Cell Phone Use While Driving & Accidents

A review of the history of cellular phone use will demonstrate that while early focus on cell phones regarded growth in wireless communication, more recent focus includes a concern for highway safety.

Quittner reports that the cellular phone has grown and been more popular than any other communications device in the last nine years, ten million subscribers bought this product during this time period. No longer a tool for only the very rich, the cell phone has become less and less expensive and it is becoming commonplace among the public (1).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that the cellular telephone was introduced in 1983, and has since then incurred a growth rate of around 40 percent per year. It is predicted that there will be around 80 million cell phone users in the United states by the year 2000. Cell phones are becoming smaller and less expensive. Size, flexibility, connectivity, and voice communication were the primary early focus of the cellular industry. This focus led to its increase

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r declined. Studies correlating cell phone use and accidents do not factor in other variables such as weather, drowsiness, speeding, alcohol, and road conditions. These studies also do not consider the number of accidents that have been avoided by cell phone use (1-2). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 1993, that only 28 out of over 53,000 fatal automobile accidents (.05 percent) were cited as specifically involving cell phone use as a contributing factor ("Cell" 2). Wheeler reports that cellular phone usage contributes to public safety due to its involvement in emergency phone calls. Over 98,000 wireless emergency calls are delivered daily to emergency services; this amount is ten times more than the numbers made ten years ago. A 1998 survey demonstrated that 35 percent of drivers used their cell phones in an emergency or life-saving situation. People (88 percent) rate security as the most important reason for owning a cell phone. They want a wireless phone to be able to call for emergency medical, law enforcement, or other help agencies (1-2). The literature demonstrates insufficient data regarding cell phone use while driving and its relationship to accidents. One study conducted its own sur
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Approximate Word count = 3842
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)

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