mellowtigger | don't drive with cell/pda (Reply)

I've found some interesting news today about the safety of driving while using a cell/pda. No surprise. It's really UNsafe. Stop doing it. :(

First, a report by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute "found that texting while driving increased the risk of a crash or a near crash by more than 23 times. " More specifically, here are some of the highlights of the dangers (of a crash or near-crash) while driving a car or other light vehicle:

1.4 times higher risk when reaching for an object
1.3 times higher risk when talking or listening
2.8 times higher risk when dialing
23 times higher risk when texting

They found that "hands-free headsets favored by a growing number of jurisdictions only partly resolve the problem". The main issue is that the driver's eyes and attention are not directly on the road ahead of the vehicle, so the conversation itself is a distraction from proper focus.

Second, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had its own evidence of significant risk back in 2002, but it withheld the information until recently revealed by Freedom Of Information Act requests. NHTSA had prepared a report intending to educate state governors about the extreme risk of these activities and to encourage states not to sign legislation that permitted it. Their superiors, however, feared angering members of Congress by sidestepping federal authority, and so the report was squashed.

This is the kind of politics-before-science-or-safety that really intensely annoys me. What if we just do away with politicians and make the function a public service like jury duty?