Phones and Cars Just Don't Mix

According to the National Council, there are 1.6 million crashes reported each year.(Snyder, 2019) The cause? Cell phone use. Each of these drivers were either texting, or using the cell phone in some way. Drivers shouldn't be permitted to use their cell phones in anyway while driving. The result of banning cell phones at the wheel would be a smaller number of deaths and injuries. This would also include hands free devices and phone calls. Anything that causes a distraction from the road included changing the playlist on your phone could cost you your life. However, there is a way that your phone could actually save your life.

On July 1st, 2018, Georgia passed a statewide "hands free" law. The law prohibits drivers to touch or even have the phone "touch any part of their body" while driving, this includes at stoplights too. The punishment for this, a 50 dollar fine and increases with each offence. The creation of this law came into effect after the "no texting a driving" law of 2010. People such as Representative John Carson say, "It's completely ineffective." The law is useless if making calls is still allowed.(Hafner, 2018) Since the hands free law was passed, the number of crashes reported because of cell phone use has decreased by two percent. Robert Hydrick, communications director for the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, points out that, "Banning the cell phone isn't the cure, but it is a step in the right direction." (Estep, 2018)

Knowing how much of an impact the cell phone has on drivers life, iPhone designer John Casey with the help of other engineers, designed a feature on the iPhone that could actually save your life while behind the wheel. The "Do Not Disturb While Driving" feature on the phone can sense when you are driving or in the car. Your phone proceeds to pop up an alert that gives you the option to turn on the do not disturb setting. When on, the feature mutes texts and calls or sometimes normal functions of the phone to cancel any distractions. I know you're probably thinking, what if its an emergency? Apple has that under control. If a message is sent to your phone, an option to send a prewritten message telling the person you are driving comes to the screen. If its an emergency, the sender can send it with "urgency" and the message will be bypassed to your screen. Since the creation of this setting, phone usage among drivers has decreased by 8%. (Baig, 2018)

As a result of enforcing the Georgia hands free law and features on the phone such as do not disturb, there will be a significant reduction of cell phone related car accidents in the near future. I strongly believe that in order to accomplish that goal, cell phones must be banned at the wheel. Our justice system must enforce the laws made to prevent more crashes from happening. As well as drivers using features on there phone to help them eliminate distraction. That text can wait.

Works Cited

Snyder, A. (2019). Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving. [online] edgarsnyder. com. Available at:

https://www. edgarsnyder. com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics. ht ml.

Hafner, J. (2018). Drop that phone: It's now illegal to hold your mobile device while driving in Georgia. [online] Usatoday. com.

Available at:

https://www. usatoday. com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/02/georgia-hands-free-law-bans-hold ing-phone-while-driving/752752002/.

Federal Communications Commission. (2018). The Dangers of Distracted Driving. [online] Available at:

https://www. fcc. gov/consumers/guides/dangers-texting-while-driving

Estep, T. (2018). State reminds distracted driving violators: Warnings won't last forever. [online] ajc. Available at:

https://www. ajc. com/news/local-govt--politics/state-reminds-distracted-driving-violators-warnin gs-won-last-forever/tHHj7phntHUIZioKXGpeJK/.

Baig, E. (2018). 'Do Not Disturb While Driving' is actually getting people to put down their phones. [online] Usatoday. com. Available at:

https://www. usatoday. com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/04/18/distracted-driving-feature-inside-d o-not-disturb-while-driving-feature-inside-iphones-help-keep-you/527613002/.