We've all seen people driving down the highway trying to keep the mouthpiece of the phone up to their mouth, not paying nearly enough attention to the roads. Most of us have heard the debate on whether or not there should be laws concerning whether or not this type of behavior should be legal. It has become very obvious that the use of cellular phones, palm pilots, and other portable devices has grown in the past few years and will surely continue to grow. The true question is, how hazardous can these gadgets be when going down a highway anywhere from 45 to 75 miles per hour?.
Recent studies have been showing that talking on a cell phone while driving can be very dangerous, probably more than most people think. In a recent study done in the United Kingdom, scientists did research in which they compared drivers talking on cellular phones and those who were registered above the legal blood alcohol limit. The results are surprising. The study was carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory for an insurance company called Direct Line to show the dangers that drivers present while talking on cell phones and driving. It is common knowledge that people who drive while under the influence of alcohol, especially with blood alcohol content or BAC over the legal limit, are a danger to everyone on the road, but the results show that they may not even be as dangerous as cell phone users.
Twenty people were tested on a driving simulator under normal conditions, while talking on cell phones, and while over the legal BAC. Reaction times of drivers using cellular phones were dramatically reduced from reaction times of a drunk driver, making the reaction time one third of a second longer than a drunk driver and half of a second longer than normal(Wrolstand 1). .
While cell phone companies defended their market by replying that they questioned the results, Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager for Direct Line said "We would like to see the use of mobile phones when driving, both handheld and hands-free, become as socially unacceptable as drunk driving.
