You might have heard about the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) proposed ban on all cell phone use behind the wheel for all drivers in America. Some people have criticized the government for over-reaching, but the NTSB examined some crucial data before making its recommendation.
- The NTSB looked at a 2001 study that showed conversations on cell phones are more of a distraction than the device itself
- A 2005 study showed that when young drivers operate cell phones behind the wheel, their reaction times slow to those of an elderly person
- One year later, researchers found that drivers that talk on the phone while driving are just as impaired as intoxicated drivers are
Another federal survey found that drivers agree that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous when other drivers do it, but not when they do it. That logic seems to suggest that most drivers think they can handle multi-tasking behind the wheel. With distracted driving causing up to 8,000 car crashes every day in America, according to AAA, drivers are not as good at multi-tasking as they might think.
Have you seen a distracted driver on the roads today?
