Every six months, it comes time for me to renew my car insurance premium. I always wait until the last minute, and when I see the bill I cringe. If they only knew how good of a driver I actually am, and did not just discriminate against me based on age and my one speeding ticket. Automobile insurance companies statistically analyze each insured person to determine their premium. The individual’s age, gender, marital status, car and driving record are examined. Generally, a person’s insurance premium (with the variable of deductibles and amount of coverage held constant) will be based on the likelihood of that person being involved in an accident. How fair is it for the insurance companies to include some variables they consider important, but leave out others that may be more important? The average increase of insurance costs for someone that gets a drunk driving violation is about $2,000 a year for 3 years. This is because the insurance companies find that people who have drunk driving violations are more likely to be involved in an accident then people who do not have drunk driving violations. An individual operating a vehicle and talking on the cell phone simultaneously is just as likely to have the same ramifications of getting into an accident as someone who is operating a car while intoxicated. The average increase of insurance costs for using a cell phone while driving is zero dollars. Not only is driving while talking on a cell phone dangerous, but drivers who do not participate in this behavior are getting insurance rates which are unfairly higher than the rates that they would be getting if this factor was accounted for by the insurance companies.

Most people can recognize that driving while under the influence is not only dangerous, but it is not tolerated by insurance companies and the law. Few people are aware that driving while talking on a phone is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. An article by Kevin McGran in the Toronto Star talks about research and studies discussed during the International Conference on Distracted Driving at the Toronto Hilton: “If you're driving and on a cell phone, you're about four times more likely to be in an accident, similar odds to those driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08.” Initially, the dangers of talking on the cell phone while driving were speculated to be related to having one hand off the wheel, thus people believed a “hands-free headset” would make talking on the cell phone safe while driving. An article in the Los Angeles Daily News by Lisa Mascaro cites studies conducted on people driving while talking on a hands-free headset: “Drivers using cell phones - even hands-free models - are four times more likely to get into a serious injury crash.” Researchers have come to the conclusion that it is not the cell phone unit itself that causes accidents, but the fact that the driver is being distracted by a conversation while trying to maneuver the vehicle. However, one might argue that even without cell phones, drivers can have conversations in their car with other passengers. In a study conducted by Utah psychology professors Frank Drews, Monisha Pasupathi and Dr. Strayer, cell phone conversations were discovered to be more dangerous than in-person conversations with passengers: “The study notes that a fellow passenger ‘collaborates in the task of driving safely by referring to traffic and conversing about it ... something that a person on the other end of a cell phone cannot do." In other words, a passenger in the car can distinguish between moments in which the driver needs total concentration and times the driver is able to listen. If talking on a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving, why is cell phone usage while operating a car legal and drunk driving so strictly illegal?

The dangers of drinking and driving have been common knowledge for many years now yet the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving have just been discovered. Organizations, such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), advertised slogans like “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”, extremely steep drunk driving penalties, and highly publicized sobriety checkpoints, all contribute to the commonly accepted idea that drunk driving is not acceptable. Organizations and campaigns have not yet been created to stand up against cell phone usage while driving, possibly because alcohol has a worse connotation than cell phones. Also, cell phone usage while driving is so popular that many people feel it is acceptable to do since so many other people already do it. Lastly, an article by Jessie Drucker of the Wall Street Journal shows that cell phone companies have a huge capital interest in keeping people talking on their cell phones while driving: “American drivers spend roughly a billion minutes a day talking on their cell phones, an estimated 40% of all cellular minutes.” With this potential cost to cellular phone companies, they are willing to spend vast amounts of resources to prevent effective legislation from occurring. The article also comments on the industry’s reaction to the proposal of laws restricting cell phone use while driving: “After initially fighting such laws, the nation's cell phone carriers are joining with car makers to promote the voluntary use of headsets to address concerns about the safety of talking on the phone while driving.” Despite efforts from the cellular industry, an article in the New York Times mentions that laws are being passed to ban cell phone use in cars: “Four years after New York passed the nation's first cell phone ban, 22 states and Washington have limited cell phone use while driving.” These laws give police officers the right to issue $100 tickets to people caught driving while using a hand-held cell phone. This citation can either be paid or excused (if it is the first offence) if proof of purchase of a hands-free head set is presented. The cellular industry can willingly promote this kind of activity because it not only promotes legal use of cell phones while driving; it also increases the revenue of hands-free headset accessories. With these factors limiting the spread of the idea that driving while talking on a cell phone is just as dangerous as drunk driving, it may be a while before legislation creates equal punishments.

The average increase for insurance rates for someone who gets a DUI is about $2000 a year. Theoretically, all the people who pay extra for having a DUI on their record are repaying the additional claims paid by the insurance companies caused by people who are driving drunk. Since there is no difference in insurance premiums based on whether or not someone drives while talking on a cell phone, everybody pays an equal amount for the additional claims that are caused by people who talk on cell phones while driving. If insurance companies charged more for people who talk on cell phones while driving, people who do not do this would have to pay less. Cell phone companies have openly battled lawmakers in attempts to keep their number one source of profits legalized. These powerful corporations are doing everything they can to keep this deadly source of profits going full throttle, even if the cost of human lives. Consumers and the general public are oblivious to the amount it costs them, risking our safety and paying higher insurance rates. Capitalist economies are known to be competitive when implemented properly on industrialized nations, but it shows its flaws when companies as powerful as the cell phone corporations will sacrifice human lives for profits.





Cave, Damien. “Note to Drivers: Lose the Phone (And Lipstick)" New York Times

October 2005: A.1



Collins, Jeff. "Drinking and Driving is Very, Very Expensive!!" Orange County Register

7 January, 1996: "Street Smarts"



Drucker, Jessie “Industry Pushes Headsets In Cars, Agency Sees Danger Hands-Free

Cellphones May Be No Safer Than Hand-Held” The Wall Street Journal 19 July 2004



Green, Meg. " Industry Study: Crash Risk While Using Cell Phone Is Four Times

Higher" Best's Review Oct 2005.Vol.106, Iss. 6



Mascaro, Lisa. " Cellphones increase risk of crash: study: Talking while driving can be

dangerous. Report dispels idea that hands-free devices are safe to use while you're behind the wheel." Los Angeles Daily News 25 July 2005: E3



McGran, Kevin. " Drivers on phones as bad as drunks " Toronto Star 4 October 2005 A-

16



Oltilove, Josh. "Phones, Teen Drivers A Risky Mix" Tampa Tribune Nov 12, 2005



Tom –

A good, clear, well-researched argument in smooth prose. I really enjoyed reading your essay.

Only one point to consider… Maybe you could broaden your “so what” question. Perhaps it’s worth pointing out that cell talking is profit-making while drunk driving isn’t. Does it mean important safety issues would be put on the back burner for profits? And that end-consumer can pick up the tab (High insurance rates)? What does it say about us?