Research Post 7 Banning Cell Phones While Driving

[aweston]

Banning Cell Phones While Driving

Introduction

New Laws are taking affect in regards to Banning Cell Phones while driving. This has been a critical issue that states are fighting in order to keep the roads safe. (1) At this point 7 states have adopted laws to support banning cell phones while driving. California, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands have all adopted cell phone laws that ban usage while driving. Additionally 17 states have adopted laws that ban the use of cell phones by bus drivers. 24 more states have adopted a law supporting the banning of texting while driving.

Body


This has been a debate on many states since the inception of the cell phone and people using it while driving. In the early ears most cell phones were bag phones that were located in the car. Later there was a push to have hands free cell phones in cars but it never really took off. The main reason that hands free cell phones did not take off was the expense of having them put in the car. However, more recent technology has allowed for cell phones to be adapted to car docking stations in which they can be used when driving. However, the real issue is that it is considered a distraction while driving. Even hands free cell phones require attention and often times people are distracted with the conversation while driving because your attention is focused on the voice coming out of the cell phone.

I have to admit, I use this type of technology everyday and I am concerned about the banning of cell phones while driving in the state of Missouri. I depend on my cell phone to make calls and conduct business when I am going to and from work and traveling. I get a lot of work done by utilizing this technology so that I do not have to do it when I am home. On the other hand I can see the problem that states have with people using cell phones while driving. I have seen some of the accidents first hand on I-44 earlier this year when the Semi driving who was texting, lost control and caused a huge accident on I-44. This was on my route home and I was very shook up over how bad the accident was. Additionally, I imagine that if I would have left work early that day or if my family would have come to see me at work, they could have been killed in this accident. Several people died in this accident and that is when I started to feel differently about the issue. A couple of days later I was driving home from work and was following a person on the on ramp to I-44. This person was driving slowly and I could tell they were not watching the road. As they started to enter the I-44 ramp I could see that semi’s where starting to swerve and cars were slamming on their brakes. I slammed on my brakes and waited to see what was going to happen. The semi almost hit the car and as a started to catch up to the car, I noticed the person was texting on their phone and had no idea of what just happened. I had then made up my mind that I will not use my cell phone while driving, I will pull over to use it or to receive a call.
I know support the banning of cell phones while driving. I have gathered some startling information in regards to cell phones that may interest the group. (2) 56% percent of teenagers admit to using cell phones and texting significantly when driving. 48% percent of children age 12 to 17 admit to being in a car with an adult while the driver was talking on the phone or texting while driving. In 2007 nearly 1000 accidents that resulted in death were because the use of cell phones. In 2008 nearly 8000 people were killed in accidents while using their cell phones. Sources are estimating that more than 15,000 accidents resulting in deaths from cell phones in 2009. As you can see, the numbers are on the rise, 800,000 people are texting these days at any given moment. The item to pay attention to is that this was the number of people who died. It does not include the number of accidents. 21% percent of teen accidents in 2009 were a result of using cell phones. Statistics today, show that nearly 25% of accidents are now caused from the use of cell phones. In contrast the number of accidents caused by drunk drivers in 33%, if we review the drinking while driving law. These people get their licensed taken away and face jail time. Additionally these people if they are caught more than once can be fined heavily, see prison time, and can be held accountable for manslaughter. The results show that these accidents are on the rise and growing at a pace of more than 4% per year in fatalities.
If we review the statistics closer, people using cell phones while driving are 2.8 times as likely to be in an accident while driving then people who do not use them. Truck drivers are 5.9 times more likely to be in an accident then people who do not use them while driving. I would consider reviewing the facts when it comes to cell phones and PDA’s when driving. These issues are now close to home and there will be a point in which laws will be put into effect. I would consider talking to your children and asking them not to use their cell phones while driving as they are statistically the biggest risk factor at this point for accidents.
Here is some additional information in regards to cell phones bans that have been introduced in the state of New York. (3) In Syracuse New York police set up crack down areas for cell phones. These areas are very populated, high traffic areas were people should not be using cell phones. In one weekend, police issued over 3000 tickets for people using their cell phone while driving. This is one area of one part of our country. If we think about this just for one moment the data tells us that the overall problem is massive and we need to take action. If you were to statistically take this across the country and use an error margin of 50% percent to take out small cities incorrect data. There are 19,355 cities in the United States that would mean that roughly 300,000 tickets would be issued in one weekend for people using cell phones while driving. I would have to say that if the states figure out the potential money behind backing this plan, then every budget shortfall would be taken care of immediately. The point is that there are too many people using their cell phones while driving and there are things we can do to protect ourselves. Each person can email or write their state senate and request for cell phone usage to be ban while driving.

Here is a current table on what laws have been put in place for the current States within the United States.

