Effectiveness of drivers' cellphone ban is debatable

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Officials admit there's too little data to determine whether the ban has prevented accidents, but say the deterrent factor is strong enough to support its continuation.

By Steve Hymon

January 3, 2009

While traffic officials applaud a new law that makes it illegal for drivers to read, write or send text messages, they admit there is little evidence that last year's ban against talking on a hand-held cellphone has actually prevented accidents.

Since holding a phone to your ear was made a traffic violation last July, the California Highway Patrol has written about 48,000 tickets, fining drivers from $20 to $50.

City police and sheriff's departments across the state have likely written thousands more, officials say, and sometimes charge higher fines. The Santa Monica Police Department issued about 1,200 tickets in 2008.

But just how effective the law has been no one can say, just as they can't say speeding tickets necessarily keep drivers from stepping too hard on the gas.

Santa Monica Police Sgt. Larry Horn, who often patrols on a motorcycle, believes the hands-free law has made a difference.

"Six months ago, everywhere I looked someone who was driving was on the phone," he said. "From the saddle, I'm seeing less people on the phone now."

Six states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws against using hand-held cellphones while driving and another six states have given local jurisdictions the option of prohibiting it, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

However, it wasn't hard this week to gather a few scary tales about drivers who appeared to be distracted with a cellphone pressed to one ear.

About three months ago, Laura Silverman said, she was walking through a Vons parking lot in Tarzana when a green SUV "barreled" backward out of its parking space, grazing her slightly. The driver was using a cellphone.

"I wasn't hurt," said Silverman, 52, an artist, writer and blogger. "But I said, 'Why don't you get off the phone when you're driving,' and she looked at me and said, 'Why don't you get your fat [posterior] out of the way!' I was a little stunned."

Traffic safety advocates have long argued that cellphone laws are needed. In 2007, eight people died and 534 suffered some type of injury in crashes where hand-held cellphones were partially to blame, according to the CHP. Those deaths made up only two-tenths of a percent of the state's traffic fatalities that year.

Still, around the nation there is a paucity of data on the role cellphones have played in crashes.

Police in New York, the first state to pass a hands-free law, issued 1.28 million tickets for cellphone violations from 2001 to 2008, according to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. More than 262,000 citations had been doled out in the state in the first 10 months of 2008.

Though the number of citations in New York has risen each year since the law took effect, so has the number of accidents and injuries in which hand-held cellphones were considered a primary factor, from 174 in 2002 to 415 in 2007.

Police and safety advocates point out that data on such crashes aren't perfect. Most information is gleaned from motorists involved in crashes and may not be fully accurate -- and police, particularly for minor accidents, often don't have the time or inclination to investigate.

Still, New York police believe their hands-free law is useful because it discourages something they don't want people to do. "It's like speeding or any other violation -- there are so many vehicles out there, it's a law of averages whether you get caught or not and people are willing to take the chance," said Lt. Glenn Miner of the New York State Police. "At least there's a deterrent."

Officials with the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety say the deterrent works, but only if law enforcement agencies remain vigilant. The group tried to measure whether cellphone use by drivers had dropped by counting drivers they saw using cellphones in New York and the District of Columbia before and after the hands-free laws were adopted.

Cellphone use initially dropped in both places, then rose again in New York while staying lower in Washington.

"Enactment of the law is just the first step," said Anne McCartt, the Institute's senior vice president for research. "Unless the law is enforced and the enforcement is publicized, compliance is hard to achieve."

McCartt said several studies show that hands-free versus hand-held cellphone use may be a moot point because it's the distraction of the conversation that's the real impediment to driving, not how motorists are holding the phone.

California Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who sponsored the state's hands-free law, said in an interview this week that he wanted the law to stay in place for some time to see how it worked before making any changes. He said he sees fewer people clutching cellphones on his 120-mile weekly commute to Sacramento. "I also still see people speeding, but I think it's a good thing we have speed limits," he said.

Of course, there is a pantheon of distractions that avail themselves to motorists each day, from racy billboards along highways to blaring radios or conversations with passengers. The cellphone, however, seems to be different because it can connect users to the whole world instantly.

Although many other unwise activities are not explicitly outlawed in California -- eating a hamburger, applying makeup, using an electric razor while driving, for example -- police have the option of citing motorists for reckless driving. Banning a common activity such as talking on a cellphone is one way to directly target a particularly troublesome behavior, police say.

"I'll do it," said Bill Condit, 60, a truck driver who was interviewed Friday at a Costco in Burbank. "I'll take a call" -- in speaker mode -- "and say 'I'll call you back.' If it's important, I'll have a conversation."

