Using a mobile while driving renders the driver four times as likely to have an accident
US government covered up dangers of mobile use while driving
/v3-uk/news/1963689/us-government-covered-dangers-mobile-driving
23 Jul 2009, Iain Thomson , V3
A Freedom of Information request has uncovered suppressed research which showed that mobile phone use while driving is much more dangerous than originally thought.
The research showed that making a call while driving renders the driver four times as likely to have an accident, and is the equivalent of having a blood/alcohol content of 0.08, the legal limit. This was also the case for other electronic devices.
More worryingly, the research showed that hands-free kits are no safer, since it is the mental distraction of the call that causes the bad driving, not the use of the handset itself. This makes a mockery of laws mandating the use of Bluetooth headsets, as is the case in California.
The researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggested in 2003 that a large-scale study should be carried out. But Dr Jeffrey Runge, then head of the Highway Safety Agency, told The New York Times that the project was dropped for political considerations, and that the agency was afraid of angering Congress.
"I really wanted to send a letter to governors telling them not to give a pass to hands-free laws," he said. "Based on the research, there was a possibility of this becoming a really big problem. My advisers upstairs said we should not poke a finger in the eye of the appropriations committee."
The research was buried, and came to light only after a Freedom of Information request by consumer advocacy groups Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety (CAS).
"People died in crashes because the government withheld this information," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the CAS.
"States passed laws and took action to restrict only handheld cell phone use, assuming hands-free cell phone use was safe. The studies NHTSA concealed showed that all cell phone use is as hazardous as drinking and driving."
The groups originally requested the data in 2008, but were turned down. They sued and the agency has finally handed over 100 of pages of documents.
"It is a travesty that NHTSA kept secret factual information that could have saved lives," said Public Citizen attorney Margaret Kwoka, who handled the case.
"Although the Freedom of Information Act protects an agency's decision-making process, these documents reflect facts about safety risks that the public had every right to see."
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Do you agree?
Hands Free Kits AREN'T ANY SAFER ????
Some of this article's comments just defy logic.
Distractions ARE going to happen.
Cell calls, favorite radio station song you get enfused with, a Gorgeous guy / girl walking by, cell phone charger came unplugged. Haha
I figure the more hands you have on the wheel, the more you can use them both for driving, actually using turn signals (yeah ight), and so on. At least if you are using a hands free kit, you still have both hands on the wheel to actually DRIVE with.
In general, people are dumb. We see folks drive one handed, drive NO HANDED, as they are talking on a cell AND smoking or drinking or combing their hair or changing the radio station, etc. Some folks also aren't that good at driving with THEIR KNEES while engaging in multi-tasked driving.
What we need here is to make common sense available as a marketable PILL that anyone can obtain. This would give such folks the ability to see that engaging in such activities really does endanger not only themselves, but ALL OTHER drivers around them as well.
Believe it or not, the world does NOT revolve around the self centered individual who could care less about anything other than THEIR MOMENT in time.
More and more, everyday, we see more folks that don't use common courtesy. Using turn signals seems to have become a thing that ONLY folks with a brain are able to use.
So we have WAY too many (MILLIONS) mindless, careless, 'don't know & don't wanna know' drivers out there that also transfers into ANYTHING else they touch; The way they address their kids, drive a shopping cart, address other shoppers, interact with other drivers, etc.
It's VERY sad to see so many good folks turn into EEEEEEEidiots so easily.
Posted by LLL, 24 Jul 2009