Safety Tips

Will the Nation, Like California, Hang Up and Drive?
By Scott Memmer
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The stereotype of a California driver has always included a cell phone held to the ear, but that might change soon. A law banning the use of handheld cellular phones while operating a motor vehicle in California will take effect July 1, 2008.

Officially known as the California Wireless Telephone Automobile Safety Act of 2006, the new Golden State law mandates a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. California drivers will still be permitted to have a wireless conversation while driving if they use hands-free technology, such as a Bluetooth device.

In signing the bill, Governor Schwarzenegger said, "The simple fact is it's dangerous to talk on your cell phone while driving. CHP [California Highway Patrol] data show that cell phones are the No. 1 cause of distracted-driving accidents. The 'Hands-Free' cell phone bill will save lives."

But it's not that simple. All the safety experts we interviewed for this story insisted that switching from handheld to hands-free phones will not negate the inherent risk of driving while having a cell phone conversation.

"It's the intellectual distraction of the conversation itself that's at fault," said Mantill Williams, AAA's national director of public affairs.

Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), agreed. "The risk is the same whether using hands-free or handheld," Rader said. "Our study in 2005 confirmed that the risk of injury was four times higher [than not phoning while driving], whether using hands-free or handheld."

IIHS's data lines up exactly with a 1997 study by the University of Toronto, which concluded that "the risk of collision when using a cellular phone was four times higher than the risk when the cellular phone was not being used."

Driver distraction, which includes cell phone use, is estimated to be responsible for a minimum of 25 percent of all motor vehicle accidents. But that estimate is quite low, according to AAA's Williams. Another expert, who chose to remain off the record, said that that figure "could be much closer to 50 percent."

Rader was quick to add that there might even be a hidden danger in laws like California's. "[These laws] don't take into account the full scope of the problem — and they imply that hands-free is safe, when it is not."

Still, many experts consider the jury still out on cell phone safety, if for no other reason than the scarcity of data. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which tracks such data, as of June 2005, only 12 states — California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin — had published data on the number of crashes that cited phones or CB radios as their cause. Also, according to NCSL, as of 2005, 39 states had proposed some form of distracted-driver legislation, most with provisions concerning handheld phones.

But things are heating up. Bills that completely ban cell phone usage while driving are pending in four states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Handheld bills are pending in Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio.

Where does this leave us? If "As California goes, so goes the nation" is still true, the new law could have a long-reaching ripple effect across the cellular landscape of America. Or maybe not. At present, only four other states — Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York — have similar laws on the books, and many prognosticators are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the impact of the new California law.

The IIHS's Rader remained uncertain. "It's hard to know if it's a trend," Rader said. "Although there are several cell phone bills pending in various states, the IIHS only tracks laws that have already passed."

Do such laws even make a difference? Stephen Jones, a public information officer with the New Jersey State Patrol, remained decidedly skeptical about the Garden State's 2004 law. "People are still using handhelds far too much," he stated. This, in a state where the fines are much heftier — $100 to $250 — than California's slap on the wrist.

Officials at both New York's State Patrol and Department of Motor Vehicles offices refused to go on record about New York's law, stating only that in 2005 all police agencies wrote a combined 252,671 citations.

"Bans are popular with politicians, but hard to enforce," AAA's Williams commented.

While most experts in the field remain uncertain about the proliferation of such legislation across the nation, all stand united on one view: The new California law — and bills similar to it — falls far short of dealing with the true nature of the problem.

Fairley Mahlum, communications director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, stated, "A hands-free law does not solve the problem. Our research shows that it is not just the physical distraction of the cell phone, but the mental distraction. A hands-free law only addresses the physical."

As research continues to mount suggesting that any form of cell phone use is incompatible with safe driving (including a controversial University of Utah study which equated the risk of cell phone use with driving drunk), laws such as California's new measure may be seen as a mostly toothless token.

Joseph E. Farren, director of public affairs for the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA), stated, somewhat predictably, "We are always concerned when distracted-driving laws are crafted in such a narrow fashion. Addressing just one angle is not likely to make people better drivers." In other words, there are many distractions inside the vehicle, including eating, smoking and caring for children. Why single out cell phones?

The CTIA doesn't actively oppose hands-free bills. It may turn out, in the end, that such laws will benefit the wireless phone carriers by boosting sales of Bluetooth-enabled phones and their car integration kits.

The irony of the new California law caused one AAA representative to chuckle in disgust when discussing the powerful cell phone lobby. "They won again," he said. "This gives them one more thing to sell."

Related article: Driven to Distraction: Cell Phones in the Car