Running head: PHONE DOWN 1 PHONE DOWN 2 Phone Down When You Drive – Helps You Stay Alive! Author Name Goes Here Strayer University ENG 215: Research & Writing May 17, 2015 Phone Down When You Drive – Helps You Stay Alive! Various distractions have been haunting drivers since they sat behind the steering wheels. A cell phone invention added up to those distractions creating a life-threatening conditions on the roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2014), approximately 9 people are killed and 1,153 are injured due to distracted drivers in the USA every day. (CDC). Among them are the loved ones and the innocent. It takes 3 seconds to look at the text message and for a child or an animal to step into the road. Cellular data providers, media and individuals are spreading awareness about the danger of using cell phones while driving. Unfortunately, that is not enough. It is the time for the government to step in and lay out the laws. The regulations regarding the use of cell phones while driving should be standardized among all states in the USA and limit it in order to improve safety conditions, lower the accident rate, and save the lives of people and animals. History of the Issue As stated before, the cell phone invention created a new form of drivers’ distraction. The issue was noticed and addressed by some authorities but not all. New York was the first, and for a while also the only, state to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving in November of 2001. An early research from 2006 pointed out that 80% of accidents were caused by distractive drivers. Studies going back to 2007 showed that 73% of drivers used cell phone while driving. This behavior was an indicator of questioning the safety of using cell phones behind the wheel. (Brown, 2012, p.31). In addition to the state regulations, some cities introduce their own laws regarding cell phone regulations. The campaigns throughout the media started spreading the shocking data about accidents and death. Mobile phone companies also started to encourage drivers to put the phones down. For example, AT&T came up with taking the pledge to never text and dive with their famous phrase “It Can Wait”. Finally, April was selected to be the Distracting Drivers Awareness Month. Inconsistency Laws and regulations vary among the states. This creates an inconsistency and confusion for drivers who travel across the country. According to the official government data: “14 states, District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, 45 states, District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban texting for all drivers” (US Department of Transportation). The laws also vary in their enforcement and penalties. Out of the 45 states, 40 considers breaking this laws as primary offence. That means that the police officers can pull over a driver just for using a cell .

1. Running head: PHONE DOWN 1
PHONE DOWN 2
Phone Down When You Drive – Helps You Stay Alive!
Author Name Goes Here
Strayer University
ENG 215: Research & Writing
May 17, 2015
Phone Down When You Drive – Helps You Stay Alive!
Various distractions have been haunting drivers since they sat
behind the steering wheels. A cell phone invention added up to
those distractions creating a life-threatening conditions on the
roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (2014), approximately 9 people are killed and
1,153 are injured due to distracted drivers in the USA every
day. (CDC). Among them are the loved ones and the innocent. It
takes 3 seconds to look at the text message and for a child or an
animal to step into the road. Cellular data providers, media and
individuals are spreading awareness about the danger of using
cell phones while driving. Unfortunately, that is not enough. It

2. is the time for the government to step in and lay out the laws.
The regulations regarding the use of cell phones while driving
should be standardized among all states in the USA and limit it
in order to improve safety conditions, lower the accident rate,
and save the lives of people and animals.
History of the Issue
As stated before, the cell phone invention created a new form of
drivers’ distraction. The issue was noticed and addressed by
some authorities but not all. New York was the first, and for a
while also the only, state to ban the use of hand-held cell
phones while driving in November of 2001. An early research
from 2006 pointed out that 80% of accidents were caused by
distractive drivers. Studies going back to 2007 showed that 73%
of drivers used cell phone while driving. This behavior was an
indicator of questioning the safety of using cell phones behind
the wheel. (Brown, 2012, p.31). In addition to the state
regulations, some cities introduce their own laws regarding cell
phone regulations. The campaigns throughout the media started
spreading the shocking data about accidents and death. Mobile
phone companies also started to encourage drivers to put the
phones down. For example, AT&T came up with taking the
pledge to never text and dive with their famous phrase “It Can
Wait”. Finally, April was selected to be the Distracting Drivers
Awareness Month.
Inconsistency
Laws and regulations vary among the states. This creates
an inconsistency and confusion for drivers who travel across the
country. According to the official government data: “14 states,
District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and U.S. Virgin
Islands prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones while driving,
45 states, District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S.
Virgin Islands ban texting for all drivers” (US Department of
Transportation). The laws also vary in their enforcement and
penalties. Out of the 45 states, 40 considers breaking this laws
as primary offence. That means that the police officers can pull
over a driver just for using a cell phone. The remaining 5 states

3. consider breaking this laws as secondary offence which can
only be cited with other traffic violations.
Such inconsistency creates confusion and difficulty for drivers.
A lot of people travel to visit their families, attend business
meetings or sightsee. When they pass through different states
with different cell phone usage laws they feel unsure about the
regulations and thus might be likely to break the law
unwillingly. On the other hand, some people might use this
situation as a loophole in the law and wait with using their cell
phone until they cross states borders. Both scenarios are
disturbing and need to be addressed by the local governors and
police officers.
Accidents
Any cell phone activity performed while driving takes away the
drivers’ focus from the road. Nowadays, thanks to technology,
people can do a lot with the use of their cell phones. They can
not only talk or text but also send e-mails, check the weather,
paly games, take pictures, post on websites and much more.
However, doing those while driving a vehicle can lead to
violating traffic rules such as missing a stop sign or running
through a red light. These violations often lead to accidents
resulting in deaths or serious injuries. People who think that
they are great multitaskers underestimate the danger they are
putting themselves into. “Laboratory, simulator, and test-track
experiments have shown that talking on a cell phone reduces a
driver’s reaction time, thus increasing crash risk.” (Farmer,
2010, p. 467). This study argues that a phone conversation,
unlike a regular conversation with a passenger, can shift
driver’s attention from the road to emotions and facts shared
through the phone and cause a car crash. On the contrary,
during a conversation with a passenger when a danger on the
road is approaching, the passenger would stop talking and direct
the driver’s attention back to the road. With a phone
conversation it would be impossible. The remaining cell phone
activities are even more dangerous because they involve taking
not only the mind of the road but also the eyes. Looking down

