Using Cellphones While Driving - Free Essay

While driving through traffic, one will likely see several people on the wheel using their mobile gadgets. They are either making calls or reading through a message. If they spot a man in uniform fagging down cars ahead, they are likely to drop the phonecall and hide the phone. Why? It is mainly because the act is illegal in that jurisdiction. It is viewed as a dangerous act when driving. It is common knowledge that traffic laws in most states do now allow mobile phone usage while driving. Time and time again, the act of using phones while driving has been blamed for the occurrence of accidents. However, this may not be entirely true. Lawmakers and policy formulators need to start looking at the issue from a different perspective. It is time for them to explore ways of permitting the use of mobile phones while driving.

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Cellphone use is not totally illegality in every jurisdiction of the United States. About half the states in the US have a ban on the use of handheld cellphone use (NCSL). This means that one can use their mobile phone if it is not handheld. As such, one can use it with headphones or if it’s interlinked with the car’s dashboard. Text messaging ban is active in 48 states, while Missouri only bans teens and novice drivers from texting when they drive (NCSL). However, no state has a full cellphone ban, apart from school bus drivers and novice and teen drivers (NCSL). This means that the whole issue of banning is partial.

With partial bans, one can clearly tell that use of mobile phones while driving is not as dangerous as it may seem. Compared to driving under the influence, the laws on driving while using a mobile phone are quite lenient. The importance of a mobile phone to an individual cannot be overstated. The ban on its use only increases the pressure while driving. The pressure on the driver is caused by too much-divided attention on the side of the driver. To understand better why mobile phone use should be allowed, one should begin by exploring the demerits of the bans. Next should be looking at the merits of using the devices and deconstructing myths about the merits of the ban.

First, using a mobile phone while driving takes away the need to drive fast (Lissy et al. 41). Speed driving is one of the biggest causes of accidents. The divided attention and increased pressure of knowing it is illegal to use the mobile phone could be decreased when one understands that the use is legal. As such, the security and peace of mind reduce the risk of accident (Lissy et al. 42). Some drives are long and monotonous, and they need breaks and interruptions. Using a cellphone could, in a big way, help improve mental alertness. It also helps expand productivity for commuters. Allowing the use of mobile phones could allow people to transact their matters on their way home from work, completing unfinished work in their commutes (Lissy et al. 54). Such are the advantages of foregone when there is a blanket ban on the use of mobile devices when driving.

Proponents of the ban on cellphone use would argue that any business transacted via the phone can wait for an ideal time when the owner is in a convenient location. However, it may not always be the case. Some things cannot wait for convenience. One could be receiving an emergency call from home or elsewhere, but they cannot pick up the call because they are on the road driving. It could mean that something they could solve misses out, and tragedy strikes. The importance of cellphones is making instant communication and feedback, which is lost with the restriction of use for drivers (Lissy et al. 54). If policymakers considered this necessity, they would find it unpalatable to commission such bans.

The foregone benefits would, at times, supersede the intended gains. The primary advantage is the reduction of accidents on the roads, which is not always achieved. The use of mobile phones is a technology that today’s generation cannot forego, and should only be struggling to work out a way of using them in different scenarios. Adults are hugely responsible people and driving while using phones should be taken a case of responsibility. If people adopted a high index of responsibility in this regard, they would not struggle to convince lawmakers to consider lifting the bans placed on the use of mobile phones on the road. Distracted driving is one of the major causes of accidents on the roads, and there are many distractions beyond the mobile phone (Ige et al. 5). The presumption that it is leading because mobile phones are distractors is misplaced. In fact, most people are distracted by what is outside the car and not inside, as many would argue.

In conclusion, the use of mobile phones while driving should be permitted in every jurisdiction. People tend to be more careful and keen when the responsibility is on their side. The games with traffic officers of hiding a phone when they are watching, and using it when they are not in sight, are a bigger distractor than the phone itself. The attempts to control people’s use of their own gadgets even when they need them so much are futile efforts of caging people who are determined to use the phones. The main point is to reduce the pressure on drivers and help them improve alertness and concentration on the road. The end result should be reduced accidents resulting from mobile phones, even with the increased use of gadgets on the road.

Works Cited

Ige, Janet et al. “Mobile Phone Use While Driving: Underestimation Of A Global Threat.” Journal Of Transport & Health, vol 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 4-8. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.jth.2015.11.003. Accessed 12 July 2020.

Lissy, Karen S., et al. Cellular phone use while driving: Risks and benefits. Boston, MA: Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health, 2000.

NCSL. “Cellular Phone Use And Texting While Driving Laws.” Ncsl.Org, 2019, https://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/cellular-phone-use-and-texting-while-driving-laws.aspx.