Dangers of Cell Phones Essay

Texting while driving puts many driver’s lives in danger daily. Multiple people feel that staying connected to the outside world is more important than focusing on the road ahead, although it is not. It can harm others on the road who are doing nothing other than trying to make it to their destination safely. If people would open their eyes to the dangers of texting while driving, less car accidents would take place every year and the roads would be much safer. Distracted drivers need to know the position they put others in as well as themselves. While behind the wheel, drivers should never direct their attention to their cell phone, and should always keep their eyes on the road.

Statistics show that texting while driving is on the rise. In a published article, “Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States”, from National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2005 to 2008 car accidents involving a use of a cellular device increased by 28 percent, while drunk driving fatalities declined by 35 percent. In today’s world, many people are becoming attached to their phone, and they cannot put it down for 30 minutes. A study completed by Pew Research Center showed that 59 percent of young adults ranging from 18 to 34 years old are the most likely to text and

We all are probably aware that texting and talking on the phone is a distraction to all drivers and can be very dangerous. Also, we all know there are many other distractions besides texting and driving, and any type of technology can cause a driver to be distracted. Forty-one percent of all drivers use their hands to text in the car while driving, according to Greg Gardner (52). It can cause people to forget about pedestrians or their surrounding areas. People who are distracted often aren’t focused and don’t have both hands on the wheel. According to Bryan Wilson, people may say that cell phones are easy to be pointed out as a problem, but statistics show the damage cell phones can do to a person while they are driving (6). According to Simon Usborne, time spent not looking at the road while talking on the phone is 15% of the time (68). Also, while texting and driving the time spent not looking at the road is 30% of the time (Usborne 69). As technology improves more and more people may feel the need to use their cell phones while driving. According to Melissa Healy, cell phone use can be as dangerous as drunk driving (42). Tests should be done to compare the various ways of sober people under the influence driving also to compare the impact of texting and driving. This would give us a better understanding of just how dangerous driving and being on our phone really is.

Cell phones have become an essential part of many peoples’ lives as they are one of the main sources of communication. People are able to complete many tasks using their phones, such as making phone calls, sending and receiving e-mails, text messaging, and even snapping photos. Cell phones are not only beneficial, but they are impactful in many ways. As many positive uses there are for cell phones, cell phone usage can be undoubtedly precarious while driving. Cell phone usage while driving is many times done irresponsibly and can put the driver at risk of getting injured. In addition to the driver getting injured, innocent pedestrians could also potentially lose their lives or be crippled due to a texting person who was driving at the same time. According to The Federal Communications Commission, “over 8 people are killed and approximately 1,161 are injured daily in incidents reported as distraction-affected crashes in the United States.” Texting while driving has become the number one distraction of drivers and main cause of car crashes. These crashes could result in hundreds of thousands of people either losing their lives or experiencing life-changing injuries. Although cell phone usage is an effective way to communicate with others and to complete certain tasks, it has become problematic for drivers in recent years as it increased the risk of injury and death while driving. For these reasons, texting while driving should be illegal and punishable by law.

There are both cognitive and physical factors that contribute to accidents when drivers talk on their cell phones and/or text behind the wheel. The primary cognitive factor is that an individual’s attention is divided when he or she is paying attention to more than one thing at a time (Goldstein, 2011). For example, a driver’s attention is on the road and perhaps how far the car ahead of him/her is, but at the same time is also trying to read a text message on a cellular device. This divided attention reduces the reaction speed and driving performance of the driver because there are not as many cognitive resources available to focus his/her attention on the most important thing: driving. When the driver is processing

Automobile crashes as a result of texting while driving is an epidemic that has taken over the nation in the past years. In today’s society, people have become more and more dependent on technology as everyday uses. How many can honestly say that they have text and driven? How many have had to swerve, stop on the brakes or almost gotten into an accident because of it? Texting while driving is the most common thing that almost everyone has done or seen. The main issue and threat is that people think they can safely type on their phone while driving; while others simply do not think there is any real danger with that act. Today, it is all about convenience; but the cost for this convenience can be very deadly. Studies show that any

Texting and driving has become a recent issue in today's society and is one of the largest epidemics to sweep our nation. The progression of text messaging, with more capable phones and larger numbers of people engaging than ever before, has turned into one of the largest distractions in our world. Many teens, as well as adults, have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving their cars. Several people do not think that a quick text or even a glance at a phone while they are driving will do any harm. A great bit of accidents has taken place due to a careless individual that decided to look at their phone while they were in the process of driving. These days, phones have gotten even more

