Distracted Driving

By far, the most dangerous circumstance involving cell phone use is driving while using it. Distracted driving is defined as driving while paying attention to a hand-held device in most cases but can include taking your eyes off the road for any reason, including looking at a GPS, tuning the radio, retrieving something you dropped, grooming yourself or paying too much attention to the good-looking man or woman walking down the street. You’ve probably seen examples of distracted driving many times as you tool down the road. The tell-tale sign is someone whose head is bent with eyes cast downward, giving them little time to react if someone stops short, lights change, or if a pedestrian or animal does something unexpected.

The United States Department of Transportation reports that distracted drivers cause one in four motor vehicle accidents. In 2013, the last year statistics are available, more than 3,100 people lost their lives in motor vehicles as a result of distracted driving. More than 420,000 people were injured in crashes involving the practice. That’s why so many public service campaigns are geared toward drivers who should focus on driving only.

The National Occupant Protection Use Survey is a probability-based research group. It claims that more than 600,000 drivers use cell phones or other electronic devices while driving. It also reports that 25 percent of teenage drivers will text messages while driving or have an extended conversation on their phones.

What does that mean in a car traveling 50 miles per hour or more? The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reports that it increases your likelihood of an accident by three times.

Cell Phone Explosions

Some cell phones that are left charging too long can explode. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that it has received “dozens” of reports of exploding cell phones, some of which went off when a person was either talking or had the device in a pocket. The explosion is caused by the lithium battery expanding when it’s over-charged. The gases in the battery expand, causing the burst.