Our ubiquitous cellular phones are tied to an increasing number of auto accidents and crashes. Many who can only competently keep a car on the road are so attached to cell phone technology that they cannot withdraw themselves from for a few moments while driving. Still some have even taken on the cellular phone as fashion statement, while others have declared it a necessity in life.

A Harvard study some months back reported that over the last two years auto fatalities have doubled and cellular phones are a cause for the increase. This study estimates that over 2, 600 people die each year as a direct result of cellular phone use while driving. This study estimates that 570,000 injuries and 1.5 million accidents occur in part because of cell phone use while driving. This remarkable trend in auto deaths and accidents is taking place as cellular phones have taken root in American culture.

In many states and cities, laws are being passed to prohibit cell phones and other distractions while driving. There are accessories in the marketplace that allow a person to talk on the phone and have his/her hands free to drive, but attention to the details of driving requires more than free hands. States and cities are starting to demand that drivers have these phone accessories attached if they are going to drive and talk on the phone.

Many cellular phones in use today seem to be pop culture accessories rather that tools to be used for work or serious need. Some cell phones function as self esteem boosters, and marketers actually market this technology that way.

The Harvard study shows that cellular phones when used in cars can kill us. These new toys are not fashion statements or self esteem boosters while driving, they can be killers and wreakers of lives.
Gibbs Staff