Oprah Winfrey has engaged in an important effort to make our roads safer by starting a movement to get people to no longer text and use their phones while they are driving. When you are using your phone while you are driving, you cannot fully concentrate on driving. The short amount of time you are distracted from driving can cause people to lose their lives. You don’t want your unnecessary use of your phone to cause someone else to lose his or her life. Think about all of the people who will be affected by your “need” to simply use your phone while you are driving. Oprah’s No Phone Zone Pledge allows for one to pull over and use the phone. Although it may seem so convenient to use the phone while you are driving, this does not represent the best driving practice. I encourage you to go to the following website and sign Oprah’s No Phone Zone Pledge today:  http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4

When you sign the No Phone Zone Pledge, you will joining the many thousands of people who have been responsible enough to acknowledge the grave danger that the use of a phone while driving can cause. I support the passage of laws in every state that would outlaw the use of cell phones while driving. I do not want the federal government to pass a bill that would outlaw cell phone use while driving, but I would like for each individual state to pass a bill that would deny people the right to use cell phones while they are driving. Each state should rely on a vote of the people of the state to decide whether they want a bill like this to become law. I think that a bill like this would be one that could save thousands of lives each year, and I think it will bring down the cost of automobile insurance for most.

Far too often, I see people trying to do too much while they are driving. The passage of a bill that would not allow the use of cell phones while driving would be a step in the right direction for ushering in a safer America. Although I generally support the government staying out of our lives, I think that this is a moment when government should step in to make sure that it is doing all it can to protect the American people. Too many lives have been lost because people have thought that they could not wait until they parked their cars before they used their cell phones. The time to feel sorry for accidentally killing someone on the road because you thought you needed to use your cell phone while driving was before you actually picked up your cell phone to use it. I really don’t think hands-free cell phone use is any better because you are still so engrossed in the conversation you are having and are not fully involved in driving like you should be. Again, go to http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4 and sign Oprah’s No Phone Zone Pledge today!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison