, except to report for an emergency” (Cellular-news, 2009). If a driver is making a call to report a crash he should park his car in parking lot or any other safe area. “Wisconsin would be the 20th state to ban texting while driving, under a bill passed in the legislature” (Carroll, 2010). In 2009, drivers in the United States did have the legal binding of using cell-phones while operating a vehicle. With the beginning of 2010, new distracted driving laws have prevented the drivers from using cell-phones for talking or texting and all other electronic gadgets that could capture the attention and cause any fatal accident. The youngsters should have enough training in order to understand the road culture and knowledge of the dangers that arises with playing with speeds while using a mobile phone. The focus of driver should be only on the road towards the destination without any distraction. Cell phones as all other inventions are a blessing if used in the right manner. By using cell phones, personal security of the driver increases as he can quickly contact concerned authorities in case of an emergency. Drivers just need to remember that talking and listening on a phone greatly interferes visual tasks. Conclusively, the paper has analyzed some of the important aspects of issues related to texting and talking on cell phones that have become a major concern of governments and public related to driving. The paper has identified and analyzed different studies related to the topic; however, it is anticipation that future researches in this regard will allow a more comprehensive and updated understanding of the impact. It is an expectation that the paper will be beneficial for students, teachers, and professionals in better understanding of the topic. References Carroll, J. R. (2010). “FocusDriven Group aims to ban texting, talking while driving.”. The Courier-Journal. Issue of January 12, 2010. Cellular-news. (2009). “Countries that ban cell phones while driving.” Cellular-news. Issue of June 06, 2009. Hales, D. (2008). An Invitation to Health. Cengage Learning. King, K. (2008). “Texting and Talking on a Cell Phone While Driving Should Be Illegal.” Associated Content. Issue of April 09, 2008. Nationwide. (2010). “Nationwide Insurance fights growing trend of Driving While Distracted (DWD) with education, legislation and technology.” Nationwide. Retrieved on January 30, 2010: http://www.nationwide.com/newsroom/nationwide-fights-dwd.jsp NHTSA. (2010). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA Press. RITA. (2001). Transportation Statistics Annual Report 2001. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Read More