Cell phones are a problem. When people drive and talk on the phone they can be distracted. People who use cell phones are will get in more accidents. People who do not use their phone do not have as many accidents. There is a lot of research about cell phones and driving. In lots of different aspects of driving cell phones can make the driver drive worse. Text messaging while driving is worse. Drivers should try to get rid of distractions. They should not try to create them. Studies have shown that people who use their cell phones are more likely to get in an accident. The University of Utah released a survey in the summer of 2006. It said that people who talk on cell phones are just as dangerous as people who drive drunk. Using a hands-free model does not make a difference.
State governments are trying to change the cell phone problem. Several states like California, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey have passed legislation against cell phone use while driving. Data from the US Department of Transportation says that in 2003, inattentive driving was the cause of 6.4 percent of crash fatalities in 2003. Cell phones can cause such distractions. Many other countries have started banning cell phones while driving. In Germany and the United Kingdom, people can loose their insurance coverage. This happens when they have an accident because they were talking on the phone.

Cell phone use while driving is a major contributor to accidents caused by inattentiveness or distraction. While driving, it is important to be able to focus on the road ahead, neighboring drivers, and pedestrians, thus, one should try to limit the distractions that take their attention away from the task at hand, driving. Research has proven that the more distractions that a driver faces, the more accidents and near accidents they will have. Drivers need to ask themselves, “Do I really need to increase the probability of being involved in an accident today?” In order to sustain a conversation via cell phone, a driver is required to focus more of their attention on the conversation. Consequently, the driver is more susceptible to hazards, and the driver’s ability to react to any situation will be significantly slowed. Apart from the common cell phone conversation, and increasing number of drivers using text messaging has resulted in an increase of accidents. Text messaging is even more dangerous because it requires the driver to focus more on the orthography of each word. Additionally, a driver is more likely to completely take their eyes off of road in order to look at the phone screen. Text messaging, from a logical standpoint, is an utterly ridiculous and dangerous activity for any driver, regardless of experience or age, while driving. A common fallacy is that using a hands-free cell phone is safer than using a standard cell phone. However, the truth is that regardless of hands-free devices, cell phone usage while driving is dangerous and too many times fatal. A study by the University of Utah that was released in the summer of 2006 states that cell phone usage while driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving. There are enough bad drivers out there, and everyone should try to make the road safer by removing all of the unnecessary distractions that are created while driving.
Despite the continued arrogance or even ignorance of drivers who continue to use cell phones, progress is being made by both the Federal and State governments. Several states including: California, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey have passed legislation prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving. Many other countries have also started banning the use of cell phones while driving. Policies implemented by these governments vary amongst themselves in the severity of punishment, but all are seeing decreasing numbers in accident caused by cell phone use. Utah State and the Federal government should look to Germany and the United Kingdom, where talking on a cell phone can be punished by a complete loss of insurance coverage upon involvement in an accident due to talking on a cell phone. Policies like those of Germany and the UK should be sincerely considered due to the fact that accidents are decreasing in frequency. The US Department of Transportation released data that stated that 6.4 percent of crash fatalities in 2003 were caused by inattentive driving which is a common product of cell phone use while driving. With continued enforcement and further legislation, these laws will help to lower the amount of reckless drivers take to the road and get involved in accidents because they are too busy talking on their cell phone. Despite any amount of legislation that is passed by government, it is up to us, the People, to take responsibility for ourselves. When weighing the benefits and potential costs of using a cell phone while driving, we need to consider just how much we value life over a conversation.