HEALTH ASSIGNEMT: Tom Griffiths
Road Accident Topic
· the introduction of laws prohibiting the use of mobile phones in cars helps keep the roads safe
Prohibiting the use of mobile phones in cars is crucial to keeping roads safe. I personally think that the negatives definitely out way the positives when it comes to allowing mobile devices while driving. The use of mobile phones while driving is extremely distracting to the driver’s concentration to the road. The average time spent looking at your phone instead of the road is 4.6 seconds, if you were traveling at 50 kilometres per hour, you would have driven over three times the length of the MCG oval, blindfolded. Not only does it visually distract the driver from the road, it can also physically distract the driver. This can happen when a driver takes both or even one hand of the wheel to check or respond to their phone. This limits the drivers control over their car from little to none. It also makes the drivers reaction time much slower, which is crucial to avoiding crashes and accidents. Along with being a physical distraction using your mobile phone while driving can cause cognitive distractions, where the driver loses their concentration and attention to the road by trying to do two tasks at once.
A few years ago, I was in the car with my grandparents and we were stopped at a red light. The driver in the car in front of us was on her phone and clearly wasn’t paying any attention to the road because when the red light for turning turned green and the car next to her turned she just thought that it was a green light for all of the cars, so she went and ran through a red light. Luckily there was no other traffic around otherwise she could’ve easily had an accident. Just from checking her phone and trying to pay attention to the road at the same time caused this lady to have a lapse of concentration and run a red light.
Although there are many negative factors of using your phone while driving there are also positives. Having the ability to use your phone while driving gives the driver access to the phones features that can be extremely helpful in emergency situations. For example, if there was a reckless driver on the road, another driver could use their phone to take photos if the car’s license plate to report to authorities. It can also help a driver navigate their way on the roads. Navigation systems are very commonly used to help drivers get to their destination quicker and straighter forward.
However, with advancing technology, drivers are now able to use hands free mobile Bluetooth, which allows the driver to call, text and navigate without having to touch their phone. Which I personally think is a much safer and smarter way to still be able to make calls and navigate without having the danger of using your phone. I know for my family hands free systems are extremely helpful. Both of my parents and both of my brothers have th...
