Most of us know we shouldn't be talking on a handheld cell phone while driving. But recent studies suggest that hands-free devices are just as dangerous on the road.
For example, a recent University of Utah study found that drivers engaging in a cell phone conversation on a headset were more likely to make errors behind the wheel than a driver talking to a front-seat passenger. "It doesn't matter what kind of cell phone device they are using, because the impairments are so large," said University of Utah professor David Strayer, who used a high-tech driving simulator for his experiment.
Strayer's study, published in December, concluded that conversations with a front-seat passenger can actually mitigate accidents, because the passenger can help observe road conditions and warn the driver of possible hazards. In Strayer's previous studies, he found driving while talking on a mobile device is "just as bad as driving drunk."
Another study from the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis estimated that 636,000 traffic accidents each year are caused by drivers using their cell phones, resulting in an estimated 2,600 deaths from car accidents because of cell phones.
One company is creating a device that could prevent car accidents caused by cell phone users.
Aegis Mobility, a Vancouver, Canada, company, has created a device that would reduce cell phone usage in cars. The product, DriveAssist, set to launch this fall with a major network carrier in the United States, will enable cell phones to automatically detect when a mobile user is driving.
Users can subscribe to DriveAssist's service, which manages incoming and outgoing calls, text messages and e-mails electronically. Callers get a message that the recipient is driving but can leave an emergency message alerting the driver to pull over and return the call.
"People find it hard to stop talking on their cell phones because we've been conditioned our entire life to answer the phone," said David Teater of Spring Lake, Michigan, one of the product's backers. Five years ago, Teater's seventh-grade son died in a daytime car accident after a woman talking on her cell phone ran a red light. "Her life was ruined as well," Teater said. "She had no idea what she was doing was so dangerous. The vast majority of drivers have no idea that it's dangerous."
I must admit that I still use my cell phone when I am driving. It is the hands free kind, but I have reduced the usage in the car significantly. I do text message in the car, but at stop lights or in parking lots. Mr. Teater is correct--you don't appreciate the magnitude of the danger of cell phone use while driving until a tragedy occurs.
Drive safely and be careful for those who don't. If you or a loved one has been injured in a Florida car accident, it is important that you talk with an attorney before talking with the insurance companies. Insurance companies have attorneys looking out for their best interest--so should you!
For more information about your rights after a Florida car accident, motorcycle accident, bicycle accident or other personal injury matter, click here to contact Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes. Attorney Noyes has been caring for clients for years and his Tampa Bay personal injury law firm has been battling insurance companies since 1955.
