"WDYT Wednesday" Cell phones and Driving

No Phone Zone from Oprah

So I was watching Oprah the other day, something I rarely do but this particular episode caught my eye. It was all about texting while driving and the crazy statistics of deaths that have been caused because of people doing this. The statistics scared me enough that if I could, I would probably stop driving now. They scared me enough that I am going to extremely limit the use of my cell phone while in the car. I have never been a texter while driving, I know I am not coordinated at all so I never tried but I am guilty of talking on my phone while driving without a hands-fee set. But since watching this show, if I use my phone in the car, I only use it while on speaker and it is the bare minimum. I will be purchasing a blue-tooth for myself and having a blue-tooth system placed in my car when I go home. It is scary to think that so many people out there are so distracted while driving and I was one of them. No phone call is so important that it can't wait until I have gotten to my destination.

Some of the statistics may shock you too:

• Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
• At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone.
• 4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally.
• Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated.
• People who text while driving are 23% more likely to be in a car accident.
• Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
• For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.

There are currently 6 states that have a ban on talking on cell phones while driving. You can use a hands-free device but can not be physically hold the cell phone. They are California, Conneticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington. There are only 20 states that have a ban on texting despite the nation-wide law that should have been put into affect. If you are curious about which states they are, you can find that information here http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

So what do you think? Do you think it is the driver and not the distraction of the cell phone? And what about the people who put on make-up, grab a CD, shave, etc...while driving? Should they be punished the same way cell-phone users are punished?