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More Than 1 In 4 Car Crashes Involve Cellphone Use

Posted by samzenpus on from the keep-your-eyes-on-the-road-your-hands-upon-the-wheel dept.

schwit1 (797399) writes "Texting and driving is dangerous but a new survey finds talking on a cellphone while behind the wheel may be even worse. The National Safety Council's annual report found 26 percent of all crashes are tied to phone use, but noted just 5 percent involved texting. Safety advocates are lobbying now for a total ban on driver phone use, pointing to studies that headsets do not reduce driver distraction."

2 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. Did the accident rate increase? by geneing · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The main question is if the total accident rate has increased since cell phones became ubiquitous. As far as I know the answer is "no", the accident rate actually went down. "Tied to" doesn't mean "caused", or "increased the chance of". Usually "tied to" is a lazy qualifier from a lazy researcher or journalist.

    1. Re:Did the accident rate increase? by lgw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You should see how the books are cooked for "alcohol-related" crashes. Beer in the trunk of the car that was blindsided? Alcohol-related! Agenda-driven statistics.

      I can certainly believe 1-in-4 if you include passengers in the not-at-fault car on the phone as "phone related"

      Remember, there are lies, damn lies, and anonymous posts on the internet! Or something like that.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.