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Save A Life, Hang Up Your Cell Phone
That’s the name of a campaign that a San Diego man has started to get people off their phones while driving.
He’s even selling bumper stickers to raise awareness and spread the word.
“Drivers are distracted when they’re on the cell phone. They drive erratically, often ignoring other drivers around them, while they dangerously move in and out of lanes,” Michael Schriner said. “They are an accident waiting to happen.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, using a cell phone can pose “a serious cognitive distraction and degrade driver performance.”
NHTSA research has yet to quantify crashes caused by cell phone use, but driver distraction from all sources contributes to about 25 percent of traffic crashes. Available research also shows that using a hands-free device is still a distraction because it can “cause a driver to miss key visual and audio cues needed to avoid a crash.”
Other studies, including one by Harvard University’s Center for Risk Analysis, are more definitive. The Harvard report says about 2,600 people are killed annually by drivers talking on cell phones.
Florida lawmakers have considered cell phone restrictions, but not done anything to make it illegal. A bill that was presented in this year’s session also would have made it illegal to send text messages while driving.
The bill made it as far as a Senate committee, but no vote was taken because there was no companion measure in the House. Members of the Senate Transportation Committee also said they were given conflicting information on how distracting it is to talk on the phone while behind the wheel.
To learn more about Schriner’s crusade, check out his website, www.hangupyourcellphone.com.
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Comments
By Yappin'
May 24, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
Checkout MythBusters episode 33: Cell Phones vs. Drunk Driving.
It might not be a ‘scientific study’, but does confirm what I see almost daily on the road, i.e. that talking on a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.
By NIDIA GONZALEZ
May 25, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this
VERY TRUE AND I AGREE, CELL PHONES IS A CUSE OF DISTRACTION, AND PEOPLE JUST DON’T SEE HOW DANGEROUS IT IS.. HANG UP THE CELL PHONES. BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE LOOSES THERE LIVES