Hands-Free Cell Phone Law Not Enough

It's a scene we're all familiar with: you're driving through downtown Highland Park and you see someone backing out of parking place, paying little attention to other cars, pedestrians and bicyclers. You catch yourself muttering, “Look at that idiot yakking away on the cell phone and not looking where he is going!” You shake your head and continue on your way.

And then answer your own cell phone.

Highland Park’s .  The law makes driving while using a hand-held cell phone a moving violation with penalties ranging from $50 for a first time offense to as much as $500 for multiple offenses. 

But for reasons outlined in this article, I am asking you to make the personal choice to completely give up cell phone use while driving, both hands-free and hand-held. Common sense and safety studies back up this argument. So even though the law says you can still chat hands-free, read on and you will see why you should be driving phone-free.

Common Sense

Would you let your child ride in a school bus with the driver talking on a cell phone even if it is hands-free? Do you feel safe when you get into a taxi and the cabbie is on the phone? How about truck drivers hauling tons of cargo on an eighteen-wheeler? These are trained drivers, yet there are laws in effect restricting their cell phone use because of the cognitive distraction such use causes. 

If you don’t feel comfortable being a passenger in a car when the driver is talking on the phone or texting, then you should realize that no one should be using cell phones while driving.

Driving while on a cell phone delays reaction time the same as driving under the influence.

According to a study from the University of Utah, drivers using any type of cell phone have the same reaction time as having a blood alcohol level of .08, the legal limit. Would you drive under the influence?

Driving while on a cell phone increases the risk of accident four to five times.

University of Toronto researchers discovered that cell phone users were four to five times more likely to have crashes than non-users.  Add in adverse weather conditions and that risk goes even higher.

Both hand-held and hands-free mobile phone use are equally distracting.

Cell phone units that allow the hands to be free offer no safety advantage over hand-held units.

An internal document by the US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that was obtained by the New York Times states:

“Evidence of general delay in information processing and degradations in driver performance ... are equivalent for hand-held and hands-free cell phone users.”

The document also points out that conversations with an actual passenger in a car can also be a distraction. The difference is, someone who's actually in the car can help keep you focused on the road just by reacting to things that happen like rain and traffic, things that a voice on the phone obviously can't do.

Set an example.

The best way to teach our children is by example. Put your phone in your jacket or purse and place it in the back seat of the car.  Make a point of telling your kids that you do not answer calls, text or even look at your phone while driving. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA), “The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.” 

Reminder:

The State of Illinois already prohibits teens from any type of cell phone use while driving. The best way to get our teens to follow the law is the set an example.

You are fooling yourself if you think just answering and not placing calls is safer.

The National Safety Council statistics show that incoming calls are the culprits in 42% of all cell phone related crashes. In fact, the NSC states that about 1.6 million traffic crashes (28% of all crashes) per year are linked to motorists talking or texting on cell phones. 

What I am asking you is not easy. It is not convenient. In fact, it will certainly change your lifestyle a bit. You may argue that you will lose precious productive hours if you can’t get make calls or check voicemail while on the road. But you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it? Is that call so important that you are willing to put yourself and others at risk? Why not change your mindset and begin to view your car as your own personal sanctuary? Use your commute as a time to clear your mind. Hold those minutes as sacred and people will learn to respect your choice. 

So I urge you to please put away those phones while driving. Set an example for your children, and help make our roads safer.