A comprehensive study on distracted driving has found there is no conclusive evidence that hands-free cell phone use while driving is any less risky than hand-held cell phone use.
The study, which was commissioned by the non-profit Governors Highway Safety Association, and funded by State Farm Insurance, also found that there is no evidence that cell phone or texting bans have reduced crashes.
The findings come after nine states have imposed bans on hand-held cell phone use while driving, and 34 states have imposed texting bans for drivers behind the wheel. Despite the findings, The Governors Highway Safety Association does not recommend that restrictions on cell phone use or texting be lifted in any of the states where they presently exist.
But it does recommend that those 41 states which don’t ban talking on a cell phone hold off on enacting new legislation.
The study offers often contradictory findings. For example, it found that drivers are frequently distracted by any number of factors ranging from eating, to talking to texting, perhaps as much as 50 percent of the time they spend behind the wheel.
But it also found that drivers adapt by paying more attention to driving — and less to distractions — when the road risk level increases. It also found that states should enforce existing distracted driving laws, but should consider that such enforcement takes away from other traffic enforcement efforts.
The study also documents the proliferation of cell phone use and texting among American motorists.
It found two-thirds of all motorists reported using a cell phone while driving, about one-third of them routinely. It also found that one-eighth of all drivers reported texting while driving, although observational studies during the daylight hours in 2009, show that only 1 percent of all drivers were observed to be texting.
The authors make a number of recommendations including enacting a total ban of cell phone use for novice drivers, as well as texting bans for all drivers.
It also suggests that greater use of highway engineering solutions, such as rumble strips and automotive technological innovations can reduce distracted driving accidents.
(Source: Fox News)
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10 Responses
Ridiculous study.
How about the phones that are found functioning at the site of the crash? SOunds like a tainted study.
BULLONNY!!!
ive seen with my own eyes hoW people ARE totally out of control!!!!
a guy once almost hit me when turning the corner,and just kept talking!!!
So much for the ability to gather evidence. Those of us who unfortunately take liberties to use a cell phone while driving, no matter how much we try to stop, know full well safety is highly compromised.
We were on the WB Northern State on Sunday. In the car next to us was a woman holding her cell and shouting and someone (the windows were open), and with her other hand exclaiming. NO hands were on the steering wheel. I was very tempted to snap a picture of her and send it to 911. Ditto the guy in the red car who was busy texting.
Yes, these people are a hazard!
Bans only work when enforced! So to the law enforcement agencies, the law is a good one, so please enforce.
Driving around town is dangerous enough without all the people driving while distracted.
The study isn’t on whether driving distracted (I.E. using a cell phone) is dangerous. That is clear. The study is on whether LEGISLATION helps the problem. To that end, I am inclined to agree with the study that perhaps law enforcement should focus elsewhere to improve driving safety.
What is not discussed in the article is that other studies have shown that holding the phone is not as much an issue as talking on the phone–hands-free or not: talking takes a fair amount of concentration. The fact that many of the individuals who posted comments saw someone driving poorly while on a phone is not evidence that phones are the problem: we’ve all seen bad drivers (phone or no).
Lastly, I don’t think the study investigated the effect of legislation: that is a recommendation of the study.
Finding a cell phone at a crash site doesn’t prove that it caused it. If most people talk on cell phones, most crash sites will have them. How do you know it is more distracting than talking to a passenger, and turning around to see their reaction? Perhaps hands free are more dangerous, since you don’t have it by your mouth and you keep on turning your head or bending toward the device.
How could they know if legislation is effective, when law enforcement isn’t doing their part? So many times I see people talking on their handhelds and there’s a police car right near them, totally ignoring the situation. You’d sort of think that they’d see it as another revenue opportunity, similiar to parking tickets.
Well, for the benefit of others, hopefully, I am proud to say I received a $130 ticket for talking on the cell phone while driving. It is true what the office said that I did not even know he was behind me for blocks with his lights flashing. I went out and bought an ear bud, which enables me to use the phone hands-free. Again, safety is compromised when using a cell while driving. When safety is compromised, I am sure the accident rate, chas v’shalom, would go up.