*Menu
Search
Submit
McCook Gazette
Editorial

If calling while driving is banned, we will deserve it

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Is it time to completely outlaw cellular phone use while driving?

Yes, says the National Safety Council, which believes it's time for all 50 states and Washington D.C. to pass laws to ban hand-held and hands-free cell phone use as well as texting while driving.

NSC president and executive director Janet Froetscher says she is sending letters to all governors and state legislators asking them to adopt statewide bans.

Nebraska already bans young drivers with provisional drivers licenses, learners permits or school permits from using any type of cell-phone or wireless communication device while driving. That includes text messaging, personal digital assistants, laptop computers or audio/video devices that send or receive messages.

That's a good first step. Inexperienced drivers have enough accidents already without added distractions.

But Froetscher says that doesn't go far enough.

It's an old study, but a 1997 report in the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in 2005 found that drivers who use cell phones while driving were four times more likely to be in a crash.

Surprisingly, using a hands-free device doesn't help much, Froetscher added. A University of Utah study found no difference in driver concentration between using hand-held or hands-free devices. Also surprising is that talking to a passenger while driving is much safer than talking on a cell phone, the Utah researchers noted.

A study by the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis found that cell phone use while driving accounts for about 6 percent of crashes each year nationwide. That's 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths -- at a cost of about $43 billion a year.

If anything, we'll bet the number of accidents and fatalities caused by cell phone use and texting is underreported.

Travel around town, and you may be surprised at the number of drivers with a cell phone to their ear -- they probably include that driver that just cut you off or turned in front of you without signaling.

We don't favor banning the use of cell phones while driving altogether. There's no reason a carefully placed or received cell phone call can't be completed safely on some lonely highway while keeping an eye out for deer and other vehicles.

But if lawmakers do see their way clear to put such a general ban in place, we'll have to admit we had it coming.

Comments
View 4 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

  • Perchance, anyone notice: "...personal digital assistants,..." being addressed, above? I am just guessing, but "personal digital assistants," could easily mean that using 'GPS' location systems will be disallowed.

    Something must be done, I am sure, but it is sad that a product, so advanced, can be so misused, that 'Big Daddy,' our government, must outlaw the use of the product. Why not just outlaw the product? (now there is a stupid question)

    Just a thought.

    In Messiah, His Shalom, and freedom. Arley

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Tue, Jan 13, 2009, at 3:50 PM

  • "We don't favor banning the use of cell phones while driving altogether. There's no reason a carefully placed or received cell phone call can't be completed safely on some lonely highway while keeping an eye out for deer and other vehicles."

    Boy, I wish it was that simple, but it isn't. All you have to do is glance around at all the people laughing and smiling and yakking away on their cell phones while their SUVs go careening back and forth through interstate traffic during rush hour. THEY DON'T CARE.

    And please don't tell me there's no difference between talking on a cell phone and changing a radio station or biting into a burger while driving. Eating while driving is pretty automatic and requires virtually no thought. But when you are on the phone with someone, you are in a separate reality with that person, and your attention to the road is going to be significantly hampered.

    Not that I expect it to get any better. It's only going to get worse. I seen cell phones turn too many otherwise normal people into complete blithering idiots. But I'm realistiic: Cell phones are here to stay. And don't EVEN get me started on those blinking blue Borg ear-thingies.

    -- Posted by PolishBear on Tue, Jan 13, 2009, at 4:05 PM

  • I am not familiar with the statistics that are published related to the use of cell phones while driving. If you look hard enough, you can get on line and find statistics that would support nearly any point of view. Insurance companies will find statistics supporting a raise in prepiums because the data shows that if you have a cell phone, you are a dangerous driver. Any person wanting to dispute that can easily find data that would support the idea that people actually pay more attention to the road if they are talking on a cell phone. Insurance companies seem to have statistical data that suggests you are a better driver if you have good grades in high school, or if you have good credit, and they use this false correlation to make more money. As you can see, I dont have alot of faith in statistics, most of them can be disputed.

    I do believe that a ban on driving and using a cell phone is not a bad idea. I personally know a few young drivers that have been in accidents because they were trying to text message someone and drive at the same time, thankfully they were not seriously injured. But they could have been seriously injured, and they could have seriously injured somebody else.

    -- Posted by seentoomuch on Thu, Jan 15, 2009, at 12:00 PM

  • Common sense would be the ticket here. Not too much is being used not only by young drivers, but my old ones too. Yes, you are beginning to see people with a funny thing growing out of their ear or their hand hanging on to something growing on their ear. It does need to be addressed.

    Seems like the easier life is made for a person, the harder it is for others to live in the same life.

    -- Posted by edbru on Thu, Jan 15, 2009, at 12:50 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: