William Atkins
Tuesday, 02 December 2008 18:02
Science -
Health
Page 3 of 3
Videos of the experiment used by the Strayer team are found at:
www.psych.utah.edu/~strayer/cellphone.wmv
www.psych.utah.edu/~strayer/passenger.wmv
The researchers concluded in their paper,
“The results indicate that passenger conversations differ from cell phone conversations because the surrounding traffic not only becomes a topic of the conversation, helping driver and passenger to share situation awareness, but the driving condition also has a direct influence on the complexity of the conversation, thereby mitigating the potential negative effects of a conversation on driving."
Author’s note: Personally, I think the use of cell phones while driving any motorized vehicle should be illegal. Period.
You might think that comment adds more government intervention into our lives. However, if people can’t (or won’t) act responsibly, then the government does have the right to intervene to make society safer (less dangerous).
Most of our current laws were established to protect the health and safety of its citizens.
We the people can voluntarily do the right thing by eliminating cell phone use while driving (for example, pulling over to the side of the road while making cell phone calls). Or, the government can step in (our elected political representatives) and do it for us.
It’s our decision! You choose!