Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash. Driving drunk is also dangerous and against the law. When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It’s time to take the cell phone away.”
A study from the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis estimated that cell phone use while driving contributes to 6 percent of crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year. The study also put the annual financial toll of cell phone-related crashes at $43 billion.
Talking on a cell phone may be less distracting than some other activities people may engage in while driving, but the use of cell phones and texting devices is much more pervasive, making it more dangerous overall. A study conducted by the University of Utah showed that hands-free devices do not make cell phone calls while driving safe. Another study demonstrates that talking to passengers, as opposed to talking on a cell phone, actually makes adult drivers safer, because passengers help alert drivers to potential driving risks.
When you’re on a call, even if both hands are on the wheel, your head is in the call, and not on your driving. Unlike the passenger sitting next to you, the person on the other end of the call is oblivious to your driving conditions. The passenger provides another pair of eyes on the road.
A lot of vehicular cell phone use is done on the job. Many businesses have already discovered the injuries and costs associated with this behavior by adopting policies that ban cell phone use by employees on the roads.
Anyone with a busy job knows the temptation to multi-task and stay in touch with the office while driving. I’ve been there, with my Athletic Director job, I get call s all the time. At first I didn’t realize how much risk I was taking. Most people don’t. Employers understand how dangerous the behavior is and their potential liability.
The author of the article Laura Walter interviewed Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of NSC who has sent letters to all governors and state legislative leaders, encouraging them to adopt statewide bans. She acknowledged that achieving and enforcing bans in all states will be a challenge, but she said NSC successfully has faced similar challenges in the past, such as seatbelt enforcement.
“It may be hard for some people to imagine how certain laws, such as those concerning drunk driving, teen driving, seatbelt use and booster seats, can be enforced by observation alone,” Froetscher said. “Smart people in law enforcement get together to address such issues. They develop creative and successful measures to identify violators, such as high-visibility enforcement strategies.”
The National Safety Council is working on advocating legislation; educating the public and businesses about the risk of cell phone use while driving; and supplementing distracted driving content in its training in defensive driving.
The change we are looking for, to stop cell phone use while driving, won’t happen overnight. There will be a day, however, when we look back and wonder how we could have been so reckless with our cell phones and texting devices.
Gauging Your Distraction - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com
New studies show that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask behind the wheel. This game measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions. Regardless of your results, experts say, you should not attempt to text when driving. A game illustrates the potential consequences of distractions like texting on your driving ability.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/19/technology/20090719-driving-game.html