Condit believes that the cellphone is a distraction and that the hands-free law is a good one. But, he says, sometimes work calls need his immediate attention.

Indirectly, the state may have put one more deterrent in place this year.

Although a citation for using a hand-held cellphone or sending a text message still won't cost motorists any points on their driving records -- something that could boost their insurance rates -- the price of a ticket increased Thursday because of a little-known new California law.

A bill passed by the Legislature this summer mandates that an extra $35 be tacked onto the price of driving citations to help pay for courthouse improvements. That means that a first-time offender who gets caught using a hand-held phone or text-messaging in Los Angeles County would be fined $107.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ha...story?track=rss

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Talking on a cell phone without a hands free has been illegal in Jersey for years. I've yet to hear of a single person who has actually been ticketed for it though. And i see azzholes on the street yapping away all the time.

[Ling Ling 22]

I agree that the effectiveness of cellphone bans is debatable. Although NY was the first state to have such a ban, many of my NYC friends simply ask me to hold on so they can put their phone down while passing the police. It's been a couple of years in Illinois, and most of the people I know here have a BlueTooth device in their ear or in their car. That said, as the article states, the real problem is the distraction of the conversation...not how you're holding the phone.

Most of the time when I pass a left-lane-hog, I'm not surprised to see a cellphone glued to their face. Some people get on the phone and their car, mind and other bodily functions go into autopilot mode. For some people, having their hands free just means they can read the paper, apply makeup, juggle a burger-fries-coffee, or do something else while driving and having a conversation. The reality is, some people can't walk and chew gum at the same time, and some can. The bans are a good idea in theory, but less effective than needed. This is 2009, why don't we have personal jet-packs, and cars that navigate by themselves?

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

Talking on a cell phone without a hands free has been illegal in Jersey for years. I've yet to hear of a single person who has actually been ticketed for it though. And i see azzholes on the street yapping away all the time.

it's not illegal in kansas, however, it is on base. and the military police love to catch you on your cell. they even have unmarked cars just for that.

[john & jean 37]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

[DeadPoolX 9]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

[LorriQ 0]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

I'll have to reply to this after I finish this call, and while I am putting mascara on using the rearview mirror and honking at the guy with the newspaper spread out over his steering wheel while crusing at 65mph. Multi-tasking? What is that?

[john & jean 37]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

I'll have to reply to this after I finish this call, and while I am putting mascara on using the rearview mirror and honking at the guy with the newspaper spread out over his steering wheel while crusing at 65mph. Multi-tasking? What is that?

yeah I KNOW YOU, THAT WAS ME, THAT YOU JUST RAN OFF THE ROAD!!!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

women seem to ignore the ban where I live

[LorriQ 0]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

I'll have to reply to this after I finish this call, and while I am putting mascara on using the rearview mirror and honking at the guy with the newspaper spread out over his steering wheel while crusing at 65mph. Multi-tasking? What is that?

yeah I KNOW YOU, THAT WAS ME, THAT YOU JUST RAN OFF THE ROAD!!!

[john & jean 37]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

I'll have to reply to this after I finish this call, and while I am putting mascara on using the rearview mirror and honking at the guy with the newspaper spread out over his steering wheel while crusing at 65mph. Multi-tasking? What is that?

yeah I KNOW YOU, THAT WAS ME, THAT YOU JUST RAN OFF THE ROAD!!!

[LorriQ 0]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

This should elicit some interesting responses...

I'll have to reply to this after I finish this call, and while I am putting mascara on using the rearview mirror and honking at the guy with the newspaper spread out over his steering wheel while crusing at 65mph. Multi-tasking? What is that?

yeah I KNOW YOU, THAT WAS ME, THAT YOU JUST RAN OFF THE ROAD!!!

So explain to me how it is okay to read the morning paper while driving? (BTW don't wear make-up! LOL)

[Niels Bohr 72]

Over here in NE, there are many near misses (accidents nearly occurred) from cellphone users. Neglecting stop signs, traffic lights, no turn on reds, switching lanes on the highway. I know because I am the maneuver of these accidents. I don't use the cellphone and always alert. Maybe 100x a day I witness 100% of the driver cutting me off at the stop sign, traffic light, switching lanes are cellphone users. I am the one who had to steer my car to avoid the accident, not the cellphone user.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[rocks 494]

maybe this law should be for female drivers only, they are no good at multitasking, and no good at driving either!!!

i don't get it. women are nearly always the culprit for drifting and swerving while driving and using their cell fone... and yet we get cheaper car insurance??

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Over here in NE, there are many near misses (accidents nearly occurred) from cellphone users.

Over here in NJ, there are many near misses (accidents nearly occurred) from people driving cars.