Cell Phone Usage While Driving

Introduction

Cell phone usage has become a common practice in the world nowadays. Some persons, especially teenagers, get so much obsessed with cell phones for conversing, video, messaging, sport, etc that they overlook the genuine reason of the telephone and waste large part of their time in pointless interaction over their cell phones. Nothing more can be a disruption for a teacher in the school room, when a student's telephone rings. Cell phones have the potential to distract a person causing serious harms. Cell phone usage while driving has proved fatal in many cases. Many of the countries have banned the use of cell phone while driving due to the many incidents. If stringent bans are enforced on hand held communication devices, paired with strict enforcement, are imposed, then the number of road fatalities will significantly decrease.

Discussion

Drivers engaged in cell phone usage while driving causing road accidents resulting in at least 1 fatality. Data derived from police reports, state registration files, state licensing files, vital statistics, death certificates, hospital medical records, and emergency medical or coroner reports in a period of 10 years from 1999 to 2008. Countries such as Australia, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Britain and France have banned wireless driving. Some U.S. states and Newfoundland followed suit. However, these laws do not apply to hands-free, yet scientific research shows that this is not the type of phone that is the problem, but the cognitive and visual distraction that its use entails. According to a Leger Marketing survey conducted in 2006 for the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ), 49 of Quebecers believe the government should totally ban the practice, while 41% think that the cell should be permitted with a hands-free system (Wilson & Stimpson, 22).

Regulation of the use of cellular telephones by persons while going by car is now commonplace in the United States and has been suggested in several jurisdictions in the United States. There is increasing anxiety that utilizing cellular telephones while going by car increases the misfortunes and fatalities. The significant rise in fatalities pertaining to road accidents in The United States occurring due to cell phone usage while driving led to the legislative action by policy makers to impose bans on cell phone usage while driving. Some states prohibit driver's ages 18 years and junior from utilizing any kind of mobile telephone or wireless expertise while driving. Virginia "restricts a person going by car under [the] age of 18 from utilizing any cell telephone or wireless device (Bulletin et al, 84)." Drivers under 18 can only use a mobile telephone while the vehicle is parked or for crisis purposes.

Performing a meta-analysis (analysis of secondary sources of literature) on the potential health damage from the use of cell phones, we find one consistent fact: "The use of mobile phones while driving increases the frequency of traffic accidents by acting as a distraction for drivers.” This has been demonstrated in several studies in which control has been used case studies and logistic regression ...