The Road to Death
The Road to Death:
The popularity of mobile phones has grown enormously in the past two decades. With the social media applications, texting features and ability to make phone calls mobile phones have lead drivers to become more distracted on the road. Drivers talking on the phone and texting behind the wheel is growing at an alarming rate and quickly becoming a deadly problem. The drivers inattention is the leading cause of car accidents. “According to an article from a journal of the National Transportation Safety Board (2011), more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distractions-related accidents,” (p. 1) In Florida cell phones should be prohibited because of the alarming casualties and accidents.
Due to the alarming numbers of injuries and fatalities the Federal safety regulations have expressed concerns regarding the risk of using cellular phones, Internet devices and other electronic devices while driving. Distracted drivers pose safety risks to themselves and their occupants, as well as the motoring and walking public. Many safety hazards can arise when a person is operating a motor vehicle while talking on the cellular phone. According to an article in USA Today, (2000, p25A), “More than 800 people die and some 200,000 are injured each year in the US.” Ten years ago, in vehicle cell phones were used mainly for work purposes to improve communications and productivity. Today, however, personal use is a bigger part of the picture. The University of Utah psychologists published a study showing that motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cellular phones are as impaired as drunken drivers. It was found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit” of 0.08 percent, which is the minimum level that defines illegal drunken driving in most U.S. states. According to Drews and Dennis Crouch