So I was reading through CNN’s website earlier today, like I always tend to do, and I came across the following article: Study: Cells make young drivers react like seniors. And I just need to say…this is what I’ve been saying all along…well, at least about the whole hands-free vs. using a cell phone at all debate. The hands-free laws that many state governments put in place are ABSOLUTELY useless!
Now, I’m sure that before these laws were passed by the legislators, studies were commissioned to determine the effectiveness of such measures. But here’s the funny thing about a study…you can really make it show whatever you want it too, and ulterior motives definitely play into study results. For instance, perhaps the legislators were considering banning cell phones altogether while driving, and so the cell phone service providers…who might have stood to lose a lot of money, intervened with study upon study that show that driving and talking on a cell phone isn’t that dangerous and that the only thing that needs to be done to make it safer is mandate a hands-free law (which, surprise, surprise, would end up benefiting cell phone manufacturers and service providers since they’d be the ones now selling these required devices).
Government legislators need to use some common sense and realize that the hands-free law is pretty useless and definitely won’t contribute much to preventing accidents. Lets see, first, I’m willing to bet that the majority of people need to fumble with hooking in their hands-free to their cell phone, which in of itself is incredibly dangerous since they won’t be watching the road and won’t be able to react as quickly. But lets just say that the legislators thought that once they passed the law, everyone would set themselves up so that when they got in the car, the hands-free was already plugged in and ready to go (what a bunch of BS…but stay with me here). Then you have to worry about dialing the phone number you want to reach, which is also dangerous (and yet, not illegal according to current laws) because you once again won’t be watching the road and won’t be able to react as quickly. However, lets once again assume that the legislators decided that either most people would just be answering calls from their car or they would be using speed dials (wow, these legislators sure ASSume a lot). Well, now you get to the most interesting part…that of talking on the phone with a hands-free device while driving. Now, I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I will readily admit that there have definitely been times when I’ve been having a conversation on my cell phone in my car and have missed my exit or turn or whatever because of it. Imagine how much worse that could become if I need to make a split-second decision or react quickly because a car swerves into my lane or a kid runs across the street to get his ball. I mean, c’mon…common sense dicates that if you’re occupied with something (such as carrying on a conversation), then not all of your mental faculties are available to devote to something else (such as driving), and so therefore the act of talking on a cell phone (and not the act of simply holding one up to your ear or only using one hand to drive – which is all these hands-free laws account for) is whats really dangerous, and the current hands-free laws are half-assed attempts that don’t do anyone any good and certainly are not effective, at least in my opinion. Now, don’t get me wrong….i love having the ability to use my cell phone in my car and have even, on occasion flouted the laws and used my cell phone in my car without my hands-free device. And I’m not saying that if a law was passed that prevented drivers from using cell phones while driving, I would always obey it, but I think at the very least it would be a greater deterrent and a better solution that would actually have a chance of preventing accidents compared to the current hands-free law which is basically useless.