Do you know that 78% of Mexican drivers use a phone while driving? Cellular telephones have become a common place possession over the last decade, thanks in part to advances in wireless technology and immense public demand. Many people say that cell phones are modern, small, compact and easy to use them. But using a mobile phone while driving creates a significant accident risk, to the user and to other people on the road. Opponents of this idea claim that cellular phones allow them to keep in touch with family, friends and business associates.
As well as the general communication benefits, access to a mobile phone also provides safety benefits by enabling people to alert breakdown or emergency services when necessary. So, it is true that cell phones can also be very useful, but when automobile drivers use them while driving, it becomes a very high distractor because it distracts the driver, impairs his/her control of the vehicle and reduces his/her awareness of what is happening on the road around him/her. Many people die every year from accidents. The vast majority of accidents are the result of careless driving.
In some cases people are lucky enough to get out of it with just some bruises, others are not so lucky. On the other hand, an annual motoring survey claim that 39% of drivers admitted making phone calls from their cars. Over three-quarters of company car drivers used a mobile phone while driving and over half (55%) of young drivers (under 24 years) also used a mobile while driving. Most drivers who use a mobile phone use a hand-held phone, even though 75% of them acknowledged that this is very often extremely dangerous.
So, when drivers using a hand-held mobile phone, they must remove one hand from the steering wheel to hold and operate the phone. They must also take their eyes off the road, at least momentarily, to pick up and put down the phone and to dial numbers. While using a hand-held phone, the driver must continue simultaneously operating the vehicle (steer, change gear, use indicators, etc) with only one hand. One study suggests that the risk of being involved in a collision is four times higher when using a mobile phone than when not using one.
By talking on a cell phone, drivers’ attention is focused more on the conversation than on the road, and in case of an emergency they would not have enough time to react. Providing information of the consequences that cell phone use has is vital, especially to the younger generation. There are people who are texting while driving. It seems unrealistic that people are doing this sort of things while operating a motor vehicle. A case-control study of data from 223,137 traffic accidents (1,548 of which were fatal) between 1992 and 1995 in Mexico, compared the accident characteristics and use of mobile phones in fatal crashes.
To conclude, it is important that every person knows the dangers that talking on the phone has. People have to take this matter seriously, if they want to put their lives at risk it depends on them, the problem here is that other people could be in danger, because of their carelessness. The phone has good uses, but it is better to know when the right time to use the phone is, and when it should be put away. As the use of mobile phones is growing so rapidly, it is very likely that they will become an increasingly common cause of road crashes, for that reason, it is best for phones to be prohibited from the roads.
