Mobiles whilst driving, the real facts

[lsprewell]

Quoted from : http://www.amta.org.au/amta/site/amta/downloads/pdfs 2005 web/AMTA submission - mobile phone use by inexperienced drivers - an industry perspective.pdf



"A 1998 study8 analysed data from 223,137 traffic accidents occurring between 1992 and 1995 in the United States. Information on collision characteristics and mobile phone involvement for each fatality was compared with the same information for each non-fatality accident, which were used as controls. Statistically adjusting for other collision variables, such as age, gender, alcohol use, speed, inattention and driving left of centre, an approximate nine-fold increased risk was reported for a fatality given the use of a mobile phone during the accident. An approximate two-fold increased risk for a fatality was found given the presence of a mobile phone in the vehicle. However, combined effects of reported phone use, driving to the left of centre and inattention increased the risk of a fatal collision more than phone use did by itself. This analysis reported a statistical, but not necessarily a causal relationship."

AS USUALL ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS

[lsprewell]

"Interestingly, the study found both radios and CD players cause more accidents than the mobile phone."

And so on and so on......

[CSL]

good info but have you ever tried to call someone and put it on loadspeakers while driving etc?? you cant concentrate **** all

[lsprewell]

yes, I think that there is no real difference between handsfree and putting the phone to your ear, its just a convenience thing having handsfree.. They both distract a driver as do a million other things, its all just a REVENUE scam from the government to make more money of road users.


These results reinforce the conclusion that mobile phone use is far less a risk than tasks routinely performed behind the wheel.

[lsprewell]

Enforceability
The difficulty of enforcing a mobile phone ban for probationary drivers could make it unworkable and may in fact lead to young drivers taking risks to use mobile phones surreptitiously to avoid detection.
Such a restriction may lead young drivers to increase the use of other dangerous and illegal behaviours such as text messaging, which they are already more inclined to do, in order to avoid detection from police.
Other countries which have attempted a ban on mobile phones while driving have faced unsurmountable problems with enforcement.
For example, in November 2002, a French parliamentary report found that the only known health risk of mobile phones was the fourfold risk of traffic accidents and recommended the French driving code should include a provision preventing the use of mobile phones while driving.
However, the ban was never put in place because of the concern that the French police would find it impossible to enforce because they could not tell the difference between a driver talking to a passenger or themselves or if they were singing along to the radio.
Similar enforcement issues were experienced in Britain prior to the development of their laws restricting hand-held use of mobile phones while driving. In 2002, following extensive media reporting of the risks of mobile phone use in cars, British police decided to strenuously enforce existing laws requiring motorists to be in proper control of their vehicles. The media reported that drivers who sing along with their car stereos would risk being pulled over by police.31
Australia is not unique in the experience that a small percentage of drivers continue to use hand-held mobile phones despite laws restricting their use. Following the introduction of laws in the state of New York making it a traffic violation to talk on a hand-held mobile phone while driving, the first such law in the USA, researchers observed a substantial short-term effect.32 Hand-held use declined significantly from 2.3 per cent before the law to 1.1 per cent in the first few months after the law. In Connecticut, an adjacent state with no such law, the usage rate of 2.9 per cent did not change significantly from before or after the law. In a follow-up study33 one year later, hand-held use was back up to 2.1 percent. The researchers concluded that vigorous enforcement campaigns accompanied by publicity are necessary to achieve longer-term compliance.

[lsprewell]

I REST MY CASE!!!!!!

Long live common sense!!

[Shaneus]

Anything that takes your eyes off the road (SMS, Changing CD, Having a purve ect.) is going to be more dangerous then holding a phone to your ear. Driving deaf is more then capable, where driving blind is impossible.

[coolvxss]

The other day i nearly rear ended somebody because i was checking petrol prices as i was driving past a servo. the petrol just went up to $1.47 so i had to have another glance to make sure im not seeing things and a car decided to stop infront of me. just missed him. I blame petrol prices for that one haha.

[Morton]

pff, I don't see how talking on the mobile would be more dangerous than talking to a passenger in the back seat, smoking a cigarette, tuning the radio station, or putting on your makeup and doing your hair like you see some people doing in peak-hour traffic. These bans are all band-aid fixes, like 50 zones in built-up areas, and 40 zones on main roads near schools where you -never- see children.

[lsprewell]

Amen to that!!!