STRAIGHT TALK LAW BLOG: THE CELL PHONE DRIVING LAW BACKLASH BY SEATTLE PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER JASON EPSTEIN

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Do new Distracted Driving laws really work?

In my recent article, “Tough New Cell Phone Driving Laws,” I mention the results of a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute which claims that new legislation against distracted driving hasn’t really been effective.

They studied auto accident claims in four states where laws against cell phone usage have been passed and compared the rate of auto accidents before and after the enacting of the new ordinances.

Their findings? Virtually no difference in the auto accident rate.

This was the first study of its kind, as laws against distracted driving are still relatively recent – but already some critics of this kind of legislation have seized upon this study as conclusive proof that distracted driving laws don’t work.

It’s incredibly early to make that kind of assessment. Most traffic safety researchers say the study is far from conclusive. Steven Bloch, a senior researcher at the Automobile Club of Southern California, said the sample sizes in the study were not large enough to really make an accurate determination.

The other problem? Most laws permit hands-free headset usage with cell phones while driving – and most researchers say that practice is just as dangerous. This is something that we’ve known as long as 12 years ago, when the New England Journal of Medicine did a study proving that the real danger was the actual phone conversation that distracted drivers from the road, causing auto accidents that lead to wrongful death and personal injury cases.

Incredibly, the federal government covered up this fact in 2003. A letter was to go out from the Secretary of Transportation to state governors warning them that banning hand-held devices would give the erroneous impression that using the hands-free handsets was safe. The Highway Safety Administration decided against sending the letter as they were afraid of angering the committee of Congress responsible for funding their existence!

Here are the facts: Using a handheld cell phone or a hands-free headset makes most drivers as dangerous as if they had a .08 alcohol blood content. Drivers who text have their eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds out of every six. Those statistics are enough for me.

As a personal injury attorney in Seattle Washington, I see enough tragic auto accident cases. Let’s keep the distracted driving laws in place until we have more evidence of their effectiveness. If there is a chance of preventing wrongful death and personal injury, then we must try to protect the public to the greatest degree possible.

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