3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 154 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
Safety is the most important call you will ever make.
A Guide to Safe and Responsible Wireless Phone Use
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. today take advantage of the unique
combination of convenience, safety and value delivered by the wireless telephone.
Quite simply, the wireless phone gives people the powerful ability to communicate
by voice--almost anywhere, anytime--with the boss, with a client, with the kids,
with emergency personnel or even with the police. Each year, Americans make
billions of calls from their wireless phones, and the numbers are rapidly growing.
But an important responsibility accompanies those benefits, one that every wireless
phone user must uphold. When driving a car, driving is your first responsibility. A
wireless phone can be an invaluable tool, but good judgment must be exercised at
all times while driving a motor vehicle--whether on the phone or not.
The basic lessons are ones we all learned as teenagers. Driving requires alertness,
caution and courtesy. It requires a heavy dose of basic common sense---keep your
head up, keep your eyes on the road, check your mirrors frequently and watch out
for other drivers. It requires obeying all traffic signs and signals and staying within
the speed limit. It means using seatbelts and requiring other passengers to do the
same.
But with wireless phone use, driving safely means a little more. This brochure is a
call to wireless phone users everywhere to make safety their first priority when
behind the wheel of a car. Wireless telecommunications is keeping us in touch,
simplifying our lives, protecting us in emergencies and providing opportunities to
help others in need.
When it comes to the use of wireless phones,
Wireless Phone "Safety Tips"
Below are safety tips to follow while driving and using a wireless phone which
should be easy to remember.
1 Get to know your wireless phone and its features such as speed dial and redial.
Carefully read your instruction manual and learn to take advantage of valuable
features most phones offer, including automatic redial and memory. Also, work
to memorize the phone keypad so you can use the speed dial function without
taking your attention off the road.
2 When available, use a hands free device. A number of hands free wireless phone
enhancements are readily available today. Whether you choose an installed
mounted device for your wireless phone or a speaker phone accessory, take
advantage of these devices if available to you.
3 Position your wireless phone within easy reach. Make sure you place your
wireless phone within easy reach and where you can grab it without removing
your eyes from the road. If you get an incoming call at an inconvenient time, if
possible, let your voice mail answer it for you.
4 Suspend conversations during hazardous driving conditions or situations. Let
the person you are speaking with know you are driving; if necessary, suspend
safety is your most important call
.
[ 154 ]
3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 155 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
Appendix A Message from the CTIA
the call in heavy traffic or hazardous weather conditions. Rain, sleet, snow and
ice can be hazardous, but so is heavy traffic. As a driver, your first responsibility
is to pay attention to the road.
5 Do not take notes or look up phone numbers while driving. If you are reading
an address book or business card, or writing a "to do" list while driving a car,
you are not watching where you are going. It’s common sense. Don’t get caught
in a dangerous situation because you are reading or writing and not paying
attention to the road or nearby vehicles.
6 Dial sensibly and assess the traffic; if possible, place calls when you are not
moving or before pulling into traffic. Try to plan your calls before you begin
your trip or attempt to coincide your calls with times you may be stopped at a
stop sign, red light or otherwise stationary. But if you need to dial while driving,
follow this simple tip--dial only a few numbers, check the road and your
mirrors, then continue.
7 Do not engage in stressful or emotional conversations that may be distracting.
Stressful or emotional conversations and driving do not mix--they are
distracting and even dangerous when you are behind the wheel of a car. Make
people you are talking with aware you are driving and if necessary, suspend
conversations which have the potential to divert your attention from the road.
8 Use your wireless phone to call for help. Your wireless phone is one of the
greatest tools you can own to protect yourself and your family in dangerous
situations--with your phone at your side, help is only three numbers away. Dial
9-1-1 or other local emergency number in the case of fire, traffic accident, road
hazard or medical emergency. Remember, it is a free call on your wireless
phone!
9 Use your wireless phone to help others in emergencies. Your wireless phone
provides you a perfect opportunity to be a "Good Samaritan" in your
community. If you see an auto accident, crime in progress or other serious
emergency where lives are in danger, call 9-1-1 or other local emergency
number, as you would want others to do for you.
10 Call roadside assistance or a special wireless non-emergency assistance number
when necessary. Certain situations you encounter while driving may require
attention, but are not urgent enough to merit a call for emergency services. But
you still can use your wireless phone to lend a hand. If you see a broken-down
vehicle posing no serious hazard, a broken traffic signal, a minor traffic accident
where no one appears injured or a vehicle you know to be stolen, call roadside
assistance or other special non-emergency wireless number.
Careless, distracted individuals and people driving irresponsibly represent a hazard
to everyone on the road. Since 1984, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry
Association and the wireless industry have conducted educational outreach to
inform wireless phone users of their responsibilities as safe drivers and good
citizens. As we approach a new century, more and more of us will take advantage
of the benefits of wireless telephones. And, as we take to the roads, we all have a
responsibility to drive safely.
The wireless industry reminds you to use your phone safely when driving.