Table 1

	Laws restricting cellphone use and texting
State	Hand-held ban	Young drivers all cellphone ban	Bus drivers all cellphone ban	Texting ban	Enforcement
Alabama	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Alaska	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
Arizona	no	no	school bus drivers	no	primary
Arkansas	drivers 18 or older but younger than 21	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary: texting by all drivers and cellphone use by school bus drivers; secondary: cellphone use by young drivers1
California	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	school and transit bus drivers	all drivers	primary; secondary for hands-free cellphone use by young drivers1
Colorado	no	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Connecticut	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Delaware	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
District of Columbia	all drivers	learner's permit holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Florida	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Georgia	no	no	school bus drivers	no	primary
Hawaii	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Idaho	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Illinois	drivers in construction and school speed zones	drivers younger than 19 and learner's permit holders younger than 19	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Indiana	no	drivers younger than 18	no	drivers younger than 18	primary
Iowa	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders (effective 07/01/10)	no	all drivers (effective 07/01/10)	primary for learner's permit and intermediate license holders; secondary for texting (effective 07/01/10)
Kansas	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
Kentucky	no	drivers younger than 18 (effective 07/13/10)	school bus drivers	all drivers (effective 07/13/10)	primary (effective 07/13/10)
Louisiana	with respect to novice drivers, see footnote2	with respect to novice drivers, see footnote2	school bus drivers	all drivers	secondary; primary for school bus drivers
Maine	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
Maryland	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	secondary; primary for texting
Massachusetts	no	no	school bus drivers	no	primary
Michigan	no	no	no	all drivers (effective 07/01/10)	primary (effective 07/01/10)
Minnesota	no	learner's permit holders and provisional license holders during the first 12 months after licensing	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Mississippi	no	no	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
Missouri	no	no	no	drivers 21 and younger	primary
Montana	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Nebraska	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders younger than 18	no	all drivers (effective 07/14/10)	secondary
Nevada	no	no	no	no	not applicable
New Hampshire	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
New Jersey	all drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
New Mexico	no	no	no	no	not applicable
New York	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary; secondary for text messaging
North Carolina	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
North Dakota	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Ohio	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Oklahoma	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Oregon	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Pennsylvania	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Rhode Island	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
South Carolina	no	no	no	no	not applicable
South Dakota	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Tennessee	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Texas	drivers in school crossing zones	intermediate license holders for the first twelve months	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present; intermediate license holders for first twelve months; drivers in school crossing zones	primary
Utah	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary for texting; secondary for talking on a hand-held cellphone3
Vermont	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Virginia	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	secondary; primary for school bus drivers
Washington	all drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders (effective 06/10/10)	no	all drivers	primary (effective 06/10/10)
West Virginia	no	drivers younger than 18 who hold either a learner's permit or an intermediate license	no	drivers younger than 18 who hold either a learner's permit or an intermediate license	primary
Wisconsin	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Wyoming	no	no	no	all drivers (effective 07/01/10)	primary (effective 07/01/10)

Conclusion

While I am not a big fan of seeing people’s rights to be taken away, I do have to say that this is one of those items that does make since. Please take the time to review the information for our area and formulate an opinion on your thoughts.

Questions:

1. Should cell phones be banned while driving in our states?
2. Should people be fined for using cell phones when driving?
3. Should the laws be equal in punishment for using cell phones as they are for drunk drivers?
Sources:
1) http://www.iihs.org/laws/cellphonelaws.aspx
2) http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/ticke...-syracuse.html
3) http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accid...tatistics.html
4) http://www.cellular-news.com/car_bans/
5) http://handsfreeinfo.com/texas-cell-...ws-legislation

[WCunningham]

1) While I understand the laws being developed to help restrict the use of of cell phones but with the implementation of the current laws are additional restrictions that are going to far. I spend a significant amount of time in NJ and the current laws that were passed with the cell phone restrictions also included not being able to change the radio station, eating, drinking, putting a CD in, etc. While I feel that the restrictions on cell phones are warranted the need to go above and beyond by our current government officials.

2) Yes, people will not react with verbal or written warnings. This needs to be enforced with either financial, having a ID taken away, or similar consequences.

3) No, most people see Missouri's laws for drinking and driving as harsh but in many progressive states will take away a offenders automobile(lease or own). As stated above I feel that a small financial penalty, like a parking/speeding will be enough to stop most people form texting/calling. Even with DWI/DUI penalties becoming harsher and harsher people will still drink and drive.

[mshort]

I do not agree that all cell phone use should be banned; however I do agree with penalties or banning texting while driving. Insurance companies often look at drivers phone records around the time of the accident charges can be more severe if the person was texting while driving. I feel that people should know their limits while driving. I know some people that can talk on the phone without being distracted from the road, because they put their foremost attention on driving. On the other hand, I also know several people that pull off the road after receiving phone calls, because they realize they would not be able to focus. Many smart phones offer applications that read text messages aloud and allow a person to respond without actually picking up the phone to text. All bluetooth capable phones have the option of using headsets to talk on the phone. It is understandable for the people with intermediate licenses in the state of Missouri to be fined for texting while driving. The problem is that people need to realize that there are several other ways drivers are distracted, including eating while driving, changing cds, reading the newspaper, and so many other issues. If states are going to ban cell phone use now, will they ban these other issues next?

The laws should not be equal in punishment for using cell phones and drunk driving. Although both can cause serious accidents, I feel the states should keep drunk driving punishments more severe. There may be a rise in accidents related to cell phone usage, but I don't feel they are as high as the accidents related to drunk driving. Drunk drivers are more likely to survive the accident and kill the other parties. There need to be different levels of punishments for different crimes.