Cell Phone Use Can Impair Driving Safely, NHTSA Reports
ederal safety officials said a new study shows that driving while talking on a cell phone is a key cause of traffic accidents, and that even using hands-free devices adds little extra safety benefits, the Detroit News reported.
he paper reported that a team of researchers from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration evaluated 100 drivers over the course of a year and concluded that using cell phones led to many crashes and near-misses.
NHTSA researchers told the paper that devices like head sets or voice-activated dialing led to longer dialing times than for those using hand-held phones, offsetting potential benefits of keeping both hands on the wheel.
ne NHTSA official told the Detroit News that phone use lessened driving performance and safety, whether holding a phone or using a hands-free device.
he showed that accidents were often preceded by distraction, with the most frequent being use of a cell phone or other electronic device. There were nearly 700 incidents involving wireless devices among the 100 people studied, the newspaper reported.
he next major source of distraction was a car’s passenger, which led to 400 safety concerns, followed by eating, which led to 100 incidents, the paper said.
Auto makers also have conducted research to gauge how well hands-free devices help drivers stay focused, the News said.
One Ford Motor Co. official told the paper that while there is some evidence cell phone conversations can impair driving ability, it would be hard to curtail people’s conversations while driving.
