Cell phone use while driving should stay legal activity

Thank you. -- Rebuttals and Arguments -- • Paragraph 1 "I find that holding a conversation on a cell phone while driving is no more distracting or different than being engaged with a passenger or kids in the back seat, eating fast food or messing around with a music tape, CD or MP3 player." To me, this is like saying that we should not try to find a cure for AIDS, because there is still cancer, polio, lupus, and so forth. While a cell phone may not be more distracting than those things mentioned above, it does not mean that we should not make an exception toward one issue. In fact, it is important to keep strict rules for driving, since there are more than 6 million car accidents in the United States yearly.[1] With regard to music, a few studies have actually shown that music also plays an important role in distracting drivers.[2] While some studies are a few years old, or not very broad, it should be noted that they do indicate that music does play a role in distracting drivers. • Paragraph 2 "To legally prohibit cell phones being used while operating a vehicle infringes on my personal rights as a motorist. I know that it is distracting and therefore will not use it in my car. Do we have to place a law on all "unacceptable" behaviors." Your and my personal rights as drivers should be ones that are safe, even with many restrictions. Should we have the right to drive on a countryside that belongs to someone else? Technically, we are allowed to drive. However, due to limits, we are not allowed to drive on other people's property. Similarly, when something like usage of cell phones distract people too much, which will unintentionally damage other people's properties, lives, and so forth, then we need to find a solution. Currently, the best solution is to ban usage of cell phones, but since many people use them nowadays for important work, we can set exceptions. For example, usage of Bluetooth Headsets can be less distracting. Having it on the ear all the time, setting the "Auto Answer" option on the cell phone, and the results are positively effective. This is, in principle, not cell phone usage, since its features are used remotely. However, as I said above, exceptions should be made for people who need to perform many calls for important work. "People still drink and drive, smoke marijuana, etc... even though it's illegal." Yes, which is why in the year 2008, there was approximately a total of 11,773 deaths caused by drunk driving, which was 32% of the total amount of car accidents in the United States the same year.[3] In the United States, the maximum amount of legal alcohol concentration in blood is 0.08%, and a study has shown that usage of cell phones matches that in a similar way.[4] • Paragraph 3 In Round 2, a few arguments about technological advances and increased need to use cell phones. I have already addressed that above. My opponent asks, "How will officials know if the driver is texting or changing a song on an MP3 player?" One should understand that few things are perfect. We can indeed not always make sure that someone used an MP3 player and not a cell phone, but how about banning both? Yes, personal freedom, or freedom of a driver comes to question. However, in order to maintain security, it is important to have strict laws. The vast majority of people do not drive for the entire day, so they have the option to listen to music, make phone calls, and so on, as long as they are not driving. "Motorists know that using a cell phone while driving is distracting and therefore one should not do it." Should is not the same as must. Most people also know that driving while intoxicated is very dangerous, yet many people do it. I have provided some statistics above. In fact, as a source says, "driving while distracted is a factor in 25 percent of police reported crashes."[5] This probably covers food, music, and mostly cell phone usage. It is indeed a high number, and should be reduced. It can be reduced with stricter laws. This is taken from an article: "The use of cell phones, including dialing and texting, has long been a safety concern for drivers. But the Carnegie Mellon study, for the first time, used brain imaging to document that listening alone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving."[6] If listening alone reduces brain activity by as much as 37% while driving, what about listening and writing something down, or anything similar? • Paragraph 4 My opponent claims that state laws prohibiting cell phone usage while driving are effective in some cases, but not all. I agree that it may not be effective at all places and times, but it can be more effective overall. While the best ban would be a ban that covers the major distraction devices/things, such as cell phones and food, it is important to remember that many drops of water make an ocean. As far as I am concerned, we should ban things like food in the car (for the driver), but to make it easier for people to get used to all these laws with restrictions, we should move on step by step. The major distraction is apparently cell phone usage while driving, so we should start by banning that. Then we will have an ocean of blood reduced. Then a ban on eating while driving would be ideal, and so forth. Rome was not built in a day, and neither will a successful prohibition law. • Paragraph 5 "The GPS that sits on my dashboard and displays beautiful 3D renderings of my virtual surroundings isn't distracting?" It can be more distracting ending up in a deserted place, not knowing where you are. A GPS serves the purpose of showing the way to a specific destination. Is it distracting? Perhaps. But, I believe it is far less distracting than listening carefully to someone talking to you, especially if it is about an appointment that you have to remember and/or write down. A GPS can simply show a route that one can look at every minute, or even less, especially if driving at a highway, where the road is long. -- References -- [1]http://www.edgarsnyder.com... [2]http://www.newscientist.com... [3]http://www.edgarsnyder.com... [4]http://www.unews.utah.edu... [5]http://www.nationwide.com... [6]http://www.cmu.edu...