The Handy Dandy Cell Phone

Other distractions, such as dealing with children, eating/drinking, changing radio, etc. each have a greater percentage of contributing to an accident (11). The public usually forgets about these distractions, or they do not worry about them because they are nearly impossible to ban. They are not regulated "according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because people want to decide when they will take small risks in the name of convenience or productivity" (Hahn A.33). Right now New York is the only state that has banned hand-held cell phones to be used while on the road, and so far the "drivers act like there's no cell phone ban" (Tong 6). What is the point of banning cell phones when many people are not going to follow the law? If they are banned, there will be more problems than solutions to the conflict, especially financially. Money will go to waste because accidents will not significantly decrease and law enforcers will have their hands tied fining numerous violators. With cell phone production on the rise since the late 90s, too many Americans, 77 million that is, use them to effectively enforce such a ban (Hahn A.33). Many drivers will violate the law and get away with it, and this is already happening in New York. It is clear, though, that any type of car accident caused by cellular distraction will bring this issue into full blast. Some problems are just unavoidable and may never be completely solved. Still, drivers should feel safer while on the road and not have to worry about others hitting them because of some silly distraction. .
             In order to help decrease the number of accidents, hands-free cell phones was to be a requirement for all drivers in the U.S., but this is not the best solution. One would think that requiring the use of hands-free cell phones logically makes sense, since it allows people who use cell phones to not have to physically reach uncomfortably for them.