Apple Inc.'s iPhone is today's Attention Deficit Society's dream device. It incorporates the ability to play music and movies, surf and chat on the Internet, store and organize files from the home and office and, oh yes, talk on the telephone - all in a chic white or black package smaller than your hand.
This bombardment of sensory stimulation, however, comes at a price. A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that conversing on a cell phone increases the risk of a crash or "near crash" by 33 percent - and that doesn't even factor in the risk of dialing and text messaging. As a frequent foot and bicycle pedestrian and the proud owner of a small foreign car, I see these findings as a dismaying reinforcement of the obvious observable vehicular behavior that can be found around UT's campus on any given day. In fact, a quick and casual observational survey of the intersection at 24th Street and Lamar Boulevard, conducted by your humble columnist, found that over 60 percent of drivers were merrily chatting away (mostly females) or distractedly listening (mostly males) on hand-held devices while driving through the intersection. The rate of pretty blonde girls driving SUVs, just to note, was astronomical.
These anecdotal findings are supported by much more scientific evidence released by Nationwide Mutual Insurance in January. Their survey revealed 73 percent of drivers admit to using their cell phone while driving. The other 27 percent could be octogenarians whose grandkids haven't taught them where the "talk" button is located. In a nation with 236 million cellular phone contracts, there is a lot of preventable distraction and inattentiveness on our roads.
Of course, fighting the inertia of public vehicular cell phone use will not be easy. Unless a student was raised in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut (which I'm very sorry about, by the way) or had particularly overprotective parents, chances are they've grown up with the ability to perform just about any activity they want while in the "privacy" of their cars. While using a cell phone is, admittedly, not as dangerous as many other things that could take place in a moving vehicle, the sheer prevalence of dangerous drive-by phoning is enough to justify strict statutes and penalties.
Though initial reports claimed talking on a cell phone was as dangerous as drinking for drivers, passengers and unlucky pedestrians, the punishment for using a phone on a public road or highway should be akin to that of a speeding ticket. Americans should be made aware that their current behavior leads to millions of dollars of damage and hundreds of lost lives each year. Because traffic fatalities have historically been a cruel example of reverse-Darwinism, more needs to be done to protect people from their own selves, especially when alternative solutions are easy and painless.
The iPhone, though a bit cost-prohibitive for your average student, contains everything demanded by today's multi-tasking generation. It is not hard, however, to refrain from talking for ten minutes until you reach your destination or pull over in the case of an emergency.
But because the Texas Legislature is essentially worthless, or better put, not going to convene again for two years, I hope those of you lucky enough to score an iPhone tomorrow will do the rest of us a favor - shut up and drive.
Vickers is a Plan II senior.
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