The Dangers of Driving While Using a Cell Phone

There has been much pressure in recent years for lawmakers to institute a ban on cell phone use while driving. As it turns out, studies show a significant increase in the number of vehicle crashes among drivers who were talking on a cell phone versus drivers who were not using a cell phone. It is easy to see why cell phone use can affect the user’s driving ability. Reaching for the cell phone in your car and dialing the phone number takes the driver’s eyes off the road. (Yes, even if you use speed dial.) It also takes your hands off the wheel. Finally, and most importantly, cell phone use takes your mind off driving.

According to a study conducted by the University of Utah, talking on a cell phone while driving is comparable to driving while legally drunk. Use of a cell phone slowed participant’s reaction times and impaired quick decision-making abilities. Statistics show that drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a crash while talking on a cell phone and six times more likely to crash when texting or dialing a number. In addition, cell phone users are more likely to be involved in crashes that result in injuries. Furthermore, research indicates that using a hands free device does not significantly reduce the danger. Talking on a cell phone or even just listening to someone else impairs driving by causing a distraction that reduces the brain’s resources. As a result, our ability to drive is negatively affected. In a similar study, University of Utah professor David Strayer found that "If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone." These studies are particularly sobering because the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has estimated that 8 percent of all drivers are talking on the phone at any given time, and this estimate increases every year. This translates into more accidents and more injuries on the road for all of us.

In spite of conclusive evidence that using a cell phone while driving poses a significant danger, many of us stubbornly continue to use our cell phones anyway. Those drivers who are twenty years old and younger are particularly at risk, in part because of their inexperience. We can all do our part to help make roads safer by curbing cell phone use now, even before stricter laws are enacted.