Cell Phones and Driving
*Editors note:I encourage you to Visit This Site for the best plans, coverage and phones that you can find for anyone’s needs.
———————–
You are jolted awake too soon for the next days activities. You squint to see what time it is…12:00 AM Saturday the alarm clock says…wonder whose calling at this hour of the night? You pull yourself to the side of the bed and pick up the phone.
“Hello, is Mrs. Carol Davis there?”, the person asks on the other end of the phone. You notice that your husband is now fully awake.
“Yes, this is her. Who is this?”, you say a little perturbed at the late hour call.
“Mrs. Davis, this is the county emergency room, there has been an accident that involves your daughter Crystal. Can you come to the E.R. right now?”
“Well how is she…was she hurt is she all right?, you frantically fire questions at her and now your husband is sitting at your side.
“Maam, we can’t really say anything over the phone. Could you come down to the ER as soon as possible?”
“Yes…we will leave right away!”
You hurry to the ER as fast as you can and when you get there, you are met by a very sullen staff member who ushers you into a waiting room. He promises that the doctor will be right out. You are nearly in a panic at this time as no one will tell you how your daughter is doing. You pace the floor with your husband and within a few minutes the doctor and a nurse walk in.
“Mr. and Mrs. Davis, I am sorry to tell you that your daughter has passed away due to multiple injuries suffered in a car accident. There was nothing that we could do….” You hear nothing else as you collapse into your husbands arms not believing what you are hearing.
Later on, you are able to talk to one of Crystal’s friends, a survivor of the crash.
“Lynn, tell me what happened.”
“Mrs. Davis, Crystal was texting on her cell phone and when she looked down to text Jason, I saw that she veered to the left. By the time I screamed to look out for the truck, it was too late. Crystal tried to turn right but the truck crashed into us right at her door.”
You are left with your thoughts. Why was Crystal using her cell? We had warned her so many times about not using her cell phone while she was driving. We knew the serious dangers. She knew the dangers. Why did she do it?
———————————
I think there is no sadder news than to be shocked awake by your telephone in the early morning hours only to have someone tell you at the ER that your child was just killed in a car accident. Just as sad, your child had been doing something that you repeatedly warned them about …. do not try to drive and use the cell phone!
We all have done it. It is extremely convenient. We are flying down the highway, our thoughts racing around in our head and then it happens; your cell phone rings. You answer it and talk for your entire trip…to your friends, family, boss, etc. And why shouldn’t we use it, everybody does it and I am a careful driver.
The Insurance Information Institute states that due to the increased dependence on cell phones in our daily lives, cell phone use while driving has increased. They go on to say that there are two dangers in using cell phones while driving. First, texting requires you to take your eyes off the road and second, you can become so involved in cell phone conversations, that your ability to concentrate on the tasks of driving are severely impaired putting in harms way everyone in the car, other vehicles on the road, and pedestrians as well.
Cell phones and driving don’t mix. Please do not put your family through the scenario that is chronicled above. You are too valuable to your family and friends to leave this world because you “needed” to text or call someone (you may “want” to but do you really need to?). You do not need to do anything that much to put you, your passengers or pedestrians at risk. If you truly need to call or text someone, pull off the side of the road SAFELY and please be careful when you get back on the road.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:56 am
I recently saw a PSA about the dangers of texting while driving. It was very scary and extremely graphic. Even after seeing the video some teenagers that were inteviewed said that they would still continue to text. This is a habitual behavior that needs to be changed.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Thanks Lisa for contributing! I am amazed that this still goes on after kids and adults view the dangers of texting while driving. I agree that this behavior needs to be changed. There has to be more done regarding that education of this in schools, churches, community centers, etc.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
In my country, too many accident happened because people using their cell phone while driving. Now, the government has applied strict rules for them. People who found using their cell phone, either calling or texting, will be fined or even jailed.
Ben@Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube´s last blog ..The Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube is Your Child’s First Instrument
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 am
Thanks Ben for your comments! I do agree that I would like to see stiffer penalties here but I would also like to see the laws that are in place to be enforced more.
December 6th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
They will eventually ban all cell phones in cars. I think that is a great idea. Stop and look one day and count all the cars that go by with the driver on the phone. You will be amazed.
Angie@Orthopedic Seat Cushion´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
December 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I get really mad when I see people on their cell phones in the car. I’m a fire fighter in the UK and have seen too many accidents caused by people who have been distracted with them whilst driving at speed.
Peter@ Digital Alarm Clocks´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
December 10th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Angie and Peter, Thank you for participating! Angie, I took your advice and was sitting in a local intersection that has 100,000 cars A DAY going through it (according to the local news). I was amazed at how many people were on the cells and drove off talking on them. It obviously is an extreme convenience to talk and drive BUT is it safe. Enter Peter our fire fighter friend from the UK. Peter, I feel bad for you emergency responders because I do not doubt you see the results of using this “convenience” one too many times while driving. As Angie says, I really hope that one day they do ban using cell phones while driving. I encourage everyone to pull off the side of the road to use your cell.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I am trying to teach my kids just how dangerous it is to use your cell phone while driving. That is why I installed bluetooth into my car so I can be hands free.
Working Cell Phones´s last blog ..Converting Your Cell Phone To A Pay As You Go Phone
January 8th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Driving while using a phone is something that most people would say is wrong, but you still see people doing it all the time. People think, “oh I’ll just call and say I’ll be late. It’s only this once”. The problem is they say this all the time, so it’s not just once, and eventually you cause an accident. People need to remember it’s not just them on the road but others to.
January 14th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Of course, texting while driving seems to be at another level of danger entirely since your eyes are off the road. Still, I don’t think those graphic ads will do the trick. The ads look like tamer versions of the graphic driver ed videos with all the blood and gore that we were forced to watch in high school. I don’t think they worked then, and they probably won’t work now.
What may work better is the social norming thing where kids are taught that actually most people don’t text while driving, just like they learn that most people don’t binge drink so they don’t have to. That seems to have a stronger effect on behavior than telling them “You’re going to die a horrible death and imagine how your parents will feel”.
Shambhu´s last blog ..Jan 14, Why does LG600 show my old number?
January 20th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
More and more vehicles are going to have a bluetooth system built into them so hands free phone use will be much easier. Now if they can come up with a way to send text messages hands free!
January 20th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Wade, it would be great and I feel solve the problem of texting while driving if bluetooth came standard in all vehicles sold in the US. I know there are software programs out there like Dragonfly that converts speech to text. Let’s hope that they add that software when bluetooth is installed. Thanks for posting!
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:02 am
I wish more places would ban driving while talking on your cell phone. I can’t tell you how many wreck less drivers I see on a daily basis who are on their cell phone.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
For international travelers, SIM card technology provides a huge benefit. If an American travels to the UK with their mobile phone from the US, every call they make will be charged at roaming rates that will add up very quickly. With a SIM card based phone, the American traveler would simply travel to the UK and buy a SIM card upon arrival and it would be valid for a certain amount of minutes. This would allow you to avoid the roaming charges the US service would have charged. You can get a SIM card for less…