New York Personal Injury News & NYC Legal Current Events

New York Times: Data Withheld About Distracted Driving And Car Accidents

We've all heard the rumors: talking on a cell phone while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. And in the past three years, a number of states have taken action and banned cell phone use or mobile texting either for all drivers or for teen drivers. However, this week two consumer advocacy groups have revealed that the federal government and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration muted a large-scale study that proved that cell phone use and texting while driving increased the number of car accidents, car accident injuries, and car accident fatalities.

The research, which consists of hundreds of pages of research dating back to 2003, shows that drivers talking on a phone are four times as likely to cause a car accident as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content. Drivers using cell phones or Blackberries were at 1.3 times greater risk of a crash or near crash, and at three times the risk when dialing or texting compared with other drivers without mobile distractions. Even hands-free devices - like those used in California by all drivers - cause driver distraction, the study showed.

According to the New York Times, some argued that the data was not released because it was incomplete, but others argued that the driver distraction information could have prevented car accidents and saved lives. Now that the driver distraction information is out, many believe it was suppressed for political reasons - and at the sacrifice of public safety.

Read More About New York Times: Data Withheld About Distracted Driving And Car Accidents...

back to top