Julie Edgin drives to Salt Lake City three to four times a week for an internship. The 24-year-old BYU student said that on her drive she nearly always picks up her cell phone, scrolls down the contact list and speed dials her mom, dad, sister, roommates or friends.

The conversation helps pass the 35-minute drive, she said.

“While talking on my cell phone, I can’t remember how I got from Point A to Point B because I wasn’t really coherent,” Edgin said. “When other people talk on cell phones, I notice they slow down and when I get annoyed and pass them, I see them chatting away on their cell.”

With an increase in the proliferation and use of cell phones, many drivers may be in danger of accidents caused by distraction, and although countries around the world have banned the use of cell phones while driving, the United States has not passed any legislation.

Three states have passed bills banning hand-held cell phone use while driving. In Utah, bills have been proposed, but none have passed.

Cell phone use in the United States increased to 5 percent in 2004, compared to 3 percent in 2000, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During any typical daylight moment in 2004, 800,000 drivers on the road were holding cell phones to their ears.

Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association estimated that there were almost 170 million U.S. cell phone subscribers in 2004.

Globally, countries that have banned cell phone use while driving include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Botswana, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Bob Kelley, Verizon Wireless media manager said there is a higher volume of traffic on cellular network during drive times when people are in transit from home to work and work to home — from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“The penetration of cell phones in this country is phenomenal,” Kelley said. “Both the average of minutes of use per month plus the number of wireless devices is growing dramatically.”

He said Verizon Wireless supports the use of hands-free devices while driving.

“The primary responsibility for a person operating a car is to safely operate the vehicle,” Kelley said. “Education of customers is more prudent than legislation.”

“We see driving while on a cell phone as distractive driving,” said Sgt. Todd Royce, public information and education state coordinator for Utah. “Distractions such as cell phones, radio, eating and reading in cars are becoming a bigger problem in Utah and nationwide.”

Royce said the problem occurs when drivers do not focus on driving when in a car. He said when cell phones distract attention, reaction time slows and drivers have a hard time staying in a lane.

In Utah, police don’t directly cite people for distractive driving as much as they cite them for the effects of distractive driving, Royce said. The three main problems resulting from distractive driving are speed, improper lane travel and following too close.

“A law banning cell phones could limit accidents, but we hope to educate people on effects of cell phone usage or distractive driving for a change in driving habits,” Royce said.

He said if people limit distractions in vehicles and pay more attention to driving, the crash rate would reduce.

“When you’re driving and the cell phone rings,” he said, “let it go to voicemail.”

In Utah, two bills have been proposed to limit the use of cell phones while driving; one limited cell-phone use to hand-held devices and the other limited cell phone use by beginning drivers. The legislature has not voted for these bills because cell phones are considered one of many distractions that cannot be specifically regulated.

Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Salt Lake, proposed a bill to limit cell-phone use that was not adopted as a law or even heard on the floor.

“My bill to limit cell-phone use did not make it out of committee because of the philosophy of conservative Republicans who think government should not tell us what to do,” Moss said. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t have DUI citations, speed limits and many laws that create public safety.”

Moss said there is not a specific way to track cell-phone use while driving — unless there is a witness — so she doesn’t have any hard statistics to back up the danger.

“It will take some horrific accident where a friend or family member of a nonbeliever is injured or killed and where a cell phone is considered the direct cause,” she said. “Sadly it takes something this drastic to make change happen.”

Some legislators argue there are too many distractions in a car to legislate, but Moss said cell phones are universal and everyone has one, whereas not everyone is always putting on makeup, eating a sandwich or changing a CD in the car.

A study shows even using a hands-free cell phone doesn’t alleviate distraction. A University of Utah Department of Psychology study showed the distractions caused by talking on a hand-held phone or using a hands-free kit both present a far greater risk than any other distraction in a car, based on brain activity.

“It’s completely different from talking to a friend or listening to the radio,” Moss said. “I don’t find the radio distracting but when I’m talking on the phone — I’m an offender.”

Rod Ashby, director of administration for Utah Safety Council has conducted studies but cannot find congruencies, so said he cannot draw one single conclusion about the effects of talking on a cell phone while driving.

“Studies that I have done hit both ends,” Ashby said. “Some indicate that cell phone use takes drivers’ minds off of driving more than other activities, so laws should be passed. But other studies indicate that talking on a cell phone while driving takes drivers’ minds off driving, but not more than putting a CD in or make up on.”

“If you need to use a cell phone while driving, unless an extreme emergency, pull over to side of the road to use it, focus attention on the call and then get back on the road,” Ashby said. “The two or three minutes off the road are not worth sacrificing a much greater safety factor.”



Copyright Brigham Young University 13 Jun 2005