Cell Phone Use While Driving and the Implications

Cell Phone Use While Driving and the Implications

INTRODUCTION

The cell phone has truly revolutionized many ways in which we do things, and it

certainly made our lives easier in many respects. As cell phones become more

inexpensive and grow in popularity, “an estimated 44 percent of all U.S. motorists have

a cell phone in the vehicle” (Knowles), we have to be careful of the way we use them

while driving, as they can impact our safety and the safety of those around us. It seems

to be a growing concern as many persons’ lives have already been lost “We calculated

that car accidents associated with phone use account for about 300 deaths per year”

(Hahn).

This report examines the results of my primary research, as part of the final research

project for my English 1190 class, and is intended to inform my peers of the findings.

The primary research consists of a survey created for this project, and the information

from the secondary research is taken from written sources on the subject of the use of

cell phones while driving. The survey tried to identify the different practices people

engage in when using their cell phones while driving, as well as the people’s willingness

to support and vote for a law that would ban the use of cell phones while driving in the

state of Michigan.

Methodology

The primary research was conducted using a survey; a copy of the survey is

provided at the end of this report. The survey was divided into three main sections. The

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first section was demographics, and it was intended to gather information about the age,

gender and occupation of the person responding. The second section contained

questions about the personal experiences and current practices of the respondents

regarding their use of cell phones while driving. Finally, the third section was composed

of questions about the respondent’s belief system in regards to the topic discussed.

The total number of people that responded to the survey was 28. The respondents

can be divided by gender - 17 males and 11 females. Also, the different age groups

incorporated within the demographics section were 16-21, 22-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60,

and 60+. The occupations reported were very diverse, as they ranged between the

engineering fields, the self-employed professions, and the jobs mostly done by females

or the so-called pink collar jobs.

Information from the secondary research material was gathered by studying

different material on the subject of cell phone use while driving, like articles and other

stories written in the newspapers of personal experiences of people affected by the use

of cell phones.

Age Distribution, Specific Practices, and Beliefs

As seen in graph 1 on page 12, the vast majority of people that completed the survey

are relatively young, the biggest age group being between 22-30 years of age at 36% or

ten persons. The next big group is the youngest of those surveyed, and they are

between 16-21 years old and comprise 21% or 6 persons. There are five people

between 31-40 years of age, and they make up 18%. The next group of four is

comprised of people between the ages of 41 and 50, and they make up 14%. There is

only one person between 51-60 years old, and that is 4% of the Total. The last group of

two is the oldest, and they are over the age of 61 and make up 7%.
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16-21 years of age

Findings

In the survey, as mentioned above, the group between 16-21 years of age has six

persons and when asked if they use their cell phones while driving two of them

answered “always”, one answered “often”, and three answered “sometimes”. All of them

seem to use their cell phones at one time or another. As far as the content of their

conversations, one said he/she uses it only for urgent or very important matters, two

said they use the phone not for urgent or important issues but to chat with friends, and

three said they use the phone for both.

When these young people were asked if they would support and vote for a law that

would ban the use of cell phones while driving in Michigan, the answer was an

overwhelming 5-1 not in favor of such a law. To show how strongly they felt about this

issue they all answered yes when asked if they would still talk on the cell phone if a law

banning it was passed in Michigan. However, five out of the six persons said they would

only talk under urgent or very important circumstances. One person said they would not

limit their use of the cell phone to urgent or important matters.

Cell phones are becoming more affordable and popular, and consequently more

parents are buying cell phones for their teenagers in order to be better connected to

them, and it seems like the teenagers are using them while driving too. “Handheld cell

phone use increased from 5 percent to 8 percent among drivers aged 15 to 24 between

2002 and 2004” (Swanson).

A sad example of what can happen from being distracted while driving with a cell

phone is a 20 year old male who is being charged with negligent homicide; a person

from Sterling Heights was killed due to this driver’s inattention to the road, as he
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crossed the center line. The accident happened just this past march (Schmitt).

As the results of the survey suggest, young people don’t like the idea of a ban on the

use of cell phones while driving, and they said they would still use it even if such a ban

was in effect. It is no wonder that some communities are taking matters into their own

hands and issuing different restrictions on the use of cell phones while driving within

their districts. “Shelby Township, in Macomb County, was the first municipality in

Michigan to adopt a distracted driving ordinance in 2002.[…] Officials said the ordinance

still remains the only one in Michigan, though other municipalities, including Detroit, are

looking at restrictions on cell phone use while driving. A state Senate committee is also

considering legislation that would ban drivers under age 18 from using handheld cell

phones and Palm Pilots” (Schmitt).

22-30 years of age

The largest age group in the survey was that of people between 22-30 years old.

From the total number of ten in this group, five said they use the cell phone while driving

sometimes, three said “often”, and one said “always”. It looks like they talk about many

different things, as eight of them said their conversations contain urgent or important

matters, as well as just conversations in which they are just chatting with friends. When

asked if they would support and vote for a law in Michigan that would make it illegal to

use the cell phone while driving, this group voted 5-3 not to support such a law, and one

answered “don’t know”.

