Should Using a Hand Held Cell Phone Be Banned While Driving Term Paper

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cell phone use while driving. Specifically it will discuss the increased use of cell phones in the United States, and the dangers of driving while talking on a cell phone. Talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous. Studies show it is just as dangerous as drunk driving, and talking on a cell phone while driving should be banned nationally, not simply on a state-by-state basis.

CELL PHONES SHOULD BE BANNED

Driving while talking on a cell phone has become quite controversial as more Americans use cell phones every day. Using cell phones in public can be annoying and downright rude, but driving while talking on a cell phone can be deadly. One analyst noted, "Driving and talking on a cell phone is like drinking and driving. In both cases, the driver's reaction time is slowed, especially in the event of a roadway mishap requiring urgent response. In addition, a driver likely cannot give the same level of attention to driving as when not using a cell phone" (Egan). Driver inattention is one of the main causes of accidents on the road today. People eat in their cars, change clothes in their cars, and now, with the touch of a button, they can conduct a business meeting while they rush down the freeway. As drivers dial, talk, seize a ringing phone, and hang up, they are paying more attention to their phone than the road in front of them, often at other driver's expense.

Behind the wheel of his SUV, Frederick Poust III dialed his cell phone. As he hit 'send,' the 27-year-old blew through a stop sign in rural Hilltown Township, Pa., and slammed into the side of a Grand Cherokee. In the Cherokee's front seat, Patricia Pena turned to see her daughter Morgan, 2, bleeding from massive head wounds (Ripley 68).

What is worse, Proust III was not charged beyond reckless driving in this incident! "The driver received two citations, for careless driving and for failure to observe a stop sign, and was fined $50. The driver was not charged with homicide by vehicle because the police determined that the driver was not reckless, only careless.

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.." (Ferzan 597).

Many people believe it is perfectly safe to talk on the phone while driving, especially if they use a hands-free headset, which allows them to keep both hands on the wheel as they drive. However, research done by University of Utah psychologists shows that even hands-free cell phone models do not solve the problem of driver inattention, which the researchers call "inattention blindness." "The study concludes that that inattention blindness explains the researchers' widely publicized 2001 findings that users of hands-free and hand-held cell phones are equally impaired, missing more traffic signals and reacting to signals more slowly than motorists who do not use cell phones" (Blind). Their studies showed that drivers also reacted to cars braking in front of them more slowly, they accelerated more slowly after braking, and these reactions were even more pronounced as the density of traffic increased around the drivers (Blind). Therefore, these studies clearly show driving while talking on a cell phone is dangerous, and can be deadly.

Other opponents of a cell phone ban believe the problem is not using cell phones, but people who use them inappropriately. "Although there is anecdotal evidence of the dangers inherent in careless cell phone use while driving, opponents of regulation suggest that the problem is not with the phones themselves, but rather in their….....

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