Cell Phones and Driving

In today's society, the world depends on technology for nearly everything. It's used to communicate, do research, play games and even to give us directions when we are driving and lost. Everywhere you look you are likely to see technology in use, with one of the most popular devices being cellphones. This is easy to explain, as stated above, they are used for communication, access to internet, games and more. However, there are some instances when cell phones are a threat to our safety. Though cell phones are useful in some capacity, in most scenarios people should not be allowed to use cell phones while driving.

To begin, one of the main issues with cell phones like many other technology devices, cell phones are a distraction when you need to focus on the environment around you. While driving, the most important rule is to be completely attentive to your environment. Others may argue that people are able to multitask and can still focus on the road while using a phone.

Though this may have some truth, the problem comes when the cell phone distracts your attention from something that has happened on the road and/ or affects your reaction time. For example, image you are driving while texting a friend and you look up and notice a car swerving into your lane. With only one hand on the will you try to move over to avoid the car, but without full control of the wheel you end up turning too far and crashing into the another car. Even if you were able to drop your phone and put both hands on the wheel, by that time the car has already crashed into you. In this situation, an accident could have been avoided if you had been paying attention and acted quickly before the car came to close. Driving is already dangerous enough as something could go wrong in a matter of seconds, using a cell phone at the same time would only make it even more difficult in most cases.

In addition, despite popular beliefs, most people don't do well when trying to multitask. For driving, this means that if you are on your phone you are paying attention to the phone and not the road, even if it is just for a few seconds. But what could happen in a few seconds, some may ask? For example, you are driving to a friend's house through a populated neighborhood. You see that the street is all clear and take this chance to text your friend and tell them that you are close. At that exact moment at child runs into the street chasing a ball they had been playing with. By the time you look up it is too late to stop and you end up hitting the child. This accident could have been avoided if you had been paying one-hundred percent attention to the road. Even in situations when the problem is not another driver or pedestrian, there are still many things you should be paying attention to on the road. For instance, image the same example as above except there is no child in the road. The street is clear and you pull out your phone to text. At that moment you notice a pothole and swerve to avoid it and end up running over the sidewalk and straight into a tree. Yet again, this accident could have been avoided if you had been focusing on the road.

Although in most situations, drivers should not be able to use cell phones while driving, there are two scenarios which when it may be need. The first situation is when the driver is lost and needs directions. In this situation, using the phone for directions is necessary, however this should be done in a certain way. When this is the situation the driver should use some type of hands free device to hold the phone so that they can keep both hands on the wheel at all times. The other scenario is in case of emergency. For example, you are driving on the highway and see a bad accident occur but you are unable to stop and do anything. In this situation it is appropriate to use your phone to call the police so that they can get there as soon as possible to help anyone who may have been injured in the accident. Outside of incidents such as these drivers should not be able to use cell phones in any capacity.

To summarize, with the exception of being lost or in case of emergency, drivers should not be able to use cell phone while on the road as it not only puts themselves in danger, but those around them as well. In today's society, there have been countless accidents as a result of texting and driving. When you learn how to drive, the first thing you do is put on your seatbelt, why?

Because safety is the highest priority. If drivers are allowed to freely use their phones when on the road, that means that safety is no longer the highest priority and countless lives would be put at risk of injury and even death. If a text message, call, game or anything else is that important it will still be there for you to respond to after you have gotten to your destination safely.