In brief: Although states and now the federal government are proposing and enforcing bans on cell phone use while driving, the nation's leading insurance research firm says they don't work.
The full story
The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended a national cell phone ban for drivers (usually called "distraction laws"). The impetus for these bans is usually road safety, citing driver distractions as a leading cause of accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the bans don't work.
The IIHS is the nation's leading automotive insurance research group. It's funded entirely by auto insurers and it says that research shows that banning cell phone use while driving has little or no impact on the number of accidents or fatalities.
In states and jurisdictions where the bans are in effect, says IIHS, the ban on cell phone use has reduced it's listing as a cause for accidents, but has not reduced the number of accidents or fatalities and in some areas, the number of accidents actually went up.
"The lesson," says IIHS spokesman Russ Radar, "may be that it's not the phones causing the problem. It's drivers. Distracted driving is much more than just phones, so focusing on phones doesn't deal with the full spectrum of things that distract."
Summing up
Texting or talking while driving is proven to be a distraction and increases chances of getting in an accident. The problem being shown here, however, is that it's just one of many distractions and laws banning cell phone use by drivers are ineffective.
Photo credits: Stock
