Cell_Phones_While_Driving

Melissa Morrow ENGL 1101 12:00-12:50pm Final Paper Cell Phones While Driving Communicating while driving isn’t necessarily a bad thing; however, using cell phones or texting may cause a driver distraction, making them prone to accidents. Albeit, cellular activity inside a vehicle has major drawbacks - nevertheless, it can be an efficient form of communication, providing the user with multiple capabilities such as the use of GPS, ability to take pictures, capture video, and more. While many people consider driving while talking on a cell phone to be a minor thing, many do not think of the consequences that can occur because of their ignorance. The cell phone provides quality communication from virtually anywhere on the globe (that is; just as long as your provider has quality coverage). A cell phone, in the car or not, is also made to be able to communicate with anyone no matter where they are in the world. A cell phone gives you the capability to make a phone call in any situation at any time, whether you are lost and have to call a friend, have car problems, or are in an accident. However, in all of those situations, the cell phone is used when the car is stopped and is not traveling with other cars. Unfortunately, most people do not do this and continue, if possible, traveling down the road endangering the others in the car and on the road. GPS, Global Positioning Systems, is a United States space-based radio navigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis. The GPS is made up of three parts: satellites orbiting the Earth, control and monitoring stations on Earth, and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS satellites broadcast signals from space and are then picked up by the GPS receivers. Each GPS receiver then provides three-dimensional location plus the time. This, to most people, is the most efficient way to travel. However, if the GPS is not updated, then you can sometimes not end up where you are supposed to be. Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal to digital form. The resulting digital data are referred to as digital video stream, or more often, a video. Video capturing on cell phones is the latest phenomenon in the technological world. Taking pictures on phones is another. This is reliable for special events, and even for insurance reasons. So basically, a phone with a camera device on it for pictures and videos is a must for any person with a phone. When driving in a car, you have to concentrate. You can’t have any distractions. If you have distractions, you will be more likely to have an accident. There are many different distractions that can occur, but the most harmful distraction is the cell phone. When you are on a cell phone, it causes you to only have one hand on the wheel and the other holding the phone. A Bluetooth device also has the same harmful distractions because even though it allows you to have both hands on the wheel, it still becomes a distraction from your mind paying attention to the road. Now, if you were to look at a chart of all types of accidents, driving while on a cell phone would be very high. Studies have also shown that texting while driving is worse than driving under the influence of alcohol. So imagine being drunk and behind the wheel; now multiply that times two. That is how bad of a distraction texting is; it is like you aren’t even in a car anymore, and you forget that you are driving. The DMV of England released a video in August of 2009 showing 3 teens driving in a car in the middle of the day. The driver was answering a text which caused her to cross over the double yellow lines and cause a head on collision with a car that was carrying a family. The driver ended up killed her two friends and the parents of the two children in the other car. England showed this in their schools, and the United States was debating on whether or not to begin showing this in the high schools in the United States. In my opinion, I believe that we should ban the use of cell phones while driving. This would greatly lower the number of cell phone related accidents. It would also allow more teens to not be killed or paralyzed by this simple mistake. Now, we could buy Global Positioning Systems that are not connected to cell phones to avoid breaking the law if this were passed. Shouldn’t everyone get a chance to live' Adults don’t want their teens on the phones while driving, but why don’t they first follow their own rules. The invention of the cell phone has drastically altered the way the world communicates - but at what cost' Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives with a certain percentage due to cell activity within a vehicle. You may ask yourself, why hasn’t the government intervened' The answer is quite simple. This product comes with an array of features ranging from basic communication to capturing video. Without cell phones our world wouldn’t be what it is today, but the negative effects of using cell phones outweighs the benefits of using one within a vehicle. Sources National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Coordination Office. "Global Positioning System." 1 Oct 2009. http://www.gps.gov. National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Coordination Office, Web. "Video Capture definition." 1 Oct 2009. http://www.phonescoop.com. Web.