Cell Phones and Driving: The Killer Combination

Paul Mulshine, a journalist, shares his feelings about cell phone use while driving, "I think I can make the point best with this rather disturbing sight I encountered one day upon leaving Star-Ledger offices in Newark. A car came barreling through the intersection in front of the building. It is a corner packed with pedestrians and cars leaving the parking lots, but this clown sped right through without slowing down. As the car got closer, I saw the driver had a cell phone in his right hand. Was the left hand on the wheel? I fear not. He was picking his nose" (Mulshine 84). In most cases multi tasking is usually considered a great way of getting things done, but when you are on the road, it is a good way of getting yourself, or someone else, killed. Thousands of people die in automobile accidents every year all over the country, and a large majority of the accidents involve the use of cell phones while driving, the more people are talking on cell phones, the higher the chances of getting into a fatal accident. "In the United States over 200 million people used cell phones as of December 2005, compared with approximately 4.3 million in 1990, according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association" ("Cell").

Should we issue a ban on cell phones while driving to help maintain safer roads and protect the drivers and their property? I personally suggest that for now we should impose a direct ban on cell phones by making it an offense whereas you can receive a citation for it if you commit one other offense along with it. For instance if you are just driving down the road minding all traffic laws and remaining a safe driver on the roads even while you are talking, then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you are racing down the road and aren't paying attention to your speed because you are on a cell phone, you are liable to receive not only a citation for speeding but also a secondary citation for talking on your phone while driving.
Cell phones are a great convenience to most people, but when used improperly or at the wrong times, they can be an enormous hazard to you or anyone around you. "At any given moment, more than 10 million U.S. drivers are talking on handheld cell phones, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration" (Helperin).
Joanne Helperin wrote an online article "Driven to Distraction: Cell Phones in the Car" in which she talks of the dangers of driving not only to you but to the people around you as well.

The Insurance Information Institute is constantly researching the cause of accidents across the United States and elsewhere and can be found online at www.iii.org. They take a firm stand which is backed by their research and statistics, that driving while talking on your cell phone is not only a dangerous habit, but a deadly one as well.

"In December 2005 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis released the results of their National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which found that in 2005, 6 percent of drivers used handheld cell phones, up from 5 percent in 2004" ("Cell"). Let's assume that two thirds of Americans drive a car, that's roughly 200,000,000 million people; according to the statistics just given, America quite possibly has 12,000,000 drivers on the road talking on a handheld cell phone at any given time.

So what's the big deal about using cell phones while driving? Everyone I know, including myself, is guilty of driving under the influence of communication. The conflict of the issue is not in the fact that we know it is dangerous, but it is that we are so willing to take this risk because of its convenience. "As an individual, you can wonder whether your own personal convenience is worth the possibility that some distracted driver on his cell phone might smash into your car and perhaps even kill you" (Dionne 88). E.J. Dionne is the author of a short article "Tough Call on Cell Phones." He writes about his indecisiveness and the complexity of the issue of cell phones and driving: he is unable to give up talking on his cell phone while driving; however he admits that it would be much safer to do so.

Some may argue that the government should not get involved in issues such as this, for that would be taking away our basic freedoms and liberties as a human being. "The core principle of libertarians, for example, is that government shouldn't legislate except to protect your life and your property. But the case against yakking on cell phones in cars is precisely that doing so threatens the life and the property of other drivers" (Dionne 88).

Dionne brings up many good points concerning the use of cell phones and driving and how it can greatly impact our lives for the worse. However he doesn't take a stand either way. He writes of how he would be annoyed if the government told us to stop talking on the phone while driving but then shortly after says how he would be devastated if one of his family members were hurt in an accident caused by the use of a cell phone. It appears to me that he values the use of his possessions and material belongings over the lives of innocent people; if he truly cared about the well being of his family and his fellow man he would take a stand and at least try to make a small difference by being an example instead of displaying his ambivalence.
By imposing this ban on cell phones while driving we might not only save the lives of thousands of people across the nation, but we will also raise awareness of the situation and in fact create better drivers out of everyone. By taking action and enforcing this ban not only will people be afraid to get a ticket, but they will also recognize that it is against the law to do so, making most people feel morally obligated to adhere to the laws of our nation.

We all need to do a better job on keeping our hands and minds off the phone and place the attention back on the road and try to make our highways and cities a safer place for everyone to be on. Even without cell phones the business of driving already has enough dangers and distractions for us to worry about. If we aren't going to make a change without the assistance of the government, then the government needs to step in and make the change for us.

Works Cited

"Cell Phones and Driving." Hot Topics and Issue Updates. Jan. 2006. Insurance Information Institute. 20 Mar. 2006 .

A site with lots of research and statistics on cell phones and driving and the effect it has on society.

It will help my paper better display facts and statistics for the reader to better understand.

Dionne, E.J. "Tough Call On Cell Phones." Reading and Writing Short. Ed. William Vesterman. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. 88-89.

Dionne talks about how the cell phone issue is a highly controversial topic because everyone likes to talk and drive, but no one likes people to get hurt.

This will be very good for my essay because it shares perspective on both sides of the issue.

(Dionne 88-89)

Helperin, Joanne. "Driven to Distraction: Cell Phones in the Car." Safety Tips. edmunds.com. 20 Mar. 2006 .

Helperin writes of the distractions of driving and the serious problem it is causing on the roads.

This article will greatly influence the perspective on the dangers of driving and talking on a cell phone.

Mulshine, Paul. "End The Hands-Off Policy on Cell Phone Users." Reading and Writing Short Arguments. Ed. William Vesterman. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. 83-84.

(Mulshine 83-84)

Mulshine talks about how he supports New York's ban on cell phones while driving.

This will be highly supportive of my topic because it is strongly against talking on a cell phone while driving.

Silva, Jeffrey. "N.J. Senate Passes Stricter Talking, Driving Law." Lexis Nexis Scholar Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 9 Apr, 2006.

This article informs of how New Jersey released a ban on using cell phones while driving in which they make it an offense where you can receive a ticket if you are caught.

This will be useful to my paper because it shows that it is a problem that is starting to be recognized by the government.

Works Consulted

Bing, Jonathan. "Cell Phones Ready to Dial it Up a Notch." Lexis Nexis Scholar Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 23 Apr, 2006

Electronic News. " MP3 Players, Digital Cameras Lead Household CE Growth." Lexis Nexis Scholar Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 24 Apr, 2006.

Quintana, Kori. "The Price of Power: Living in the Nuclear Age." The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition. Ed. Thoams Cooley. 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 334-37.