The overwhelming willingness not to support such a law was mirrored in the answers

from the next question. Seven people said that they would still use the cell phone while

driving even if a law prohibiting it was established. Only two persons said they would

obey the law, but one of these persons currently does not own a cell phone. It is
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possible that his/her opinion might change when he/she will own a cell phone, but by

the same token it is also possible that his/her opinion will stay the same. Even though

the majority in this group said they would still talk on the cell phones while driving even

if it was illegal, when asked if they would limit their conversations to urgent or important

matters six said “yes”, only one said “no”, and one said he/she “doesn’t know”.

Gender Factor / Males vs. Females

As mentioned in the methodology paragraph, the total number of respondents of my

survey was 28, out of which 17 were males and 11 were females. Also, as seen in

graph 2 on page 12, looking at their distribution from a percentage point of view, the

males made up 61% and the females made up 39%.

Willingness to Support a Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving

From the total number of respondents, 9 persons or 32% answered that they would

support and vote for a law in Michigan that would not allow the use of cell phones while

driving. A great majority, 16 persons (57%) answered no to the above question, while

three persons or 11% said they didn’t know; also, see graph 3 on page 12.

A very interesting finding to my surprise was the fact that more than twice as many

males than females answered that they would support and vote for a law that would

prohibit the use of cell phones while driving in Michigan. As seen in graph 4 on page 12,

seven males or 41%, said they would vote yes for such a law, while their counterparts

were not so eager to say yes. Only two females or 18% said they would vote for such a

law. The two females said the reason they would vote for such a law was that they

thought the rates of accidents has increased due to the increase of cell phone use while

driving. Another 18% or two females said they hadn’t made up their minds yet about this

issue. Nevertheless, I expected to see more women jump at the opportunity to support a
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ban on cell phones, due to the more nurturing and protecting qualities that characterize

females in general. Usually females would say better safe than sorry, and would support

more restrictive rules and practices.

When looking at the reasons why women were not supportive of such a law, the

overwhelming answer is the issue of invasion of privacy. Out of the seven females (or

64%) that were not in favor of the law, five said they believe such law would be an

invasion of their privacy, one said she doesn’t believe cell phone use affects driving in a

negative way, and one said the reason was a combination of both options mentioned.

It is possible that many females don’t support a ban on cell phones while driving,

because as Swanson’s article suggests, more of them do it, and they don’t want their

privacy invaded with regulations. “Use of cellular-phone handsets increased from 4

percent to 6 percent of female drivers, while the number of men talking on handheld cell

phones while driving remained constant at 4 percent”(Swanson).

On the other hand, six of the seven males who were in favor of the law said the

reason for that was that they don’t believe one can talk on the cell phone and drive

efficiently at the same time. One said he believed the rates of accidents has increased

due to increase in cell phone use. One male said he doesn’t have a clear answer and

marked “don’t know”. However, there were nine males (53%) that did not agree to

support the law and five of them said it was because they were using the cell phone for

job related matters. Another 3 males said it was an invasion of their privacy, and one

was using it for job and at the same time thought it was an invasion of his privacy.

OCCUPATION

Moreover, occupation seems to play an important role in the willingness of people to

support a law banning the use of cell phones while driving. I should mention that none
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of the females chose the “using the cell phone for job” answer for why they wouldn’t

support the law. As mentioned above, five of the males said they use their cell phone for

job related issues, and one male in addition thought that it was an invasion of privacy.

The occupations of those that are using the cell phone for job matters are: owning of

remodeling business, student, golf course, tax accounting, engineering, and real estate

sales.

The time spent on the road to and from work by these males varies, as two of them

spend between 1-15 minutes, another 2 spend between 15-30 minutes, one spends

between 30-45 minutes, and one spends more than an hour. Four males generally drive

on major surface streets, one on expressways, and one on major streets, expressways

and neighborhood/residential streets.

Some lawmakers like those in Chicago, Illinois, are considering some occupations as

exceptions from certain rules imposed on the population. “The only other exceptions

would be for on-duty law-enforcement officers and operators of emergency vehicles,

motorists calling a 911 emergency number and drivers who pull over and take their

vehicles out of gear and then place or take a call” (Swanson).

CONCLUSION

In summary, as can be seen from the attitudes of the people surveyed, more than

half (57%) are not yet ready to accept a ban on the use of cell phone while driving. The

invasion of privacy was the biggest reason for not supporting such a law, and then the

use of cell phones for job matters was the second. Still 32% said they would vote for

such a law and the interesting thing is that of those, 78% are males and only 22%

females. The youngest group (16-21 years old) is the one that is against such law in the

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biggest proportion, as they voted overwhelmingly (5-1) against it. A great role, as part of

this issue, is also the people’s occupations. It seems like people who would be affected

on their jobs by a ban on cell phones have the biggest resistance to this idea.

On the whole, it is probable that “Drivers' cell phone usage does lead to an increase

in accidents and fatalities, but it is not obvious that new regulations would significantly

reduce the problem. Moreover, a strong case needs to be made that the likely benefits

of a ban exceed the costs by a significant amount” (Hahn).