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Banning Cell Phone Usage While Driving

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Banning Cell Phone Usage While Driving
By
A.D. Johnson

SP 180 Principles of Public Speaking

Banning Cell Phone Usage While Driving

Cell phones have become almost an extra appendage. They have become such a large part of who we are until most people feel lost without them. Consider the number of people we see in the course of the day walking with their heads down, eyes focused on the phone or seem to be talking to themselves or texting or reading a text sent to them. It has become common place to hold a conversation while being fully engaged with the phone. Cell phones have become such an addiction until we use them even where they are prohibited. That call must be answered, that text read or responded to. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in a moving vehicle. Cell phones, while convenient, impair the driver’s ability to focus fully on what is going on around them. Use of cell phones while driving should be banned because it poses a danger, not just to the driver, but to everyone around them.

Picture seeing a person driving while putting on makeup or reading a paper or vigorously dancing or even having a lively conversation with passengers. Most people would react negatively and agree that this is reckless behavior. Yet, this same group sees nothing wrong with talking on the phone or texting while driving. After all, it only takes a quick second to glance at a text—kind of like blinking and these days a lot of cars dial the phone for you, so it’s cool, right? Statistics do not agree. The National Safety Council reports that driving while using cell phones leads to 1.1 million crashes each year. Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving and texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with the eyes off the road. Does this sound safe?
In spite of the warnings against it, the U.S.

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