cell phone distractions cause 2,600 traffic deaths and 330,000 accidents

A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cell phone distractions cause 2,600 traffic deaths and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries, every year, in the United States. In the Philippines, records from the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) show that in 2006, cell phone use while driving ranked as the 12th most common cause of traffic accidents. From 2001 to 2006, traffic accidents caused by cell phone use while driving increased more than five times in the Philippines, the highest increase among causes of traffic accidents.

The theory that hands-free sets are safer has been challenged by the findings of several studies. A study by researchers at the University of Utah published in 2006 concluded that talking on a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk, even if the phone is a hands-free model. In March 2008, research conducted by the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that drivers listening to cell phones equipped with hands-free devices had 37 percent less amount of brain activity associated with driving. The brain’s parietal lobe, which assimilates sensory information and is critical for spatial sense and navigation, and the occipital lobe, which processes visual information, showed less activity.

Driving while texting appears to be even worse. In a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study published only in July this year, the results showed that texting while driving is 23 times more likely to result in a crash than driving undistracted. During the study, some drivers were noted to have traveled as much as the length of a football field without their eyes on the road!

There are now 40 countries worldwide restricting or banning the use of cell phones while driving. Sadly, the Philippines is not one of them. The Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) has already issued a statement strongly supporting the ban on the use of cell phones while driving a motor vehicle, whether the phones are hand-held or hands-free. Many appear unaware, however, that the MMDA has an existing ban, issued since 2007, on the use of cell phones and hand-held radios while operating or driving motor vehicles in Metro Manila. The cities of Makati and Cebu have also imposed the same ban. Hopefully, our congressmen and senators will find time to finally enact a law that will effectively make the ban nationwide.


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