Cell Phones & Driving

Although cell phones have not been around for a very long time, they have become a key part of our lives.

People use their cell phones for just about everything such as: texting, talking, schedule planning, internet surfing, etc.

Sometimes we can even do two or more of these things at the same time.

Unfortunately, people are also choosing the wrong time to be using their cell phones: while they are driving.

As a society, we have become so focused on how much we can do at one time that we are willing to risk our personal safety as well as the safety of others because we can't put down our cell phones. Using a handheld cell phone while driving is dangerous to the driver themselves for a couple of good reasons.

One such reason is that.

When driving, sometimes it is difficult to focus on the road which makes it easy to forget that the roads are shared by everyone and not for your exclusive use. Other drivers on the road take notice of drivers on their cell phones whether they want to or not because of the hazards they create. Erratic driving is something that we all get quite worked up about, especially if it makes us late or is otherwise a direct inconvenience to us. Scott Stone, veteran web business strategist and the owner of the consultancy Jimmy, says He came within inches of a bad accident because of a young driver being on the phone and crossing three lanes of traffic at 45 mph. Drivers are also tailgating you because of, again, the inability to maintain a constant speed because they are on the phone. Clark warns of the rusty red Camaro tailgating the minivan full of kids. Drivers who use cell phones while driving are also highly dangerous to pedestrians. A young woman killed a pedestrian on a bicycle while she was texting on her phone. She may not have intended to end that person's life, but she made the poor decision to drive and text which she has to live with for the rest of her life. Any one of us could have been that poor individual on that fateful day. I used to ride my bike everywhere, mostly using the roads in the way that bikes are supposed to. That just proves that point that everybody

60 percent of teens admitted to risky driving. Nearly half of those drivers admitted to text messaging while driving. In April, 2009, in Houston Texas five children lost their lives when the car they were in lost control and slid into a rain swollen ditch. The driver lost control of the vehicle when he went to answer his ringing cell phone. The car went into the ditch and was swept 100 feet down the raging current. The rescue team was unable to reach the car with the trapped passenger. Two adults and one ten year old girl were able to escape, but five children under the age of seven all passed away. A 17 year old girl was driving in Jacksonville Florida. She said that she

glanced down at her cell phone" when she struck a 44 year old man. He was working on side of the road with his tree trimming crew when he was struck by the distracted driver.      