National Safety Council urges nationwide ban on cellphones behind the wheel

It’s not hard to see how cellphone use by motorists behind the wheel of a 2-ton hunk of metal could be a bad idea. Several US states have already put legislation on the law-books that make it illegal to send SMS text messages or talk with a mobile phone pushed up against the ear while on the road. Some states have even banned any use of cellphones by novice drivers. But, the National Safety Council, a government-chartered group tasked with protecting Americans from themselves, is calling for much stricter regulation – the NSC is urging all US states to enact an outright ban on cellphone use in cars.

The National Safety Council says that mobile phone use while driving is attributed to 6% of all motor-vehicle crashes in the US, citing a Harvard Center of Risk Analysis study. That accounts for a whopping 636,000 crashes, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year. The financial impact on the US amounts to a likewise staggering $43 billion in losses.

States that have passed laws making it illegal to have your handset pressed up against your face while piloting your vehicle still allow motorists to use hands-free calling systems. The NSC views these types of legislation as inadequate. “Hands-free laws are giving people a placebo, in effect,” says John Ulczycki, the NSC’s executive director of communications and public affairs.

Studies have shown that the lone act of holding a conversation on the phone is enough of a distractor to cause accidents. Both hands might be free to hold the steering wheel, but the driver’s head is still focused on the conversation. In fact, hands-free laws might lull cellphone users into a false sense of safety in making hands-free phone calls while driving, leading to an increase in accident rates.

But, the NSC’s on-road cellphone ban isn’t going over too well with the CTIA, a wireless industry trade-group. The CTIA says that responsible mobile phone use should be encourage, as opposed to an outright ban on their use by motorist.

“We believe that safe, sensible and limited use of a cell phone when you’re behind the wheel is possible,” wrote John Walls, CTIA’s vice president of public affairs, in a blog post Monday. “If someone is driving irresponsibly because of cell phone use, they should be cited for that. And under current law, they can be.”

Perhaps a nationwide ban on cellphone use by teenage drivers might be more appropriate…

[Via: Yahoo]