I completely agree. It was a great idea to create the group to help drive awareness to this issue. Actually Oprah just had a big show on this in the past couple weeks, and one of the girls interview had no explanation when it she said she was texting and looked up and was over in the next lane. Probably a pretty bold realization when she was explaining that story to those families that have lost loved ones due to being on the phone while driving.

Just look at this video. Granted many car manufacturers have made device to allow hand free phones, among other technologies to keep us from being less distracted. With this statistic ... According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, cell phone use contributes to 6 percent of all crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, and 2600 deaths each year ... you have to wonder how many of those technologies are providing a replacement distraction or helping?

I will admit to texting and picking up the phone while behind the wheel - but the information around it definitely makes you stop and think.

You said it! I wish I knew what was so important that people can't wait till they get somewhere to talk on the phone. If I call someone and they answer while driving, I just ask them to call me back when they are off the road.

If cell phones contribute to 6% of crashes, I wonder if those without cell phones can get insurance discounts

oh my..... texting and driving worse than drinking and driving!?
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q2/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_-feature
check out the video in the article too....
ooh, check out the guy with the typewriter at the end of the video LMAO!

Interesting post on the CarLocate blog today.

I read the referenced article in the post. To summarize, areas that have banned cell phone use while driving are not seeing a decline in reported accidents. If cell phones use causes accidents (as also reported in research findings) then why are accident rates not declining in areas with bans?

Anyone have any thoughts to those questions? There's the obvious answer that people haven't actually stopped texting or talking while they drive, but the article suggests that other studies have shown the ban has been partially successful on reducing cell phone use while driving. Perhaps then the individuals who were responsible enough to obey the ban are not the ones who needed their cell phones taken away?

I feel like the information presented in the article is only painting half a picture. For example, has there been a reduction in serious accidents since the cell phone ban for the area? The article is lumping all accidents in one pile, without any break down on the severity of the accidents. If cell phone use slows reaction time then I would image that an accident related to following too close to someone would be much worse if the user was distracted by a cell phone because the reaction time would be slower and the vehicle would be moving faster when the collision occurred.

Here's what I want to see: Don't compare accident data as one lump sum. If there are studies that can tell how many accidents were caused by cell phones then break down all accidents that way (cell phones, weather, drunk driving, night driving, fog, etc) in terms of what caused the accident. Do that for both before and after cell phone ban studies or using a "control group" of a non-banned area like the article discussed in the blog post did. I'm curious to see what type of accident will go up if cell phone as a reason goes down. Is there something new that has replaced the distraction of the cell phone? Is the number of cell phone related accidents still high despite the ban and despite the reduction in cell phone use? I feel that is important information that is left out to really complete the study presented.

Sadly it could very well be that a percentage of people simply do not devote the attention to driving that they should and if one source of distraction is removed, they will simply find something else to occupy their eyes and attention while they drive.

Just my thoughts anyway...

You're right! It's still a distraction.