Will California ban on cellphone driving reduce crashes?

US Features

Jul 2, 2008, 2:43 GMT

San Francisco - Maybe she was complaining about high gas prices, or cursing about some other drivers weaving in and out of lanes in slow-moving traffic on the 880 freeway on Tuesday morning in the heart of Silicon Valley. But the lady in a red dress and a matching BMW who yacked through her morning commute was equally guilty of a driving no-no. On Tuesday, California banned the use of handheld mobile telephones while driving. Such a law might be commonplace elsewhere in the world, but in the United States, which was relatively slow to adopt cell-phones and slow to impose restrictions on drivers, California is only the fifth state to restrict the use of the ubiquitous communications devices. With some 23 million licensed drivers, trend-setting California is by far the most populous US state to restrict cellphone use behind the wheel, and its policy is expected to be widely copied around the country. Even as studies show that cellphone use poses a serious danger to safe driving, the law is being criticized by safety advocates as too lax. Others say it makes no sense to ban holding a cellphone while allowing people to munch hamburgers or apply makeup behind the wheel. That attitude was roundly dismissed by Heather Hoglund. 'At least with a hands-free cell phone, when you're drinking your coffee and on the phone and smoking a cigarette, you're not driving with your knee any more,' she said. The new law does not ban talking on a cellphone while driving - it just bans holding the device. Talking through a headset or speakerphone is still permissible - as is text messaging, which is considered far more dangerous because it requires drivers to take their eyes off the road to read and input characters on cellphone screens. A second law that took effect Tuesday bars drivers under age 18 from using a wireless telephone, pager, laptop or any other electronic communication or mobile service device while driving. The youth ban extends to hands-free usage and text-messaging. However, some researchers believe that allowing the use of hands- free cellphones might actually increase the danger of crashes. They argue that the real threat comes not from using one hand to hold a phone but from the danger of 'cognitive capture' that causes drivers to miss essential safety cues because they are absorbed in conversations. 'There's a common misperception that hands-free phones are safer, when the research clearly suggests that they're both equally risky,' Arthur Goodwin, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Centre, told The Los Angeles Times. That report quoted a review of worldwide research conducted in 2003 by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which found that by sanctioning distracting phone conversations, laws that allowed hands-free cellphone use would lead to more and longer conversations and could lead to a rise in accidents. Backing up that report, a 2006 study by researchers at the University of Utah found that drivers tested on simulators performed about the same when they used cellphones as when they had a blood- alcohol level of 0.08 per cent, which made them legally drunk. The drivers actually did better in braking and avoiding rear-end collisions when alcohol-impaired than when talking on hand-held or hands-free phones, the study found. There was little difference in results if the drivers were holding their phones or using a handheld device. A report in May by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) predicted that the new law will reduce traffic fatalities by 7.5 per cent. The study estimates that California will experience 300 fewer traffic fatalities a year. The state currently logs more than 4,000 traffic deaths every year. The study found that cellphone use appears to have the worst effect on drivers when the weather was bad or roads were wet or icy. But 'there is no observable effect in good weather or on dry roads,' the report stated.

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AlanJul 2nd, 2008 - 03:56:27

Where are the studies on eating while driving, applying makeup, having a conversation with the person next to you, talking back to the radio, wiping a kids nose in the backseat, etc.? Let's look at all distractions - cell phones are just one. Should drivers be in a cone of silence?

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I will continue to use it because I'm not an idiotJul 2nd, 2008 - 05:04:46

We should ban stupid, uncoordinated and inconsiderate people from driving. Breathing as well.

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NoharnessJul 2nd, 2008 - 06:34:03

I don't think we should interfere with Mexico's internal affairs.

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You're a fine one to talk, noharnessJul 3rd, 2008 - 02:05:06

You're from Where? TEXASS, that's where. There the national language is Spanish, the music is Mariachi, the food is tacos and burritos. Gringos like you are an endangered species. They are dying out because they lack a brain.

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JohnJul 3rd, 2008 - 10:22:12

I am amazed that such a ban isn't already in force - why are you americans always so far behind the rest of the world ?

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I don't know John,Jul 4th, 2008 - 16:49:09

but that Mexican who posted right after Noharness is sure pissed; a little thin skinned.

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techJul 9th, 2008 - 21:31:53

time for gaiacomm 4g wireless terahertz technology.....

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Nohsp4uDec 31st, 2008 - 15:54:32

I personally do alot of daily driving, and while i find people on cell phones tend to drive slower, and use less caution, i resort to my drivers training. We all learned that we are responsible for our vehicles, we watch everyone around us, this is also how we see motorcycles. When we drive, we have various distractions as pointed out in other posts. The radio and singing, eating, reading, makeup, kids, passengers. We cannot be in a cone of silence as one stats, we owuld fall asleep. Operating a motor vehicle is a dangerous undertaking. Use caution, except responsiblity and drive safe. If you can do all this while talking on the cell phone, eating, drinking, makeup, and a rash of other things, then cudos for you. i will continue to do what i do best, watch other drivers, even while i am talking on the phone, because i can do both. if you cannot drive while distracted by something, park it.

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Will California ban on cellphone driving reduce crashes?

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