Headline News

Update: The Washington Post has produced an excellent chart, using CDC date, to illustrate the hazards of mixing even hands-free cell phones and driving. Read the story and see the chart.

Reuters

“The National Safety Council, which campaigned to get U.S. states to enforce seatbelt laws, is taking on cellphones, saying on Sunday it was starting a campaign to ban all use of mobile phones while driving.

“Even so-called hands-free devices should be banned, because studies show they do not make it any safer to talk on the telephone while driving, the group said.

“It’s time to take the cellphone away,” said Janet Froetscher, president and chief executive officer of the non-profit group.

“Studies show that driving while talking on a cellphone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash,” Froetscher said in a telephone interview.

“Many states and Washington, D.C. have laws requiring the use of a hands-free device while driving and using a cellphone. But several recent studies have shown drivers are far more distracted when speaking on a mobile phone, even with a speaker or headset, than talking to a live passenger.”

…”A study from the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis estimates that cellphone use while driving contributes to 6 percent of crashes. Froetscher’s group says that translates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths in the United States each year.”

Source: Reuters,  January 11, 2009