CELL PHONE USE WHEN DRIVING

In the United States over 266 million people subscribe to wireless devices such as cell phones. Comparatively approximately only 4 million had such devices in 1990. There are two main dangers associated with driving and cell phone use, including text messaging. First, drivers must take their eyes off the road while dialing. Secondly, people become so absorbed in their conversations that their ability to concentrate on the act of driving becomes severely impaired. There was a survey of dangerous driving behaviors by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in January, 2007. That survey of 1200 drivers found that 73% talk on cell phones while driving. Cell phone use was even higher among young drivers. The same survey by Nationwide found that 19% or almost one in five motorists say that they have even text messaged while driving. Those statistics are staggering considering that motorists who use cell phone while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes that are serious enough to injure themselves according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Even using hands free cell phones, one is 18% slower in their breaking and 17% longer to regain their speed after braking. The 100 car naturalistic driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in April 2006 found that almost 80% of crashes and 65% of near crashes involved some form of driver inattention within 3 seconds of the crash. The new study found that the most common distraction is the use cell phones, followed by drowsiness. As of October 2008 six states, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington State and the District of Columbia have laws banning the use of hand held cell phones while driving. About 18 states have passed laws banning or restricting younger drivers from using cell phones. As of October 2008 driving while texting has been banned in seven states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington. There was a recent court decision in December 2007 where International Paper Company agreed to pay a 5.2 million dollar settlement to a woman who was rear ended by one of International Paper’s employees. The employee was driving a company car talking on a company cell phone when she had her accident. The settlement was reached even though the company had a policy of requiring the use of hands free head sets while driving, and the employee violated that policy at the time of the accident.