The issue..how I see it

I have established many times that there are no bills pending for Florida currently.  But from the states that already have laws, it has already taken into effect.  After many fatal accidents regarding cell phone use in California, there were multiple laws passed to prevent such accidents.  Since these laws have been passed in July of 2008, there has already been a 13 percent drop of California’s fatal accidents.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger predicts there will be about 300 lives saved a year.
Those results from California tell me that the laws are beneficial.  Personally, being apart of one of the first generations to text message, me, and people my age can text message with out much thought.  I can text on prediction and only look at my phone 2 or 3 times.  I feel comfortable text messaging while driving, but I understand the repercussions of not having total control at the wheel.  After learning the differences between drivers using their cell phones versus putting all your attention to the road I realize that I’m not as great of a “texter” as I think.  I also know that a person can’t wait until they get in an accident or cause one before they learn their lesson.  It might be too late then.

Furthermore, my audience and myself, have to take in consideration of the other drivers on the road.  Statistics show everywhere you look that at least over half of teen drivers admit to text messaging while driving.  That is a lot of accidents on the road waiting to happen.  After learning more about my topic and watching the video I posted put my views of this issue in a closer perspective.

If your state does not have any laws regarding this issue at the time, it is unfortunate.  But until the issue is enforced more in the government and a bill passes, there are many ways to go around the issue of no communication or distractions while driving.  Almost all recent cars have blue tooth technology and some even have the capability of disconnecting the conversation if the brakes are slammed or the horn is pressed.  There are also technologies like the smart key and the textecution.  If the government can’t enforce it at the time, it’s a matter of taking responsibility. =)  btw…dont txt & drive

A Dangerous Message

This is not part of the assignment but I thought it would add some interesting support to my research.

Annotated Bib #4-California’s success

Vogel, Nancy, and Michael Rothfeld. “Schwarzenegger outlaws text-messaging while driving.” Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles] 25 Sept. 2008. Los Angeles Times-California|Local. 2008. 30 Apr. 2009 <http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/25/local/me-arnold25?pg=0>.

To recapitulate what is stated in this article, California is one of the states that cracked down on its hands-free laws. In California, a $20 fine is given to the first offense of someone texting while driving.  The Governor is dedicated to making Californian roads a safer place by banning electronic text messaging while driving.  This is to keep drivers’ hands on the wheel and their eyes focused on the road.  Later in the article, Senator Joe Simitian commented, “When somebody’s distracted, it puts not just the driver at risk but everybody else on the highway.”

The present laws of California are a ban on holding a cell-phone while driving, allowing drivers to use cell-phones only with hands-free devices such as headsets; another law prohibits drivers younger than 18 from using any kind of phone or texting device while operating a motorized vehicle.  To re-illustrate the effects these laws have already had on California, Tom Marshall, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, stated that since July 1st of 2008, when the law was issued, the state officers distributed 19,753 citations to motorists for talking on their cell-phone without hands-free devices.  “Why everybody isn’t hands-free now, I have no idea,” stated Arnold Schwarznegger.

This Newspaper article supports the fact that even though Florida has no pending bans at the moment, that they should re-consider when the budget allows because of the positive effects the laws have had on California.  I found this Los Angeles Times Article from a website about text messaging and driving.

Annotated Bib # 3- Road Texting

Mello Jr., John P. “Road Texting: An Accident Waiting to Happen.” TechNewsWorld 08 Aug. 2007. ECT News Network. 30 Apr. 2009 <http://www.technewsworld.com/story/58714.html?wlc=1228500522>.

This article establishes a lot of informative facts about text messaging and driving. According to Frank Drews, an assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Utah, a person talking on the phone while driving is four times more likely to get in an accident then a person who isn’t on the phone. A person who is texting while driving is six times more likely to wreck. After a simulation project that dealt with students and texting and driving, he found that texters took 23 percent longer to react to the driving simulations than the non-texters. To elaborate, texters took 1,077 milliseconds to react to brake lights verses the 881 milliseconds for non-texters.

Aside from the simulation project, Pinger, a mobile voice messaging company, concluded from a survey, that 89 percent of adults find text messaging dangerous, yet 57 percent of those surveyed confessed to sending text messages while driving.

Surprisingly, some cell phone carriers are taking action. Sprint Nextel claims to not oppose laws trying to be made but do not think it is the solution to the issue. Lastly, in result of that, some carriers are creating programs such Sprint Nextel’s “Focus on Driving”, that provides to driver education. Or AT&T’s “Be Sensible: Don’t Drive Yourself to Distraction”, that supports an educational video towards safer driving.

I found this article very pertaining to my research.  It supported the fact that something needs to be done in the state of Florida by the way it states so many statistics that concur there are too many people text messaging while driving and not much is being done to change that.

