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July 13, 2006
CELLS PHONES WORSE THAN DRUNK DRIVING?
Forbes reports that a new study finds driving on cell phones worse than driving while drunk.
University of Utah researchers found that maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, Forbes.com said.
The research report, which appears in the summer issue of the journal Human Factors, found that under test driving conditions, drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. There were three accidents among those talking on cell phones -- all of them involving a rear-ending of the pace car. In contrast, there were no accidents recorded among participants who were drunk, or the sober, cell-phone-free group. In the test, 40 drivers followed a pace car. Some were drunk, some were sober and talking on cell phones, and some were sober and not on cell phones.
Posted by MVHAP at July 13, 2006 02:51 PM