Safety Council Seeks Total Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving

The National Safety Council called for a nationwide ban on cell phone use while driving, a prohibition opposed by the industry.

While there are a few state and local laws banning drivers from using hand-held cell phones, the National Safety Council (NSC) believes it's time to make it unanimous.

According to CNN, the NSC plans to lobby in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., for laws that ban both hand-held and hands-free cell phone use as well as texting while driving. The council also plans to work with the U.S. government to develop incentive programs and sanctions that will force states to enact such laws.

 "Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash," said Janet Froetscher, the council's president and CEO, in a news release, referring to a 1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records.

"Driving drunk is also dangerous and against the law. When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It's time to take the cell phone away," Froetscher said.

Though six states have enacted laws banning the use of hand-held cell phones in cars, no state has a total ban on cell phone-use while driving, the NSC said.

The council cited research from the University of Utah that says hands-free devices do not make safe the practice of talking on the phone while driving.

The council also cited a 2003 study from the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis that estimates cell-phone use at the wheel contributes each year to 6 percent of crashes, resulting in 330,000 injuries, 12,000 of them serious and 2,600 of them fatal.

(January 12, 2009)

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