Government Cover Up for Cell Phone Driving Laws

It makes sense. Talking on the phone while driving is a distraction and leads to more crashes. So does text messaging.

So, how come there are only 17 states that have banned text messaging while driving and only 7 states that require hands-free devices for talking on the phone?  Seven?  I’ve had mine for so long now in California that it seems as common as the seatbelt law.  What is the rest of the country waiting for?

Well, it turns out there were actually some facts behind this decision, not just logic.

In 2003, researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a long-term study to determine the safety risk caused by cell phone use behind the wheel.  The study never happened, but they still managed to document hundreds of pages of research on the subject.

Amazingly, that research was never made public.  The NHTSA was urged to withhold the research so as “to avoid antagonizing members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data but not to lobby states.” 

“We’re looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety.

Well, after some successful Freedom of Information Act work by a few key groups, that data came out two weeks back.  How bad is it to use a cell phone in the car?

Amazingly, the research shows that there are “negligible differences” in accident risk whether you’re holding the phone or not. Hands-free devices may even enhance the danger by lulling you into complacency.

It is the conversation that causes the problems.  Their studies show that “drivers who talk on cellphones are four times more likely to be in a crash and drive just as erratically as people with an 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level”.

In one study cited by the highway safety agency, “drivers found it easier to drive drunk than to drive while using a phone, even when it was hands-free.”

Scary stuff, yet down deep you know it is true.  Personally, I think driving is incredibly dangerous without any distractions.  Every driver thinks they are a good driver.  No drivers are actually good drivers.  I am probably one of the most defensive drivers my age and I have near misses all of the time.

Progress has to be made.  I know in time these laws will slowly go into affect and improve our lives.  However, if we want to get it done quickly, these distractions need to be outlawed with tiered fines as punishment for drivers.  Here are some suggestions:

• Listening to the radio: $5 fine
• Talking to someone else in your car: $10 fine
• Smoking: $25 fine
• Hands-free phone call: $50 fine
• Holding your phone on a phone call: $500 fine
• Drunk driving: $1000 fine
•  Texting while driving: $2000 fine

Heck, might as well throw in the seatbelt  and other laws as well.

• No Seatbelt: $1000 fine
• Driving a gas guzzler: $500 fine
• Driving a 1980′s truck drunk while texting without no seatbelt on: The policeman has the right to crash into your car, sending you through the windshield, and thus giving Darwinian natural selection a little nudge.

Not sure what the point is here, to be honest.  The article took an abrupt turn back around La Cienega.  Sorry, I missed the first exit while I was typing this into my Blackberry.

*image source: gizmodo.com

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