State Senator Involved in Car Crash: Cell Phone to Blame
We’re all guilty of it. Whether it’s making appointments, dialing into a conference call, or simply attempting to alleviate the monotony of a wearisome commute by catching up with friends, one cannot deny the convenience of being able to conduct one’s professional and personal life while driving thanks to the advent of the cell phone.
Carole Migden, a state senator from San Francisco, can attest to the fact that there is a price to pay for convenience. In an attempt to reach for her cell phone en route to a noon meeting in Marin County last Friday, the senator rear-ended another vehicle with her SUV at a red signal light intersection. While the senator escaped injury, the driver of the Honda sedan she hit was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released a report last year, stating that about 80 percent of auto accidents and two-thirds of near crashes occur within three seconds of something distracting a driver, citing cell phone use as the most common distraction for drivers.
And despite the fact that the “Hands-Free” cell phone bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006 will specifically prohibit the use of cell phones by drivers unless the driver is using a hands-free device (starting July 1, 2008), a research study conducted by University of Utah psychologists reveals that motorists who talk on hands-free cellular phones are equally as impaired as those who use hand-held cellular phones, citing the conversation itself—not just the physical act of holding the cell phone—as the cause of distraction.
The study goes on further to compare the impairment of a motorist driving while talking on a cell phone to that of one driving while intoxicated. Cell phone users were found to be 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than undistracted drivers, which is about the same for drivers with a 0.08 blood-alcohol level. (http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1)
So, although it’s tempting, instead of rifling through that purse or dashboard compartment to schedule a meeting or just to chat, do your best to wait until you’re safely parked to avoid an unnecessary accident. Our roadways will be safer for it.
