I heard a loud crash and I saw two cars collide. Inside one of the cars was a woman bleeding from her head. When I looked closely, there was a cell phone under her body and someone was saying “hello, hello on it.” It was evident that she was on her phone and this could be the reason for the accident. According to the National Safety Council, studies indicated that driving while talking on a cellphone is extremely dangerous and put drivers at a four times greater risk for a crash. A further excerpt from this same study taken from the Center of Risk Analysis, estimated that cell phone use while driving contributed to 6 percent of crashes which equate to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year and a tab of $43 billion (Live Science). Based on these statistics and my personal interest in this topic, my position is reinforced that cell phones use should be banned while driving because they cause accidents, injuries or deaths and creates financial issues.

A study completed by the The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (2001) noted that there were 116 million subscribers of cellular telephones in the United States during the year 2001. This means that with the increase of cell phone use more people were talking on the phone while driving. Further, a survey done by Goodman, Bents and others supported this statement. The survey stated that 85% of cell phone owners used their phone while driving (2001). This showed that there were only 15% of the people who did not use their phones while driving. In the New England Journal of Medicine, Redelmier and Tibshirani reached the conclusion that cell phones used while driving increased the likelihood of a crash by a factor of 4.3 percent of the time (1997). And the United States Department of Transportation research was not far off when it stated that 50% of motor vehicle accidents on U.S. highways are linked to cell phone use. The researchers are all saying that the more you talk on your cell phone while driving the more it is possible that you will have a crash. In their findings, the researchers strongly agreed with my position that talking while driving causes accidents.

As far back as you could go in the research, you could find that most people agree with the position of this paper that cell phone should be banned for those who talk while driving. A prior research by Briem & Hedman 1995; Brookhus & Devios 1991) stated that the manual manipulation of the phone, for example dialing the phone, answering the phone and adjusting the phone has a negative impact on driving. The researchers are saying that it is impossible to avoid getting in an accident while you are talking on the phone and driving. Additionally, a recent New York Times Survey also found that 80 percent of Americans believe that cell phone use should be banned. This showed that there are more people who believe that people should not talk on the phones while driving compared to the 20 percent who think that they should. More people reinforced the position of this paper that talking and driving is a dangerous thing to do.

 In fact the use of cellular phones while driving is currently restricted in at least nine countries. (Goodman et al.1999). This means that there is much help when it comes to the ban on cellular phones while driving. Since the ban is already happening in nine counties around the world, the focus now is to enforce the ban of talking on the cell phone while driving in the Virgin Islands. Because through observation, I have personally noticed that about nine out of ten drivers in the Virgin Islands are always on their phone talking while they are driving. This madness has to be stopped. The cell phone talkers are not only hurting themselves, but innocent people are also getting hurt. In addition to accidents, cell phone use also causes injuries or deaths. Who are the ones more likely to drive and talk? The Journal of Public Health Policy examined the effect of cell phone laws on fatal crashes in the U.S. and found that the effect was more prevalent among drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 years of age.

The data shows that young people are the ones who cause the damage to themselves and damage others fatally, more than older people do. It further reinforced the large statistical numbers stated earlier in the study conducted by the National Safety Council that 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths were caused each year by cell phone users who talked while driving.  It is clear that the data continues to tell us that cell phone use while driving should be banned because the result of drivers using them is dangerous and deadly.     According to the Fatality Analysis Data Base, the rate of fatalities increased from 116.1 in 2005 to 168.1 in 2010 due to drivers using cell phones. From the rise of these statistics in this study, we could make an educated guess that by 2018 there will be much more fatalities due to drivers talking and driving.  Without a doubt, the use of cell phone use of those talking and driving present a health hazard. Therefore, legislation regarding cell phones use and driving is urgently needed to be enforced, especially her in the Virgin Islands. The use of cell phones while driving does not only cause injuries, fatalities and death, but financial issues as well.

Redelmeir and Tisbshirani noted that the cellular phone companies in North America had significantly greater daily revenues when compared to other companies such as Microsoft. The researchers noted that they were cautioned not to conduct the research investigation since it might “threaten the enormous financial interests of the private industry”(1997). The research indicated that the cost of cellular phone use was greater than Microsoft ware. This was  interesting to find out, for you would think that soft ware would be more expensive since it has been around for a longer time, four decades (newyorker.com). This research definitely means that the global emphasis is placed on purchasing cell phones, thus increasing the likelihood of talking on them while driving, the high cost of purchasing them and the increase in tax payers monies as a result of personal damage.  Not only is there an increase in the cell phone companies revenues but billions of dollars are being spent on purchasing of the phones.      

According to Teske, from 1983 to 2014 world wide mobile phone subscription grew to over 7 billion penetrating 100% of the global population. This is a scary amount! It means that almost everyone in the world owns a cell phone. What this means for my research position is that  it will be very difficult to carry out the  ban on cell phones with all this amount of cells phones around the nation. However, it is because of this increase and the rate of people driving and talking on the phone that makes it even more necessary to have a ban on these many phones. Another research study was done to find out the relationship of the billing cost on cell phone use as it relates to cost of injuries.

The Toronto study analyzed the cell phone billing records of 699 subjects who crashed while driving. And found that the rate was higher for those who crash while talking on the cell phone and lower for those who were not talking on the phone while driving. The result of the study strengthened my position that you should not talk on your cell phone while driving. Those who talk and drive do not think about the others. Their persistence to drive and talk means that their actions are ruthless and physically and financially costly for others. Although there has been a lot of evidence that support that cell phone use should be banned while driving, there are still those who believe that there shouldn’t be a ban on cell phones for those who talk and drive.

One corporation suggests that cell phone bans haven’t necessarily led to fewer crashes. But more than 125 Published studies have examined the impact of driver cell phone use on vehicular crashes. (New England Journal) Another research study strongly noted that accidents occurred 6.5 times while using a cell phone when driving than when a driver is not using a cell phone and driving. However, it was the research taken from the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis that estimated that cell phone use while driving presented crashes up to 636,000 deaths per year. The data showed that there is more research out there in support of cell phone ban while driving. Yet, somehow, opponents continue to press their evidence forward in favor of not banning cell phones for talkers while driving. 

(Goodman and Bents)1999 noted that the precise effect of cell phone use on Public Safety is unknown, but the U.S Department of Transportation stated  that 50% of motor vehicular accidents on U.S Highways are due to cell phone use while driving. “A recent study also discovered something called the hangover effect”.  According to the study, it basically means that the brain continues to be distracted for 27 seconds after using a phone. This slight distraction could mean the matter between life and death. Without a doubt, cell phone use should be banned while driving for the continued use definitely will result in accidents, injuries, deadly fatalities and high cost.

                 It is therefore imperative that the use of cell phones be banned from public drivers who talk on the phone while driving. Several studies have agreed with this fact. The U.S. Department of Transportation noted that talking while driving is a distraction to drivers. It causes accidents, injuries and death to the people. Many innocent people are seriously harmed from those who drive and talk on the phone. According to Studies from the National Safety Council billions of dollars in tax payers monies are spent on human, emotion and property repair. The band on cellphone use while driving is necessary to save lives and must go into effect immediately in the Virgin Islands and throughout the nation. I am not the only one to take this position. 80% of Americans believe that cell phone use should be banned, thus state a New York Times Survey. It is time to take action now! How can we activate the cell phone ban ? We can do this by making bumper stickers and posters and posting them on social media, sticking them on walls everywhere. The advantage is to spread the message throughout the community and the world. The aim is to reach the largest population and shout out loud that people need to stop talking on the phone while driving.