Cellphones and other electronic devices have become a growing menace on the nation’s roads, according to an analysis that links distracted driving to up to 25 percent of U.S. car crashes and 16 percent of traffic deaths.
As Reuters reports, the Governors Highway Safety Assn. reviewed more than 350 scientific papers published since 2000 and found that drivers are distracted up to half the time that they are behind the wheel. Cellphone conversation raises the risk of crashing, but texting is even more dangerous, the study found.
However, the report said, bans on using cellphones while driving have proven difficult to enforce and their effectiveness is inconclusive. As a result, despite the risks it recommended that states wait for more definitive research on the issue before enacting new bans on use of handheld phones.
That drew a sharp reaction from some safety advocates. “We think there is enough research to enact total bans, handheld and hands-free,” David Teater, an official of the National Safety Council, told USA Today.
He said bans on handheld devices don’t go far enough because “there’s no evidence that hands-free devices provide any safety impact.”
According to the governors group, no state bans cellphone use by drivers, but nine states require the use of a hands-free device. Thirty states prohibit cellphone use by novice drivers, and many others have banned texting behind the wheel.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures show that in 2009 nearly 5,500 fatalities and about a half-million injuries resulted from crashes involving a distracted driver.
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