Over the last few years, there has been an up rise in car accidents and the probable cause is the use of cell phones. At one point drunk driving was the biggest cause of car accidents but now cell phone users are at risk as well. In some states across America, a law was made to ban cell phone use while driving but what about the other states. The probability of drivers talking on the cell phone and getting into accidents is only getting higher. The Government should ban cell phone use while driving in all states.

In the past five years, cell phone use while driving has become the next biggest problem for the government to handle. Even though some government officials feel it is not causing that much of a problem. In a recent study done at the turn of the century by Robert W. Hahn and Paul C. Tetlock, cell phone use in cars will have caused about 10,000 serious accidents that year, leading to 100 fatalities. In 2002, another study was made by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. In their study, they found that drivers using cell phones are responsible for about 6 percent of U.S auto accidents each year, killing an estimated 2,600 people and injuring 330,000 others {f}.

As you can see, within two years of research, the percentile has grown and something needs to be done.

Unfortunately, in all the research it has yet to be proven that cell phones are the main cause for car accidents. According to Bryan Knowles "no U.S. studies have proven that cell phones cause accidents."{f} Then what can the government do to make the number of deaths decrease? Smart Motorist feel that using new technology like "voice-activated dialing, built-in phones, headsets, and speaker phones; all can help drivers concentrate on the roadway."{f} They also state "Since 1995, 40 states have proposed bills concerning cellular phone use in cars, but the $40-billion-a-year cell-phone industry has successfully lobbied to keep those laws off the books. The industry claims that not only are cellular phones safe to use while driving, the phones help drivers by allowing them to quickly report emergencies such as, ironically, accidents and car jacking."{f} That is why in New York a driver using a cell phone could be fined up to $100, for speaking into or listening to a hand-handle cell phone according to the New York State Driver's Manual. Also stated in New York State Driver's Manual, "the phone may be hand-handle to activate, initiate, or deactivate a call. Exemptions are provided for calls made to certain person regarding emergency situations, for police and other law enforcement officers, and for fire department personnel and operators of authorized emergency vehicles while in the performance of their official duties."{f} In some states, parts of the cities and towns have chosen to ban drivers to use cell phones but no the whole state. For instance some townships of New Jersey driver's using cell phones have been banned but not of all of New Jersey.

The cell phone industry has very little defense against such accusations, with the exception of their great need during emergencies. The industry argues against the banning of cell phone

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1317
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)