Washington is right to take action against distracted driving

By Enya Kuo

Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board proposed to ban all cellphone usage in cars; in response, America bashed the agency for robbing Americans of their rights. I, however, applaud the agency for its courage and for taking the first step to solving an epidemic that has already taken too many lives.

The proposed law would ban talking or texting on any type of cellphone, including handless devices such as Bluetooth. I strongly support this proposal for several reasons.

Any type of distraction, however briefly, is extremely dangerous for everyone on the road. Banning cellphones would eliminate the possibility of drivers diverting their attention and causing an accident.

According to Fox News, distracted driving kills 5,000 people a year. Yes, there are laws against texting while driving, and Bluetooth devices allow drivers to talk while keeping their eyes on the road. But have you never seen a driver use his or her phone while driving? American drivers are not taking the risks of cellphone usage seriously, and the government is right to begin taking a firm stand against this ignorance.

Opponents of this proposal argue that the ban will not achieve its purpose of preventing distracted driving since cellphone usage is only one of the multitudes of causes that can distract a driver. While it would be quite impossible for the government to ban noisy passengers, the least the government can do is diminish the amount of distractions. The cellphone ban would do just that.

What about the fact that the cellular phone is the 21^st century’s most important communication tool? As National Transportation Safety Board chairperson Deborah Hersman says, “No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life.”

Phone calls, emails, Facebook alerts, and texts all present distractions that can cause an accident.