Ban cell phone usage while driving

"If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone," said University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer. "It's like instantly aging a large number of drivers."
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Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year, according to the journal's publisher, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
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Drivers talking on cell phones were 18 percent slower to react to brake lights, the new study found. In a minor bright note, they also kept a 12 percent greater following distance. But they also took 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked. That frustrates everyone.

"Once drivers on cell phones hit the brakes, it takes them longer to get back into the normal flow of traffic," Strayer said. "The net result is they are impeding the overall flow of traffic."

Thu Jun 29, 7:10 PM ET

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.

That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted.

"As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving," said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah. "This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and others to a similar risk -- cell phones actually are a higher risk," he said.

Driving and talking on a cell phone similar to drunken driving, study finds

By Nancy McVicar
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health Writer
Posted June 30 2006

Talking on a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk, new federally funded research shows, and it doesn't matter whether you use a hands-free model or hold the phone up to your ear during the conversation.

The study, by University of Utah researchers, adds to a growing body of evidence that conversing by phone while behind the wheel can be hazardous.

Cell Phone Accidents: Cell phone subscriptions now exceed the birthrate, with 40,000 people subscribing a day. Unfortunately, the use of a cell phone in a car can have fatal consequences. A 1997 in the New England Journal of Medicine established that the risk of a traffic accident while using a cellular phone is the same as that while driving drunk. Cell phone users are 400-500 percent more likely to get into traffic accidents than those that do no use them. Cell phone records can establish that the driver was using a cell phone at the time of an accident. It can also reveal witnesses, i.e . the other party to the cell phone conversation who may have heard the driver say something before or after the crash. Even if no criminal charges are filed against the driver, a victim may be able to bring an action for damages.