Many people around the world have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Of course, there are millions of people on this planet who do not have these rights. However, in the USA, we have some laws that some folks argue are invasive and are none of the federal or state government's business. Seatbelt laws are one of them. Currently, some areas are considering a ban on the use of cell phones while driving. Is this a good idea? Inasmuch as the seatbelt law is good and designed to save lives, and inasmuch as drinking and driving is against the law, cell phone use while driving should also be against the law. Let's explore why.
According to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, in June of 2005 they reported that over 190 million people used cell phones, as compared to 4.3 million people in 1990. With that kind of increase in cell phone usage it has made our daily lives both convenient and dangerous. With more people using cell phones today, who’s to tell how many of them are speaking on it while they drive at any given time? Well that question was answered by the NHTSA. They concluded the number of drivers using their cells phones while driving at any particular moment during the daytime increased from 6% in 2002 to 8% in 2004. That’s 1.2 million people more and that jump was most noticeable in women. It went up to 6% from 4% in 2002 alone. Men on the other hand stayed steady at 4%.
With so many people using their cells phones driving the increase of risk goes up too and for 2 main reasons. First, the driver must take his or her eyes off the road to dial a number and second, people can become so engaged in their conversations that their concentration level on the road goes down. A lot of us don’t feel it when it happens because a lot of our daily routes are so common to us that we just use our subconscious level of thought to get us where we’re going. But it’s at that point that we put the safety of other motorists and pedestrians...
