Tom Smith Professor Rafferty ENG327W Date A call to action: regulating the use of mobile phones on the roadWhen a mobile phone rings in a classroom or during a concert, we are irritated, but at least our lives are not in danger. However, when we're on the road, irresponsible cell phone users are more than irritating: they put our lives in danger. Many of us have seen drivers so distracted by dialing, chatting, and making calls in the car that they resemble drunk drivers, weaving between lanes, for example, or almost running over pedestrians in pedestrian crossings. A number of bills aimed at regulating cell phone use on the road have been introduced in state legislatures, and now is the time to push for their passage. Regulation is necessary because drivers who use phones are impaired and because careless and reckless driving laws are insufficient to punish violators. No one can deny that cell phones have caused deaths and injuries on the roads. Cell phones were involved in 3 fatal accidents in November 1999 alone. In early November 1999, at 9 a.m., 2-year-old Morgan Pena was killed by a driver who was not paying attention because of his phone. Morgan's mother, Patti Pena, reports that the driver "ran a stop sign at 45 mph, drove through my vehicle and killed Morgan as she sat in her car seat, sipping her juice box ". A week later, correctional officer Shannon Smith, who was guarding prisoners on the side of the road, was killed by a woman distracted by a phone call while driving her car (Besthoff). On Thanksgiving weekend that month, John and Carole Hall were killed when a Naval Academy midshipman crashed into their parked car. According to an article written by Stockwell titled Phone Use Faulted in Collision published in ...... middle of article ...... says Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures (quoted in Layton 9). Lon Anderson of the American Automobile Association agrees: “There is momentum building,” he says, to pass laws (qtd. in Layton 9). Now is the time for states to pass legislation restricting the use of cell phones in moving vehicles. Reference page: Bestoff, Len. “Cell phone use increases the risk of accidents, but users are willing to take the risk.” WRAL.com Capitol Broadcasting, November 9, 1999. Web January 12, 2001. Stockwell, Jamie. “Faulty use of phone during collision. » Washington Post December 6, 2001: 1-100. Print. Violanti, John M. Cell Phones and Fatal Accidents. Accident Analysis and Prevention 30:4 (1998): 519-24. Print. Farmers Insurance Group. “New investigation shows driver had 'close calls' with cell phone users. » Farmers Quarterly. Farmers Insurance Group, May 8, 2000. Web. January 12, 2001.