Would you close your eyes for 5 seconds while driving? When you glance at your cell phone to read a text message you are taking your eyes away from the road for an average of 5 seconds, and if you are traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour you will have driven the length of the football field, blindfolded. (CDC, 2016) Some believe that cell phones are necessary while driving and that if you are excellent at multi-tasking there is no problem. Driving is a task that needs your full attention to keep everybody on the roads safe. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2014 there were over 3,000 deaths and over 400,000 people that were injured in a car accident that was caused by a distracted driver using a cell phone. Although
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While some believe that a ban will not only be hard to enforce, but will only lead to more accidents considering drivers will just hide their phone better and making the risk much greater. In 14 states there is a current ban on manipulating a cell phone while driving and in 38 states there is just a ban for novice drivers only. (IIHS, 2016) However, in 47 states they just have a law against texting and driving, which has not reduced the rate of deadly accidents. In numerous cases a texting ban has increased accidents caused by distracted drivers due to it being difficult to enforce and drivers would just get more creative with hiding their phone, again this is why there needs to be a full ban. When it comes to enforcing the laws there are primary and secondary enforcements, and several of the states have secondary enforcement, which means the driver needs to committing another offense such as speeding in order to be stopped for texting while driving. States that have a primary enforcement of cell phone usage while driving have seen a vast reduction in fatalities as a result of an accident that involved a distracted driver. (Harmon. 2014) This is frustrating to law enforcement in that they can see a driver breaking the law, and in various cases they cannot do anything to stop them for the reason that they are not committing a second offense. A complete ban …show more content…
Therefore, you would need to have and or use a cell phone for safety reasons. For example, you would need a cell phone for, emergencies, reporting a crime, getting in contact with someone who forgot something important, and to conduct business calls while on the road. In addition, there are a number of other distractions that can impair a driver while driving and a law shouldn’t single out one distraction. Activities such as changing the CD player, eating food, reaching for something in the car, and even conversing with a passenger of a vehicle are all forms of distractions. (Sesolak, B. 2009) Although this may be true, and there are distractions that can take your attention away from driving, but using your cell phone is the greatest danger to public safety. According to the Centers for Disease Control there are three types of distractions that divert the attention of a driver and those are mental, manual, and cognitive distractions. Using your cell phone is considered extremely dangerous since it is a combination of all three distractions by taking your mind off of the task of driving, your eyes off of the road, and your hands off of the steering
While some believe that a ban will not only be hard to enforce, but will only lead to more accidents considering drivers will just hide their phone better and making the risk much greater. In 14 states there is a current ban on manipulating a cell phone while driving and in 38 states there is just a ban for novice drivers only. (IIHS, 2016) However, in 47 states they just have a law against texting and driving, which has not reduced the rate of deadly accidents. In numerous cases a texting ban has increased accidents caused by distracted drivers due to it being difficult to enforce and drivers would just get more creative with hiding their phone, again this is why there needs to be a full ban. When it comes to enforcing the laws there are primary and secondary enforcements, and several of the states have secondary enforcement, which means the driver needs to committing another offense such as speeding in order to be stopped for texting while driving. States that have a primary enforcement of cell phone usage while driving have seen a vast reduction in fatalities as a result of an accident that involved a distracted driver. (Harmon. 2014) This is frustrating to law enforcement in that they can see a driver breaking the law, and in various cases they cannot do anything to stop them for the reason that they are not committing a second offense. A complete ban …show more content…
Therefore, you would need to have and or use a cell phone for safety reasons. For example, you would need a cell phone for, emergencies, reporting a crime, getting in contact with someone who forgot something important, and to conduct business calls while on the road. In addition, there are a number of other distractions that can impair a driver while driving and a law shouldn’t single out one distraction. Activities such as changing the CD player, eating food, reaching for something in the car, and even conversing with a passenger of a vehicle are all forms of distractions. (Sesolak, B. 2009) Although this may be true, and there are distractions that can take your attention away from driving, but using your cell phone is the greatest danger to public safety. According to the Centers for Disease Control there are three types of distractions that divert the attention of a driver and those are mental, manual, and cognitive distractions. Using your cell phone is considered extremely dangerous since it is a combination of all three distractions by taking your mind off of the task of driving, your eyes off of the road, and your hands off of the steering