San Diego Personal Injury Attorney
Car Accidents and Cell Phone Use
banning hands-held cell phone devices may not make driving on our roads any safer.
In late 2009, we started learning more of the truth about distracted driving when a car driver was using a cell phone or texting. We also started learning that some of the research had been known since the mid 1990's.
Virginia Tech conducted a study using advanced video and electronic information capturing devices. Other researchers like Michigan and University of Utah use simulators.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) had silenced their own research for over six years that showed it is the act of talking and driving itself that make cell phones dangerous regardless of whether using hand-held or hands-free devices. In fact, it took a Freedom of Information Act Request to have the facts released.
The NHTSA National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, mission statement is: "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle related crashes."
The NHTSA researchers actually drafted a letter to the governors of US states because of moves in some states to require hands-free cell phone laws. Researchers intended in 2003 to warn these governors that hands free laws may not solve the problem, and could even make the problem worse as drivers using hands-free devices may actually talk more frequently and longer on their cell phones.
However, this letter to the Governors was never sent. In fact the NHTSA concealed their own research themselves because of pressures of Congress and the Department of Transportation, and fears of the powerful and profitable cell phone industry.
The LA Times obtain this NHTSA letter that was never sent, as reported in an article from March 25, 2008, "Indeed, federal highway safety officials drafted a letter from then-Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to the nation's governors in 2003 to warn against laws like California's that allow hands-free calling. For reasons never fully explained, the letter was neither signed by Secretary Mineta nor sent. According to the bluntly worded letter, obtained by The Times, "overwhelmingly, research worldwide indicates that both hand-held and hands-free phones increase the risk of a crash." Not only was that letter not sent, but the fatality estimates of the NHTSA were also not made public. According to one former NHTSA official, no longer with the Department of Transportation, "They don't put the numbers out there because the numbers make it a lot harder to explain why you haven't been more active," said Bill Walsh, former senior associate administrator of the agency."
According to the Mother Jones October 31,2008 article:
[...] Researchers had even coined a term—"inattention blindness"—to describe how a phone conversation could seize the mind like a tractor beam, dulling reaction times and situational awareness, particularly when the topic was complex or emotionally fraught. Paul Green, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, likened the mental demands to those of circus jugglers spinning plates on the ends of sticks. "You've got so much information from the roadway, and so much information from the phone, that it's just too much to deal with,'' he said."
In fact, texting may be worse than cell phones or hands-free phone conversations. In addition, many emergency vehicle drivers, police officers, ambulance drivers, truck drivers, regularly use an in-vehicle computer often termed a "mobile data terminal" which gives the truck driver GPS directions on a map while driving a big rig, or helps a police office or ambulance driver locate a route to emergency call while driving en route and reading the computer screen. According to CNN Tech News, "Truckers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to crash or get into a near-wreck than an undistracted driver, while car drivers face the greatest danger when dialing their cell phones, a transportation study found. The likelihood of a crash due to cell-phone use disproportionately affected truckers in comparison with car drivers, according to the study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute."
In January 2010 semi-truck drivers, bus drivers, and others employed as professional drivers were banned from texting while driving by new laws. However, most law enforcement and ambulance drivers continue to drive with their MDC - mobile data computers, which are in effect also texting but considered indispensable as they rely on this information source to do their jobs. In fact, a recent March 2011 Austin, Texas court trial draws attention to this ongoing issue because the police officer severely injured a motorcycle rider while the officer was trying to enter information into his Panasonic Toughbook computer while driving."Last year, in Austin, Texas, a police officer diverted his attention from driving to enter information into his computer. This caused a crash that led to life-altering injuries for the motorcycle rider he collided with. The accident occurred on May 29, 2010. The motorcycle rider, Louis Olivier, 74, was riding his cycle on Lamplight Village Avenue in Austin. The police officer, from the Austin Police Department, failed to yield the right of way, ran a stop sign, and collided with Olivier in the intersection of Magazine Street and Lamplight Village Avenue."
San Diego personal injury attorney Dean A. Goetz is an accomplished trial attorney wth a career of demonstrated results fighting every step of the way for his clients.
If you have you been injured or involved in a car accident because of a distracted driver Contact San Diego personal injury attorney Dean now for a free no obligation initial legal consultation so that you understand your rights and can focus on getting better.