Every day in the United States around one out of ten people are killed by distracted drivers, and around 1500 are injured in some way in crashes by these irresponsible, distracted drivers. One of the most dangerous, distracting activities that many people do is texting while driving. It is extremely dangerous because people who do this are putting more attention in texting, and they take their eyes off the road while they are driving, which increases the chance that the driver can lose the control of the vehicle, and could cause a crash or even in a worst case could kill other people. When a person is texting, she/he is thinking about other things besides concentrating on driving. This is very dangerous because it could make the driver lose

Nowadays, it is a common occurrence to see people messaging from their cellular devices in the midst of driving. Many drivers, across the globe, engage in the practice without contemplating about the potential detrimental effects of their actions. Notably, researches have depicted that texting while driving is one of the major causes of road accidents. As a matter of fact, accidents caused due to messaging while driving has superseded those, which are instigated by drunk drivers. Drivers are inclined to the belief that they can send some messages without negatively impacting on their driving abilities. However, studies have revealed that drivers are not as capable of multi-tasking as they believe they are. Researchers have discovered that drivers who text while driving look at the road 400 times less compared to those who do not message. After all the research it shows that texting and driving increases the risks of accidents and could even be deadly. Texting and Driving is a widespread problem that is killing Americans across the country. Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is dangerous. Most people do it anyway. Texting and driving falls under a category of safety risks called distracted driving. Distracted driving covers any non-driving act that keeps drivers from safely operating their vehicles. Texting and driving is particularly hazardous because it takes the driver’s attention away from driving more frequently and for longer periods of time. Texting and

Texting while driving has become a persistent issue in society because of new technologies that make picking up a phone convenient, but also dangerous. Many teens as well as adults have formed a habit of using their cell phones while driving their vehicles. The act of composing, sending or reading a text message interrupts a person’s attention while driving which causes visual, cognitive, and manual distractions. Texting while driving may seem harmless, however it is responsible for serious injuries and even fatalities. Because texting while driving has become an epidemic, society has been forced to come up with solutions which could correct this issue.

In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that “8 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily in the United States” (CDC). At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010 (DMV). Further supporting the fact that cell phones have become such a precious commodity that it is hard to imagine everyday life without them. Cell phones alone aren’t the problem, but when you add the cell phone plus a vehicle into the mix it’s just not possible to safely reach your destination. When you are operating a motor vehicle the task requires a person’s full mental capacity, so when a person is using their phone and driving they’re splitting their focus onto two separate task. “Among the various forms of distracted driving, texting stands out as particularly dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction, requiring the driver to take his eyes off the road, remove at least one hand from the steering wheel and take his mind off the task of driving” (Gormley 91).

Texting while driving is 6 times as likely to get you involved in a collision on the road than drinking while driving. Even simple tasks draw a driver’s focus from the driving lane, which could be deadly. Using various forms of technology with hands on the wheel divides the driver's attention and could cause lethal collisions. Although to teens and young adult drivers, texting could be done safely if knowing when to text in the “right time” while driving, it distracts the driver’s attention from the driving lane and could cause fatal accidents and possible deadly injuries.

In a 2009 study, VTTI found that, “Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field…blindfolded” (Data). Drivers may encounter any number of unexpected hazards in those five seconds, resulting in a car accident, serious injury, or death, but still people use their phones dangerously. Distracted driving due to cell phone use is widely practiced by all ages of drivers, many of whom do not take warnings seriously. Automakers are teaming up with cell phone companies to address the problem, but aren’t seeing much success. There are three strategies that should be used to minimize the habit of texting

As cell phones become more popular, texting while driving is becoming the most widely known cause for car accidents among teens. The alarming rate of incidents where texting is involved is getting more parents worried and warning their children about the danger of texting while driving. Parents are urging the fact that drivers should pay attention to the road and traffic, not their phones. A popular study of 18 to 24 year old drivers showed that 66 percent of them have texted while driving. Since texting while driving is becoming more popular many states are passing a law to ban the use of any cell phone device while in a vehicle. Texting while driving is an important issue that is causing many deaths and those who cause these deaths and

Although cell phones have not been around for a very long time, they have become a key part of our lives. People use their cell phones for just about everything such as: texting, talking, schedule planning, internet surfing, etc. Sometimes we can even do two or more of these things at the same time. Unfortunately, people are also choosing the wrong time to be using their cell phones: while they are driving. As a society, we have become so focused on how much we can do at one time that we are willing to risk our personal safety as well as the safety of others because we can’t put down our cell phones.