Are you addicted to your cell phone?
C
ell phones are not only for phone calls anymore. They include cameras, music, games. They connect us to facebook, our email, and the internet. Cell phones are a truly remarkable technology that conveniently connects us to the whole world, yet they are small enough to fit inside a pocket or a handbag.
Yet there is a lot of anti cell phone rhetoric in the news these days. All across the country there are new laws popping up to ban cell phone usage while driving a car.
What about you: Do you drive your car while talking on the phone? Would you admit to texting while driving?
You may be wondering why everyone is making such a big deal about talking on your cell phone while driving. Most folks drink coffee, eat sandwiches, change the radio station, and do a variety of other motions while driving and no one is talking about outlawing that.
The call to arms is the result of the increase in traffic accidents due to using cell phones while driving.
The statistics are in:
- According to AAA: 46% of teens admit to texting while driving.
- Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year
- There were 10 million cell phones in the U.S. in 2005, and according to the Cellular Telecommunication & Internet Association that number has swelled to 236 million. This is a very large number of folks potentially driving while distracted by their cell phones.
- The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that distracted drivers account for almost 80% off all crashes.
- Compare that 80% to this statistic for perspective: 33% of accidents nationally are caused by drunk drivers.
If you are caught drinking alcohol and driving or having a driver age 21 or older with a blood-alcohol content (BAC) that registers over .08 percent / or .02 BAC for drivers under 21, you can be prosecute for DUI (driving under the influence). This is because drinking and driving impairs your ability to safely operate a vehicle and puts other drivers at risk.
Do we dare conclude out loud that accidents caused by talking or texting with a cell phone while driving are just as serious as accidents caused by drinking and driving because they put others at risk? If we were to admit this, then we need to hand our cell phones to a designated talker and keep our focus on the road.
If you are caught driving without your seatbelt fastened you are breaking the law. If you drive without your seatbelt on you are not putting anyone else at risk, it is one of those laws that protects you from yourself. Yet I would wager that most of you wear your seatbelt while driving your car.
For parents that want to restrict cell phone usage in cars for their young drivers, you can go to www.getizup.com. There is an application you can download for $5 a month or $50 per year that blocks and holds all the text messages, calls and emails while allowing access to 911 and a list of authorized phone numbers.
Right now it’s a personal decision whether to DWT or not. Since you are sharing the road with others, I hope you will turn your phone off or at least find a safe place to pull over before responding to your cell phone when it rings, beeps or plays a silly song.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:15 pm
I’ve never texted while driving but I have talked on the phone while driving. Although these days, I try to to avoid answering the phone at all until I get to my destination. I just see too many people talking on the phone and swerving on the road. So dangerous!