Traffic Safety Board Urges Cell Phone Ban

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Jessica Navarro

The National Traffic and Safety Board in Washington D.C. have agreed to a recommendation to ban the use of cell phones while driving including hands-free and hand-held phone systems. This recommended ban comes just over a year after a fatal traffic accident in Missouri that took the life of a 19-year-old driver operating a pickup truck. Officials found that the driver had received 11 text messages in 11 minutes just before the crash had occurred. The accident occurred when the pickup truck slammed into a tractor-trailer and 2 school buses subsequently collided with the pickup truck.

The driver of the truck and a student on one of the school buses was killed as a result of this accident. Nearly 40 people were injured in the accident as well.

According to a survey conducted by the NHTSA, many drivers believe that texting and cell phone use in general is only dangerous when others are doing it but not when they are doing it themselves. However, the real truth is that regardless of who is using a cell phone while driving, everybody is put in danger because of those actions and everybody could end up in a serious accident. Distracted driving is one of many significant causes of automobile accidents resulting from many drivers texting, trying to change the radio station, and otherwise taking away their focus from the roadway. Although some may not want to face the truth of the situation; it is extremely easy for anybody to end up in an automobile accident because of distracted driving.

To some, banning the use of cell phones while driving may seem like too severe a law to enact in the United States. However, if more people were aware of the number of accidents that occur as a result of distracted driving, particularly associated with texting or otherwise using a cell phone while driving, many people would see that it is a very serious danger. Accidents caused by distracted driving can cause serious injuries to all parties involved and can lead to fatalities as well.

Anyone who is injured or loses a loved one as a result of a distracted driving accident should be able to get the assistance they may require to get compensation and justice for their pain, suffering, and the damages they have to pay for as a result of the accident. Distracted driving should never be a factor in any automobile accident. As long as laws such as this one take effect and more and more people pay attention to them, the number of accidents related to cell phone usage could be reduced.

 
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Oprah Warns People About Texting While Driving

Posted on May 13, 2010 by David Boyles

In an Op-Ed column in last Sunday's New York Times, Oprah Winfrey warned about the dangers of texting while driving.  Oprah compared the rise of cell phone and texting-related deaths to the rise of drunk driving deaths in 1970s and explained her own policy of forbidding her employees of using cell phones for company business while driving.

Oprah described her experiences as a reporter in the 1970s, when drunk-driving deaths became so common as to barely merit a mention on the nightly news.  She also described how since 1980, drunk-driving deaths have been cut in half thanks to driver education and tougher laws.  She then describes meeting with the family of a 9-year-old girl who was killed by someone who was texting while driving and argues that we need to crack down on texting and cell phone use in the same way we cracked down on drunk driving.  She cites a Department of Transportation study that says that at least 6,000 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2008.

Oprah explains that she has forbidden her employees to use cell phones for business while driving.  This follows President Obama forbidding federal employees from doing the same.  She says that some of her employees initially complained but have adjusted.  As Oprah says, "Life is more precious than taking a call or answering an e-mail message. Because even though we think we can handle using our cellphone in the car, the loss of thousands of lives has shown we can’t."

Distracted driving is a serious problem in Arizona, but so far only Phoenix has banned texting and driving.  If you or someone you love has been injured or killed by a distracted driver, you should contact an Arizona auto accident attorney immediately.

 For more information on the dangers of cell phone use while driving, visit Solomon and Relihan's Cell Phone Car Accidents information page.
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Driving and Using Cell Phone Study

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Martin Solomon

There is some unusual new evidence showing the danger of driving while talking on a cell phone. It is common knowledge that a driver on their phone is distracted, but to what extent? Do they notice turn signals? Brake lights? …A clown on a unicycle?


Yes, a study in Western Washington University found that most students talking on a cell phone while walking were so distracted they did not notice a clown in bright purple and yellow clothes riding a unicycle nearby. In fact, a staggering 75 percent of students on their cell phones were completely oblivious to the clown and were surprised when surveyors pointed him out.
 

This creative example demonstrates why talking on a cell phone is particularly risky when driving. Two other scenarios—pairs of students talking and individuals listening to music—each saw better results than cell phone users. The author of the study commented, “a cell-phone conversation is just harder to maintain; it takes more effort; it's harder to understand the other person; it's harder to get the timing right. It's just a much more difficult task.”
 

This difficulty is what causes distractions and risks accidents. Arizona does not currently have a cell phone ban, but distracted driver laws are in effect in communities throughout the Phoenix area. And as this study colorfully illustrates, the distraction of cell phone use while driving put other drivers, pedestrians and even clowns at risk.
 

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