Texting and Driving: Mobile Phones A Tricky Menace

Death by Distraction:
Mobile Phones – A Tricky Menace
Your Name
November 27, 2016
Your Institution of Affiliation
Since the invention and proliferation of modern cellular phones, life has been made more convenient for everyone. Communication and information sharing have become easier than ever as one only needs to push a button to get in touch with a friend or a colleague anywhere in the globe. Coupled with the rise of the Internet, the convenience of communication technology has seeped from our professional lives to our personal lives. Today, it is common to see people in public, from toddlers to elders, with a phone on their hands taking pictures of the sceneries, their food or themselves and posting it to their social media accounts. One can say that this has become a pandemic addiction as some people can no longer function properly without sharing their experiences with their friends (i.e., taking pictures of food before eating). This paper will discuss how this addiction to social media specifically the use of cellular phones and other hand-held gadgets and devices could lead to potentially fatal accidents and how to avoid them.
Problem
In a recent study, it found that engaging in secondary tasks or "multi-tasking" on a hand-held electronic device while driving causes one in every four car crashes (Mercola, 2016). The victims in question were reported to be texting, snapping, sharing or chatting with their friends when the accidents occur (Jolly, 2016; Wallace, 2016). In another study, regular cellphone users were surveyed about the dangers of texting and driving. 98% of them admitted that cell phones and driving should not be done at the same time but only a quarter of them was innocent of the deed, acutely aware that what they are doing is illegal (Ortutay, 2016).In yet another study conducted in 2015, road fatalities rose sharply to roughly 8% over the previous year, despite the fact that these numbers were steadily falling before the study was conducted. (Richtel, 2016). In response to this startling realization, AT&T Inc. has conducted another survey of 1,004 US adults in collaboration with David Greenfield who studies the effects of digital technology on the brain, as a part of their anti-texting-and-driving campaign. The study found that 43% of their participants do so to keep in touch with their friends, work and loved ones while nearly a third do it out of habit. When asked why they urgently need to text or to respond to one, 28% said they feel they are missing out of something important if they neglect their cell phones for even a moment, more than a quarter believes that texting does not hinder or diminish their driving performance, another quarter said they are pressured by their peers who expects them to respond as soon as possible, 6% admitted that they are "addicted to texting", 14% feels anxiety if they know there's an unanswered text message on their phone and 17% admitted to feeling "a sense of satisfaction" when they respond to a message. This study led Professor Greenfield to conclude that "smartphones are the world's smallest slot machines" as the effect of the use of smartphones to the brain is eerily similar to that of gambling and drugs. Dopamine levels, which are responsible for one's sense of pleasure, increases as one anticipates a desirable message. Receiving one boosts it even further (Ortutay, 2016).
The results of yet another study yield that even the slightest activity could immensely increase the risk of a phone-related accident. Reading or writing a message while driving could increase the risk by twenty times, reaching for an item or phone enhances the risk by five or nine times, texting by six, and browsing your phone by three. (Mercola, 2016). Teens are most likely to be at risk because they are more active on social media than any other age groups.
The reason behind the dramatic rise of the risks involved is because the reflective brain could only do a single task a time. Efficient multitasking is virtually impossible since it would hinder the output of the activities involved. For texting, this is not a problem at all since it would only mean typing or read slowly, but for driving it will compromise the reflex brain's ability to act and anticipate future events that would not normally occur. In other words, the brain cannot and must not multitask; it is a neurological fact (Mercola, 2016).
In addition to the points we have already covered, a Belgian physician by the name of Dr. Theo Compernolle, an expert on clinical psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and neurology, believes that a hands-free device and a hand-held phone are both equally dangerous. Since it is the brain, not the hands, who does the multitasking of thinking on what to say and reacting to the road, the quality of the output of each activity would be significantly reduced. This belief is backed by the National Safety Council (NSC) which claims:
Contrary to popular belief, the brain does not truly "multi-task." More than 30 studies show hands-free devices are no safer than handheld as the brain remains distracted by the cell phone conversation. NSC estimates 26% of all crashes involve cell phone use while driving.
Talking on a cell phone, either hands-free or handheld, is estimated be involved in 21% of crashes — with an additional 5% for texting.
With these facts in mind, several laws already exist in many states designed to address this problem. Some of them are the following:
• 14 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, prohibit all drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving
• 38 states and Washington D.C. ban all cell phone use by novice drivers, which varies in definition by state (a novice driver in Illinois is anyone under 19, for instance, while Washington D.C. defines a novice driver as anyone with a learner's permit)
• 20 states and Washington D.C. prohibit cell phone use by school bus drivers
• 46 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, ban text messaging for all drivers
• Of the four states without an all-driver texting ban, to prohibit text messaging by novice drivers and one restricts school bus drivers from texting (Mercola, 2016)
These are a few of the laws in the United States passed regarding the use of hand-held or hands-free devices. Since this is a worldwide problem, other countries have passed their legislation by their individual needs.
Solutions
Suffice it to say, this problem, despite its widespread ramifications all over the globe, is not a new issue. Many companies, organizations, and concerned individuals have concocted many techniques and technologies to respond to the urgent matter.
One of these technologies is an app called the drive mode developed by AT&T which automatically silences all notification alerts when you start driving at a pace of 15 miles per hour or more. Other features of the phone like music and navigation is still operational and accessible as it only mutes the phone’s notifications, not the media applications. The app can also if set to do so, notify parents and adult supervisors if a teen driver tries to disable the app. (Jolly, 2016).
Another technology is the app called SafeDrive. It is accessible because any Android or Apple smartphone user can freely download it from the Internet. SafeDrive prevents a driver from looki...