Driving with Cell Phones Sitting in a car at a red light can be an eye-opening experience. While you wait for the light to turn green, watch the cars go by. Do you notice a trend? Many of the motorists who pass by are as interested in cell phone conversations as they are in driving. Thousands of Americans die every year from cell phone-related car accidents. Cell phones have become essential in today's society because they are very convenient, relatively cheap and effective. People use them in all kinds of places: schools, shops and even the workplace. The problem, however, is that cell phones have also begun to have an impact on highways. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 85% of all cell phone users use them while driving, meaning most people on the road have one hand on their cell phone and the other on the steering wheel (Associated Press) . This type of multitasking is quite dangerous and deserves more attention. We should encourage the use of hands-free devices while driving because this will alleviate some of this danger. In driver education courses across the nation, instructors teach students to drive with two hands, one at 10 o'clock and the other at 2 o'clock, so they can have full control of the vehicle. Well, the rules of driver education seem to have flown out the window. It has often been observed that most people drive with one hand on the steering wheel instead of two, but recently, what has been frequently observed, is that the other hand is not used to change gear, but to hold the cell phone near the wrist. ear. The NHTSA hypothesizes that, at any given moment of the day, 500,000 motorists are talking about... half the newspapers... the press. "Report cell phone conversation while driving uphill." CNN 2005..Buffett, Patrick. “University study compares cell phone users to drunk drivers.” Casemate 2005..Frankenfield, Gay. “Using cell phones while driving increases accident rates.” The New England Journal of Medicine. 1997. .Live Science Staff. “Cellphones Make Many Americans Frustrated Liars.” Live Science Technology 2006. .Wollam, Allison. "Cell phone conversations take a backseat to driving." Houston Business Journal 2002. tidbits.html? page =1 >.