restricts cellphone use while driving???

Question

I have to do this thing for Civics and the bill I am doing ( i dont actually have the actual thing with me but) basically it will restrict the use of cellphones while driving. And I need some opinions, pros and cons from other people. I've already done my parents. I need some more, so feel free to leave what you think. Thanks!

I'm from Oregon and no, we dont have this law yet.

Answer 1

Some people find it necessary to use the phone while driving. If a person uses a hands free device such as a blue tooth, then there is no more danger in using the phone than there is talking to a passenger that's sitting on the adjacent seat. Most states have this law, it just needs stricter enforcement.

Answer 2

I have seen so many times where drivers are weaving all over the road and going slow/fast/slow/fast/etc when talking on a cell phone.

We had a bad accident in October which killed a teacher. The guy who hit the teacher's car from behind was talking on a cell phone, before, during and much after the accident.

Virginia's state legislature has passed a bill banning teenagers from using cell phones while driving. The driver cannot be cited unless they are stopped for another reason. 2 things wrong with this: not being able to stop for using a cell phone (this will prevent tragedies from happening), and not extending this to everybody.

Answer 3

"It's not having your hands taken away (from the wheel), it's having your mind taken away from the road" -Dr. Paul Atchley (2003)

The following information is from the experts
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Phone conversations have been shown to cause a cognitive distraction in drivers. In other words, the driver's brain is intensely engaged with the conversation, although he may appear to be paying attention to the road.

This does not happen with other common distractions, including conversations with passengers. Research has shown that phone conversations cause what is termed "tunnel vision" in drivers. Although they appear to be looking at objects, their brains are not registering a good portion of what they see. Therefore, a driver is impaired for the entire length of the phone conversation."
http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/

Drivers on Phones:

Are twice as likely to miss a traffic signal
Their reaction time is slower to the signals they do detect
Their risk of causing a crash increases by 400%
This amount of risk is the same as if the driver were driving legally intoxicated
Using hands free equipment does not improve driver performance. It is the phone conversation that distracts!
http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/Dont_Drive_And_Talk.html