Hands-free Technology

Since there isn’t any action enforced with cell phones and driving in Florida, there will have to be other actions taken to help decrease accidents related to cell phones.  Printed in the U.S. News and World Report, the University of Utah researchers have been developing a car key that blocks the use of a cell phone while driving.  This “Key2SafeDriving” system that is being introduced, is a device that sends a signal to the cell phone in the vehicle, commanding it to prevent any incoming calls or text messages to come through while driving.  It will reply to the incoming calls and texts that you as a driver will call them back when arrived safely at destination.  Once the key is out of the ignition, the cell phone will be able to pick up signal again.  This is one of the ways to improve safety in teenagers and even adults.

I find this credible because it came from an article called “Car Key Device Jams Teens’ Cell Phones”, posted in U.S. News in World report.  I believe this and the Textecution technology would be neat to use.  I preferably would rather use the Textecution technology, but for new drivers I think the “Key2SafeDriving” is a good solution to safer driving.

Annotated Bibliography: Textecution

“How Does It Work?” Textecution-Premium Mobile Device Safety Application. 2009. Jonathan Young Enterprises, LLC. 29 Apr. 2009 <http://www.textecution.com/how_does_it_work.php>.

This website supports the fact that driving while texting is a leading factor in accidents. It explains the basis of a new technology called Textecution. This application remains inactive when the user is not driving but the phone recognizes when the phone is traveling faster than 10 miles per hour. It immobilizes the phone’s texting feature so the phone can not send or receive any messages until the traveling speed slows down. Then the phone reactivates its capability to send or receive messages again.

Florida Cell Phone Laws

Just a few days ago there were multiple bills pending in Florida to help decrease crash ratings related to cell phones and driving.  According to the report from Hands Free Info these bills included:
•    SB 172: Would prohibit cell phone calls by drivers unless a headset or hands-free accessory is used. Also, HB 345.
•    SB 1578: Seeks to outlaw text messaging while driving in Florida.
•    HB 1127: Would ban cell phone use by drivers under 18 unless a hands-free device is employed. Also allows for additional penalties against drivers have been cited for another offense but are found to be text messaging or using other handheld electronic devices.
•    HB 261 and S 212 would ban use of wireless communications devices by drivers under the age of 18.
•    HB 677: Would prohibit use of cell phones while driving through school zones. Also, SB 112.
•    HB 377 seeks to outlaw text messaging while driving a motor vehicle.
•    HB 473: Would ban use of mobile phones by school bus drivers while the motor is running.

http://handsfreeinfo.com/florida-cell-phones-texting-laws-hands-free-info
Because of the bad economy, the Florida Legislature had to focus on budget issues and decided to restrain these bills.  In the mean time, Florida needs to find other ways to help reduce accidents.

Other States Taking Action

There are many different versions of the hands-free bills and laws.  Some of the states that have laws are California, Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Washington, New Jersey and recently Arkansas.  Some are as simple as banning texting while driving.  Others ban all cell phone use, or ban any screen device while driving.  A few of those states allow hands-free devices. Various states have a bill just banning new drivers or minors.  Certain states such as Illinois and Hawaii have bills pending to ban any distracted driving.  Hawaii even is banning eating.
As of the year 2009 almost all of the states that don’t have laws, have some sort of bill pending towards cell phone usage while driving.  But according to Hands Free Info, updated yesterday April 28th, Florida’s legislation has decided to ignore all of the 2009 proposed bills that would prohibit the use of cellular devices while driving.  So at the moment, Florida has no intentions to enforce any laws regarding this issue.

Audience

For this Core 3 and Core 4, I visualize the audience as teenagers just getting their learners permit, high school students getting their licenses, college students, my friends, parents that have children that drive, adults or anyone else that uses their cell phone while driving.

To be more specific, some of the audience might have opinions that support Florida putting bans on cell-phone usage while driving.  These people might have experienced an accident caused by distracted driving, or maybe is a loved one of someone who died from distracted driving.  Others may be opposed of the proposition, and would rather result to hands free technology for better safety. And others might not think it is an issue and won’t realize the problem until they have caused or been in an accident regarding distracted driving.

Annotated Bibliography-Bills

“Florida Cell-Phone Laws Update 2009.” DrivingLaws.org. 29 Apr. 2009 <http://www.drivinglaws.org/florida.php>.
Addresses that there is not any cell-phone usage and driving laws yet but there is a few Bills in the process. The Florida Senate Bill 172 will forbid the use of a cellular telephone while operating a motor vehicle except when using a hands-free device, if it is passed. The Florida Senate Bill 1578, if passed, will prohibit writing, sending, or receiving a text message on any electronic communications device while operating a motor vehicle. These bills aren’t guaranteed to pass.

This article supports my argument that Florida needs hands-free laws because it states that there isn’t any yet.  The sources sited in this article where from the Florida Senate Website.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&BillNum=0172