Finally, someone is speaking out on the danger of talking on a cell phone while driving, and asking that the practice be outlawed. I can't believe it has taken so long. All anyone has to do is drive around for a few hours in any American city, and they will see driver after driver doing incredibly stupid and dangerous things because their mind is on the phone conversation they are having, and not on their driving.
The woman who was driving the car pictured above was killed because some fool was too busy talking on a cell phone to pay attention to his driving. This woman is only one of many victims of cell phone driving. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), there are 2,600 deaths and over 12,000 serious injuries every year that are caused by driver's talking on cell phones.
And those could be very conservative numbers. There are 270 million cell phone owners in the United States, and the NSC estimates that 80% talk on their phone while driving. Where's the outrage? Are we only outraged by the dangerous things that we don't do ourselves?
Some states are mandating that drivers use "hands free" devices while driving and talking on their cell phones, but that has little effect on the problem. As NSC's chief executive Janet Froetscher says, "It's not just what you're doing with your hands — it's that your head is in the conversation and so your eyes are not on the road."
After examining more than 50 scientific studies, the NSC has reached the conclusion that driving while talking on a cell phone (even hands free) makes the driver four times as likely to be involved in a traffic accident. That figure is comparable to driving while drunk!
We have made drunk driving a crime and continuously wage campaigns against it. But amazingly, most of us don't seem to be worried at all about the 216 million drivers who are every bit as dangerous as the drunk drivers. That strikes me as being very stupid.
If we're going to wage war against the drunk drivers (and I have no problem with that), shouldn't we also outlaw talking on a cell phone while driving, since they are just as dangerous?
The Governor's Highway Safety Association and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety both agree with the NSC that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous and based on the research should be banned.
How much more evidence is needed? How many more lives must be lost? Isn't it time to act?
When I was CA I found out talking while driving is illegal. There is should be. Too many cars as it is.
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