Posted on 01/12/2009 8:23:13 AM PST by Red Badger
A national safety group is advocating a total ban on cell phone use while driving, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities.
States should ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones, and businesses should prohibit employees from using cell phones while driving on the job, the congressionally chartered National Safety Council says, taking those positions for the first time.
The group's president and chief executive, Janet Froetscher, likened talking on cell phones to drunken driving, saying cell phone use increases the risk of a crash fourfold.
``When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It's time to take the cell phone away,'' Froetscher said in interview.
No state currently bans all cell phone use while driving. Six states - California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington - and the District of Columbia ban the use of hand-held cell phones behind the wheel, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also, 17 states and the district restrict or ban cell phone use by novice drivers.
Council officials acknowledged a total ban could take years.
``Public awareness and the laws haven't caught up with what the scientists are telling us,'' Froetscher said. ``There is no dispute that driving while talking on your cell phone, or texting while driving, is dangerous.''
Froetscher said the council examined more than 50 scientific studies before reaching its decision. One was a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that estimates 6 percent of vehicle crashes, causing about 2,600 deaths and 12,000 serious injuries a year, are attributable to cell phone use. Hands-free cell phones are just as risky as hand held phones, she added.
``It's not just what you're doing with your hands - it's that your head is in the conversation and so your eyes are not on the road,'' Froetscher said.
John Walls, vice president of CTIA-The Wireless Association, a cell phone trade group, objected to a complete ban. He said there are many instances where the ability to make a phone call while driving helps protect safety.
``We think that you can sensibly and safely use a cell phone to make a brief call,'' Walls said.
What makes cell phone use distinct from other risky driving behaviors, Froetscher said, is the magnitude - there are 270 million cell phone users in the U.S. and 80 percent of them talk on the phone while driving.
Froetscher said the council is the first major national safety group to call for a total cell phone ban for drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has been urging states since 2003 to ban the use of cell phones or any wireless device by inexperienced drivers who have learner's permits or intermediate licenses. Last year, at least 23 states considered some form of legislation to restrict the use of cell phones or wireless devices, according to the board.
Council officials said they will press Congress to address the issue when it takes up a highway construction bill this year, possibly by offering incentives to states that enact cell phone laws.
The Governors Highway Safety Association agreed that cell phone use while driving is dangerous, but said it would be difficult to enforce a ban. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by auto insurers, said banning all cell phone use ``makes sense based on the research,'' but agreed that enforcement will be difficult.
Let’s just ban driving altogether. Then highway fatalities would go to zero.
Yes, the states can.
In Florida, the law bans “distracted driving”. That covers CB’s, stereos, Cell phones, makeup application, shaving, eating and drinking .........
So pull over and answer it.
Just because I’m opposed to a LAW against it doesn’t mean I want you driving along yapping on a cell phone while you run over me on my motorcycle.
ESPN has a beer ad in every commercial break, hasn’t stopped drinking and driving from being illegal.
The hard part with cellphones is there are so many gadgets that make it hands free it’s pretty much undetectable at this point. Maybe they could cover it under the driving while impaired laws, if you’re weaving like a drunk they don’t need to figure out why, just give you a ticket for being unfit behind the wheel.
I love that idea!
I guess laws are only for the subjects.
Not really. Have you ever ridden in a car where the driver is on a freeway, moving at 70 miles an hour and can’t talk on the phone and drive at the same time? How many lives are at stake in a situation like this? I’ve been there and it ain’t no joy ride.
Freedom with responsibility is what I like.
Freedom with responsibility is what I like.
“If I am ever elected to Congress (or my State House of delegates) my position will be that in order for me to vote for passage of ANY new law (including budget packages) TWO existing laws must be repealed as part of its passage.”
And EVERY law should have a sunset clause.
Freedom with responsibility is what I like.
I’m always amazed at how much support of the nanny state you find here at FreeRepublic.
Good idea!
I saw a woman driving the other day while reading a magazine propped up on her steering wheel, we were doing about 45 mph........
Children in a car are proven to be a greater hinderance to safe driving than cell phones. Should children be banned?
Well, they’ll have a serious fight on their hands from me on THAT one, I tell ya’!!!
;^)
Except tax reductions. :)
That, of course, is the socialists' ultimate goal. Rush (the rock band, not the talk show host) wrote a song about it: look up the lyrics to "Red Barchetta".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.