Verified Document

Cell Phones Term Paper

Wireless telecommunication technologies are rapidly becoming a significant concern in regard to highway safety (Sundeen, 2001). Almost ninety million people subscribe to wireless telephone services, and eighty-five percent of those subscribers use their cell phones while driving. In 1999, two major automobile companies, General Motors and Ford, formed agreements with telecommunications companies that will increase wireless features to include concierge services, web-based information, online e-mail capabilities, CD-ROM access, on-screen and audio navigation technology, and a variety of other information and entertainment services. So, it's full steam ahead for cell phones and wireless technologies despite overwhelming evidence of the hazards of using these devices while driving. Many drivers are incensed that safety advocates want to ban cell phone use while driving claiming that the laws would be an unnecessary infringement on their personal freedom. This is fueled by a variety of misperceptions such as:

There is no evidence to support that using a cell phone while driving causes accidents.

Cell phone usage isn't any worse than other activities such as eating, putting on makeup, talking to other passengers in the car, tuning a radio, putting in a CD, reading a map or other common activities performed while driving.

Laws already punish careless and reckless drivers, thus there is not need for cell phone legislation.

However, the evidence suggests that cell phone usage does cause more accidents, is more distracting that other activities and that laws are needed to legislate cell phone usage when driving.

The NEJM article also revealed that the risk of having a traffic accident while using a cell phone is the same as that while driving drunk. Research work by Violanti in 1998 studied data from 223, 137 traffic crashes in Oklahoma from 1992-1995 and concluded that there is a nine-fold increase risk of fatality when cell phones are used while driving.
Contrary to popular belief, cell phone use is more distracting than other activities (An investigation of the safety implications of wireless communications in vehicles. 1997). A study by McKnight and McKnight in 1991 found that manual dialing can be more disruptive than manually tuning a radio.

Subjective assessments by test participants indicated that they were aware of the demanding nature of manually dialing a cellular telephone. Many studies report driver behavior that resembles attempts to compensate for such disruptive effects such as slowing down the vehicle. A study by Violanti and Marshall studied the association between cellular telephone use and eighteen other driver inattention factors and traffic crash risk. Results showed that talking for more than fifty minutes per month on a cellular phone in a vehicle was associated with a 5.59 fold increased risk of a traffic crash over the other factors studied.

Many views and legislation regarding cell phones and driving makes the inaccurate assumption that the source…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

An investigation of the safety implications of wireless communications in vehicles (1997,

November). Retrieved May 19, 2003 from web site: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration web site: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/wireless/c5.htm

McDonough, B. (2001, June 26). NY passes law: hands off cell phones while driving.
Retrieved May 19, 2003 from Wireless NewsFactor web site: http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/11552.html
Morgan Lee Dot Org web site: Retrieved May 19, 2003 at http://www.morganlee.org/
Strayer, D., Drews, F., Albert, R. And Johnston, W. (2001, August/September). Does cell phone conversation impair driving performance?. Inquiry Insights. Retrieved May 19, 2003 from The National Safety Council web site: http://www.nsc.org/library/shelf/inincell.htm
Retrieved May 19, 2003 from National Conference of State Legislatures web site: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/ESNR/2000cell.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Cell Phones Should Be Banned in the
Words: 1364 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

Cell Phones Should Be Banned In the contemporary era, cell phones have turned out to be one of the most essential every day requirements. There was a time when possessing a cell phone was regarded a luxurious thing. However, in the present times, it has become really common to own a cell phone. It is not an untold secret that children, especially the teenagers, are using the cell phones just like

Cell Phone Market Wars History
Words: 1536 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

The industry has had many players, but the top one that has emerged have had to play smart to get to the top. In today's world with the increasing need for faster and effective mode of communication, the cell phone has become an essential. The market has also grown incredibly over the year Gregory () . The competition is extremely stiff since the products serve the similar purposes. Product differentiation

Cell Phone Operating Systems Background
Words: 764 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Proposal

Also, there will be an availability of high quality audio and video that will render mobile phone a portable entertainment centre (Team Digit 2006). An operating system (OS) is the computer program which translates user input into instructions for the hardware components of a computer or other www.mahalo.comtechnological device. An OS provides a graphical interface through which a user can manage file systems, maintain hardware and install additional programs. At

Cell Phone Effects on the Human Brain
Words: 1365 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

Cell Phone and the Brain Cell phone usage has become part of daily life for many Americans. As with any new technology, health risks associated with cell phones are not always apparent and take time to surface. As popularity of this technology increases, so does the research surrounding this topic. One concern leading to an increase in research surrounding this topic is the amount of radiation emitted by a mobile device.

Cell Phone Communication Technology Evolution
Words: 3653 Length: 14 Document Type: Term Paper

All of these aspects increased the usage levels and acceptance of cell phones. Third generation or 3G technology refers essentially to the most recent technological innovations in cell phone technology. A distinction should be made however, in that 3G does not refer to a standard in cell phone development but rather to a number of requirements that networks and providers follow. (What is the History of Cell Phones?) the two

Cell Phones and Cancer in
Words: 2539 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

In 2002, researchers partnered with the cell phone industry to conduct significant scientific studies on the health risks of cell phones. The FDA supported many studies in response to public concerns that radiation from cell phones may pose health risks. The contract between the FDA and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) allows the FDA to select scientists and oversee the projects, while the CTIA provides funding. Both entities

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now