When driving, engage brain, not cell phone

Published 2:59 pm Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Now that the millionth study proves it is dangerous to drive and talk on the phone at the same time, the National Safety Council has called for a total ban on the activity. (No exception for “hands-free” devices.)

Finally. Where are all those Mothers Against Phoning &Driving, anyway? Probably sending a quick text while motoring to the store like everybody else.

Has a law, or common sense, ever been so blatantly ignored by so many?

Here in Washington, it is illegal to talk on your hand-held cell while driving, but police can’t ticket people for doing so unless they pulled them over for something else first, like speeding. Making the violation a “secondary offense” doesn’t do much — OK, anything — to compel compliance with the law, an observation that is confirmed every time one drives a block. It is legal, however, to talk on a “hands-free” device, something another study proves is as dangerous as holding a phone and driving, which is as dangerous as drinking and driving. (Add smoking to the mix for an even more mind-boggling risk.) Drivers who talk on the phone and drivers who drink are four times more likely to have an accident than those who don’t.

A study from the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis found cell phone use while driving accounts for about 6 percent of crashes each year nationwide. The cost of cell phone-related crashes is estimated to be about $43 billion a year.

Another study found no difference in driver concentration between using hand-held or hands-free devices.

“It’s not that your hands aren’t on the wheel,” David Strayer, director of the Applied Cognition Laboratory at the University of Utah, told the New York Times. “It’s that your mind is not on the road.”

The researchers have plenty of science to back up their claims. Anyone who drives has a trunk-load of anecdotal evidence in support. The distracted phone drivers are the ones sitting at a four-way stop waiting for the light to change. They are the ones going 40 in the fast lane. They are the ones who make a left turn right in front of you, but cannot offer you a “oh, my gosh, I’m sorry” hand motion because their hands are full, or more likely, because they didn’t notice that they almost caused an accident. (Your dirty looks, shouts and hand gestures are frustratingly lost on the cell phone drivers.)

The National Security Council is correct in calling for a complete ban on phoning and driving, but don’t wait for Washington’s ineffective law to catch up. Hang up and drive.