Dear Friends,

Motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cellular phones are as impaired as drunken drivers. People are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Ninety percent of cell phone owners report that they use the phone while driving. During the last few years, researchers have warn against cell phone use while driving. They stress that If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving.

Just like you put yourself and other people at risk when you drive drunk, you put yourself and others at risk when you use a cell phone and drive. The level of impairment is very similar. Clearly the safest course of action is to not use a cell phone while driving.

Driving while distracted is a growing problem. Cell phone use is far from the only distraction for motorists. The researchers cite talking to passengers, eating, drinking, lighting cigarettes, applying makeup and listening to the radio as the "old standards" of driver distraction.

Additionally, over the last decade many new electronic devices have been developed, and they are making their way into the vehicle. Drivers can now surf the Internet, send and receive e-mail or faxes, communicate via a cellular device and even watch television.

You will find more information on this interesting topic in the article 'Hands free' isn't mind free - Drivers on cell phones are as bad as drunks that you will find attached with our 45th Progressive Newsletter.

A report from 2003 indicates that cell phone distraction results in 2,600 deaths, 330,000 injuries, and 1.5 million instances of property damage in the United States each year. Can hands-free devices reduce accidents, fatalities, or damage? No, and drivers need to remember that their first responsibility is to pay attention to their driving.

 
 
Takis A. Haggiandreou
Director
 

Back to the top

A student talks on a hands-free cell phone while operating a high-tech driving simulator. The simulator was used during a University of Utah study that found motorists who talk on cell phones while driving are as impaired as drunken drivers with blood-alcohol levels at the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Credit: Jim Moulin, University of Utah

Our Quote:

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Thomas Edison