As industry leaders gather in San Francisco this week they may wish to consider refining what can best be described as a muddled message on cell phones and safe driving.
Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board urged states to prohibit inexperienced teenage drivers from using cell phones while they are learning how to operate motor vehicles. Highway crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year-olds, according to NTSB. The agency added restricting wireless communications devices for young learners to its “most wanted list” of transportation-safety improvements.
A number of states already are headed in that direction. Not a bad idea. Research, government statistics and common sense prudently suggest teen drivers need all the skill and concentration they can muster to avoid trouble on the road. It’s true for the rest of us too, but more so for young drivers.
CTIA, the wireless carrier trade group, professes to be an avid supporter of safe driving and believes education-not legislation-is the right prescription to curb the dangers of talking on phones while driving. I generally agree, though teen cell-phone driving restrictions ring true to me.
Broader state laws banning use of mobile phones by drivers-while permitting wireless conversations behind the wheel via hands-free devices-have been deemed by government and university researchers as ineffective and possibly even more dangerous than the former.
More than a few government and university studies conclude talking on a mobile phone while driving increases the risk of an accident.
CTIA supports safe driving in public-service announcements, but ultimately undercuts itself on its Web site-the industry’s cyber clearing-house-by minimizing driver cell-phone use as a safety risk. The trade group begins by saying cell phones, after all, “are just one of many potential distractions while driving” and goes on to back up this generalization by pointing to data compiled by the Automobile Association of America, the National Council of State Legislatures and the respected AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies. But what about research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the University of Utah and Johns Hopkins University?
What’s worse, the federal government is doing little education or outreach on cell phones and driving. It’s far too important an issue to be handicapped with an ambiguous message.
Laudably, No. 1 Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has taken a responsible, leadership position on cell-phone use by teen drivers. The rest of the industry should take note.