[ 155 ]
3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 156 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
For more information, please call 1-888-901-SAFE.
For updates: http://www.wow-com.com/consumer/issues/driving/
articles.cfm?ID=85
3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 157 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
Appendix B Message from the FDA
Appendix B Message from the
FDA (U.S. Food and Drug
Administration) to all users
of mobile phones.
July 18, 2001 ......... For updates: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/phones
[ 157 ]
3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 158 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
Consumer Update on Wireless Phones
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
1. Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with
using wireless phones. There is no proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe.
Wireless phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while
being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode. Whereas high levels
of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low level RF that does not
produce heating effects causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low level RF
exposures have not found any biological effects. Some studies have suggested that some
biological effects may occur, but such findings have not been confirmed by additional research.
In some cases, other researchers have had difficulty in reproducing those studies, or in
determining the reasons for inconsistent results.
2. What is FDA's role concerning the safety of wireless phones?
Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products such as
wireless phones before they can be sold, as it does with new drugs or medical devices. However,
the agency has authority to take action if wireless phones are shown to emit radiofrequency
energy (RF) at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could require the
manufacturers of wireless phones to notify users of the health hazard and to repair, replace or
recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory actions, FDA has urged the
wireless phone industry to take a number of steps, including the following:
•Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of the type emitted by
wireless phones;
•Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not
necessary for device function; and
•Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with the best possible information on
possible effects of wireless phone use on human health.
FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal agencies that have responsibility
for different aspects of RF safety to ensure coordinated efforts at the federal level. The following
agencies belong to this working group:
•National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
•Environmental Protection Agency
•Federal Communications Commission
•Occupational Safety and Health Administration
•National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group activities,
as well.
FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless phones with the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC). All phones that are sold in the United States must comply with FCC safety
guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies on FDA and other health agencies for safety
questions about wireless phones. FCC also regulates the base stations that the wireless phone
networks rely upon. While these base stations operate at higher power than do the wireless
phones themselves, the RF exposures that people get from these base stations are typically
thousands of times lower than those they can get from wireless phones. Base stations are thus
not the subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.
[ 158 ]
3520_3560.ENv1_9355099.book Page 159 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3:31 PM
Appendix B Message from the FDA
3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term wireless phone refers here to hand-held wireless phones with built-in antennas, often
called cell mobile or PCS phones. These types of wireless phones can expose the user to
measurable radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short distance between the phone and
the user’s head. These RF exposures are limited by Federal Communications Commission safety
guidelines that were developed with the advice of FDA and other federal health and safety
agencies. When the phone is located at greater distances from the user, the exposure to RF is
drastically lower because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance
from the source. The so-called cordless phones; which have a base unit connected to the
telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power levels, and thus produce
RF exposures far below the FCC safety limits.
4. What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and many studies have suffered
from flaws in their research methods. Animal experiments investigating the effects of
radiofrequency energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless phones have yielded conflicting
results that often cannot be repeated in other laboratories. A few animal studies, however, have
suggested that low levels of RF could accelerate the development of cancer in laboratory animals.
However, many of the studies that showed increased tumor development used animals that had
been genetically engineered or treated with cancer-causing chemicals so as to be pre-disposed to
develop cancer in the absence of RF exposure. Other studies exposed the animals to RF for up
to 22 hours per day. These conditions are not similar to the conditions under which people use
wireless phones, so we don’t know with certainty what the results of such studies mean for
human health.
Three large epidemiology studies have been published since December 2000. Between them, the
studies investigated any possible association between the use of wireless phones and primary
brain cancer, glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma, tumors of the brain or salivary gland,
leukemia, or other cancers. None of the studies demonstrated the existence of any harmful
health effects from wireless phone RF exposures. However, none of the studies can answer
questions about long-term exposures, since the average period of phone use in these studies was
around three years.
5.What research is needed to decide whether RF exposure from wireless
phones poses a health risk?
A combination of laboratory studies and epidemiological studies of people actually using
wireless phones would provide some of the data that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure
studies could be completed in a few years. However, very large numbers of animals would be
needed to provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting effect if one exists. Epidemiological
studies can provide data that is directly applicable to human populations, but 10 or more years
follow-up may be needed to provide answers about some health effects, such as cancer. This is
because the interval between the time of exposure to a cancer-causing agent and the time tumors
develop - if they do - may be many, many years. The interpretation of epidemiological studies is
hampered by difficulties in measuring actual RF exposure during day-to-day use of wireless
phones. Many factors affect this measurement, such as the angle at which the phone is held, or
which model of phone is used.
6. What is FDA doing to find out more about the possible health effects
of wireless phone RF?
FDA is working with the U.S. National Toxicology Program and with groups of investigators
around the world to ensure that high priority animal studies are conducted to address important
questions about the effects of exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF).
[ 159 ]
Loading...
+ 15 hidden pages
You need points to download manuals.
1 point = 1 manual.
You can buy points or you can get point for every manual you upload.