Recent Findings Spur Talk of Cell Phone Ban – Cell Phone Use Accounted for almost 25% of all vehicle accidents
This month is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the National Safety Council (NSC) in D.C. has made a national wide ban on all cell phone use while driving it’s number one priority. Piggy backing on the report that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released last December, the NSC has released its own 2012 report which says that phone use was cited in at least 24% of car crashes.
Now both national organizations are asking the States to ban all cell phone use on the road including texting, talking and hands-free devices. If that sounds extreme at first consider some of the other harrowing stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):
- Using a cell phone while driving – whether it’s hand-held or hands-free delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.
- Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.
- Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held use.
- Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%.
The national ban is a big step, but no more extreme than the facts. Now that these national organizations are calling for change, hopefully we’ll see positive changes right here in Dallas. It won’t be overnight, but we can each do our best to be safer.
Take this month of April to make a change in your routine. Even if you don’t usually answer your cell when you’re driving, take the added precaution of placing it on silent – that way you won’t be tempted to say a quick ‘hello’ and risk being in an accident.
Category: In The News
