CELL PHONES IN TROUBLE STILL

WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

CELL PHONES IN TROUBLE STILL
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY: Our regular correspondent, Michael A., says that starting January 1, 2001 it was unlawful to hand hold a cell phone while driving. Those caught doing so will pay a $150 fine. Accessories which allow talking and listening with both hands free to drive are OK though the distraction factor is still operative.

In the USA a number of cities have some restrictions on driving while using a handheld phone. In contrast, more than 16 countries have nationwide laws governing these devices in moving vehicles. What none have yet been able to do is to expand the regulation to cover the 4 minutes or so after such a cell conversation before the dangerous distraction is extinguished. Safety experts claim that handheld or not, cell phone use is so distractive that a driver is 4 times more likely to be in a crash.

But then why pick on cell phones as if they were the only cause of dangerous distraction for drivers? I suppose it is because a law enforcement officer can see the violation. It is much more difficult to regulate back seat drivers, playful and yelling children, frisky pets, talkative spouses, loud radios and scanners, smoking, drinking beverages, watching the scenery and a bunch of other distractors. And what about those men who shave on the way to work or those women who do their make-up while driving? Back when CB radios were the fad there was not all this concern but the distractive danger must have been there and is so still for those very few yet in use in passenger vehicles. Should police officers park their vehicles before speaking over their radios?

Of course, we should not regulate cell phones entirely out of motor vehicles. After all they are a wonderful tool even for those who are safety conscious and stop in a protected place to use them. Also, more than 200,000 emergency calls are made each day from car phones (not necessarily by the driver). In Y2003 there were about 150 million cell phones in use in the USA and it is at least triple this now. It is only a guess, but one can believe that most of them are carried at least part-time in motor vehicles.
GHD217 all rights reserved

NATIONAL COST OF ROAD CRASHES

WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

WAHKIAKUM, WA: “Just how much do road crashes cost our Country each year”, asks Stuart K. Excellent question. Adding up what individuals pay directly, insurance payouts, and costs absorbed by hospitals and governments it cost us more than $200 billion a year. Medical expenses are $21billion, lost wages and production are $70 billion, and vehicle damage is more than $46 billion. Current crash data will show much higher costs because of the greater number of crashes and inflation.

Guess who eventually pays all of this? You and me in higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, and higher cost for the necessities and luxuries we buy. To be sure, those involved in the crashes pay a high price in injuries, death, and, too infrequently, with jail time. But the principals in these crashes can not begin to pay the monetary costs they have caused, so all of us have to bail them out.

Because most crashes are not accidents but the result of driver’s mistakes it would benefit each and every one of us if we could train and retrain motorists of all ages to be safer drivers. Such training is available for the youngest (high school) and oldest (50+) drivers. Driver education in high school is a once and done opportunity. From there to age 50 little retraining is available. A few state legislators have decreed that all licensed drivers who complete a safe driving course must receive an additional insurance premium reduction for several years. Then the classes have to be renewed. Most of the 36 states and DC who mandate such a discount restrict it to those over age 55. More than 10 million seniors have taken advantage of this discount offer.

In the states where such an incentive is not offered relatively few older drivers take these classroom refresher programs. All it takes is 8 hours every few years to be a safer driver. Statistically, those who complete such a course have measurably fewer fatal and injury crashes and fewer moving violation convictions. But give them a insurance premium discount and they flock in by the millions. Make sense to you?
GHD216 all rights reserved