Cell Phones & Driving

Cell phones have become part of our social culture. These devices are used to send calls or texts to our friends and family members. However, we do not notice the dangers that cell phones pose when someone is driving behind the wheel.

Texting while driving has become a phenomenon in our society as we see more people dying because they do not put their phones down. We do not realize that they distract us when we drive causing so many vehicular accidents that could have been prevented in the first place. Drivers should not use their cell phones as they become a distraction on the road.

One of the main reasons that make using our cell phones while driving very dangerous is that it reduces your reaction time. Let's say that you are driving and you receive a text from a friend. You do not become aware that a car in front of you has stopped that you do not have enough time to react to hit the brakes. Limited reaction time leads to a dangerous car crash. We do not realize that looking at our phones more than your driving can lead to a fatal car accident where your life can end in the matter of seconds.

Teenagers in our society use their phones to record videos where they end up on social networks such as Snapchat. It has become a trend to record themselves driving behind the wheel without thinking about the consequences that comes with them. Constant phone use when driving has created an unsafe environment where we see young drivers becoming more addicted to their phones rather than focusing on going home safely. Recording a video for Snapchat not only endangers you , the driver, but your surroundings such as pedestrians, your fellow passengers, and other drivers. We must think more about the dangers that we create when we record a video by thinking about what could go wrong. Think about the lives that would be destroyed . This is another reason why accidents happen because many people, especially young teenagers , tend to become careless that they would prefer social media over maintaining control on the steering wheel.

How do we control our cell phone use when we are driving? We need to put our phones away and focus on the road. " Don't text and drive" messages seen on billboards are there to remind you and other drivers that it is not a safe using your phone while driving. Other road signs contain a " drive home safe" poster for this reason. We cannot risk our lives for an electronic device. We have families that are waiting for us to come home safely.

Distracted driving has become a hot topic in many states such as Georgia where we have a "hands-free law." It is illegal to have a cell phone when operating a motorized vehicle. We need to raise more awareness about our cell phones and driving that many posters shown in highways reminds drivers of the dangers they face. Informational commercials with drivers on their cell phones depict their lives where they show that being distracted by these hand-held devices can cause a fatal accident. And that we might not make it home safe . Not only do we have to be tough on drivers, but we have to remind them that we have families . And some of them may never see us again for not putting our phones away.

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