Driving on Cell-Phones: Laws, Accidents and Death

We will never know exactly how many accidents and deaths have been caused by drivers distracted by their cell-phone conversations, however, we can attempt to draw conclusions from studies that have been done over the past 5 years.

Current studies will target hands-free legislation and should provide more insight into driver distraction issues.

According to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society cellular phone distractions have caused 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States each year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has compiled their data and has come up with some very compelling evidence when it comes to cellular phone use while driving.

The NHTSA estimates that your chance of getting in an accident increases by 300% if you're talking on your cellular phone while driving.

In addition their data shows that 25% of all traffic accidents are a result of distracted drivers.

Cellular phone use has gone up by over 600% in the United States .

In 2005 there were approximately 10 million cell phone users in the United States and approximately 50 to 75% of these cellular subscribers have used a cellular phone while driving.

The numbers are staggering; at any given time, there are almost 1 million drivers on the road using a cellular device.

Reference: Iowa Study

The number of current cellular phone users has now risen to 236 million according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.

Another study done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that nearly 80% of all crashes and 65% of near crashes were due to driver distraction.

The study also concluded that hand-held wireless devices were associated with the highest frequency of distraction related events for both crashes and near crashes.

Reference: Virginia Tech Study

Another study sponsored by AAA concluded that all forms of cellular phone usage lead to significant increases in the establishment of non-response to highway-traffic situations and increase in time to respond.

The AAA study also concluded that the intensity of the cell-phone conversation factored in to the equation.

Complex, intense conversation leads to the greatest increases in likelihood of overlooking significant highway traffic conditions, and the time to respond to them.

The distracting effect is similar to that of tuning a radio.

The effect of placing calls or engaging in casual conversation is less of a problem, although, calling tends to retard responses.

Reference: AAA Study

Still, a comprehensive study of the impact of the cellular laws has not been completed and critics of cell phone legislation believe that the laws will be generally ineffective in improving traffic safety in the United States .

The most we can do is wait for additional data to be revealed and continue to work towards a safer driving experience.