4. at the phone to read a message and typing a response requires a
lot of attention and so does the driving. Therefore, the two
activities should earn their separate times in the day. They
should never mix together. By taking the eyes off the road to
engage in a cell phone activity a driver is unable to see sudden
changes, merging vehicles or pedestrians and animals crossing
the road. Not paying attention to those happenings for just a few
seconds can result in life-lasting regrets.
Looking at statistics from the government data and a
variety of scholarly studies’ results, the number of accidents
caused by distractive drivers is significant. The official US
government website for distractive drivers says that: “in 2013,
3,154 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving
distracted drivers. This represents a 6.7 percent decrease in the
number of fatalities recorded in 2012” (US Department of
Transportation). This data illustrates the fatal consequences and
the seriousness of the issue. These deaths could have been
easily avoided by rejecting the call and waiting to reply to the
massage until the end of the ride. On the same website people
affected by those accidents shared their experiences. The
youngest one killed by a distracted driver was a 2 years old
Calli Ann Murray who was coming home from a park with her
mother. A young driver who struck Calli and her mom admitted
that she was texting at the time of the accident. On the positive
note, however, this data also shows hope for improvements. The
implication here is that due to more laws and regulations
combined with raising public awareness the accident rate is
declining. As more people learn that the accident could be
avoided by simply ignoring their phones while driving, they
make better choices and save lives of themselves and those
around them.
Lack of Awareness
Another problem is that most drivers are unaware of the
deadly consequences of using cell phones while driving. In
addition, they are unaware of the existence of laws and
regulations in different states. They learn about those two issues

5. after it is already too late. Studies has shown examples of
different reactions to the laws when they were first introduced
in New York and District of Colombia. In the first one, people
still used their cell phones behind the wheel even though it was
illegal to do so. In the second one, however, the number of
drivers using cell phones while driving declined from 6.5% to
3.5%. This situation was due to media campaign and aggressive
police enforcement. (Brown, 2012, p.34-35). The comparison
shows that the existence of the law will not help with solving
the problem. There needs to be a follow-up by a police officer’s
activity and media’s announcements.
Furthermore, a survey was conducted to show the
percentage of people knowing about the laws banning cell
phone use in their state as well as their belief about a strong
enforcement of those laws. In states with a ban for all drivers
82% knew about it and 29% said that there was a strong
enforcement. In those states 12% of people said there is no ban
on cell phone use and 5% was unsure. In states with a partial
ban only 19% confirmed the existence of the law, 62% denied,
and 19% was unsure. Only 18% said that there was a strong
enforcement. (Braitman, 2010, p. 547). These statistics show
that a lot of people are unaware of the laws banning cell phone
usage while driving. The dangerous facts are that a significant
amount of people denied the existence of those law. The scariest
part of this study is the low enforcement of the laws by the
police officers. This implies that both: the citizens and the
authorities lack the awareness of the seriousness of the problem
which using a cell phone while driving creates.
Conclusion
Distractive driving due to the use of cell phones is a major
cause of accidents on the roads of the USA. Innocent people and
animals die in those accidents every day. The laws and
regulations among the states vary creating inconsistency and
confusion for the drivers. A lot of people, including the drivers
and governors, are not aware of this serious issue. Some steps
can be taken to raise awareness, improve safety conditions,

6. lower the accident rate and save the lives of the innocent.
Standardizing the regulations and limiting the use of cell phones
while driving in all of the sates by governors would be the first
step. In states with such laws already existing, their
enforcement should be stronger. Next, media could present the
statistics and the research illustrating deadly consequences of
using cell phones while driving to raise public awareness.
Finally, all drivers should take this issue seriously and change
their habits regarding using cell phones in the car.
References:
Braitman, K. A., & McCartt, A. T. (2010). National reported
patterns of driver cell phone use in the United States. Traffic
Injury Prevention, 11(6), 543-548. Retrieved from Strayer
Database.
Brown, K. (2012). Steering the nation's cell phone laws in the
right direction. Temple Journal of Science, Technology &
Environmental Law, 31(1), 31-44. Retrieved from Strayer
Database.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC. (2014).
Distracted driving. Government Website. Retrieved from
www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving
Farmer, C. M., Braitman, K. A., & Lund, A. K. (2010). Cell
phone use while driving and attributable crash risk. Traffic
Injury Prevention, 11(5), 466-470. Retrieved from Strayer
Database.
Official US Government Website for Distracted Drivers. (2013).
Faces of distractive drivers. US Department of Transportation.
Government Website. Retrieved from
www.distraction.gov/experience-the-stories/index.html
Official US Government Website for Distracted Drivers. (2013).
Facts and statistics. US Department of Transportation.
Government Website. Retrieved from
www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-
statistics.html
Official US Government Website for Distracted Drivers. (2013).

7. State laws. US Department of Transportation. Government
Website. Retrieved from www.distraction.gov/stats-research-
laws/state-laws.html