Connectile dysfunction rampant, drivers ignore hands-free cell phone laws

July 1, 7:46 PMConsumer News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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Brittany. Brittany. Brittany. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

Get off the phone and drive!

Most drivers who own cell phones use them while driving -- without a hands-free device -- even though most of them believe it is dangerous to do so.

Call it connectile dysfunction.

The driving under the influence of cell phone use (DUICPU) finding from a Harris Poll comes after a Harvard Center of Risk Analysis estimated that cell phone use while driving contributed to six percent of crashes -- 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year -- to the tune of about $43 billion.

The recent Harris Poll also found:

• A quarter of drivers with cell phones send or receive text messages while driving.

• Most drivers, 66 percent, with cell phones use hand-held rather than hands-free phones although they believe that hands-free phones are safer.

• Even in states where it is illegal for drivers to use hand-held phones, half of cell phone users talk hand-held.

• Some 72 percent of those who drive and own cell phones say they use them to talk while they are driving.

Most consumers know such habits are dangerous, the poll found.

Only 2 percent of those who use cell phones while driving believe this is not dangerous at all. Most, 26 percent, believe it is very dangerous, 24 percent believe it is dangerous and 33 percent believe using cell phones while driving is somewhat
dangerous.

The findings support the views of the National Safety Council that most drivers act stupid when it comes to cell phoning while driving. They ignore the evidence about the risks of using cell phones and the advice of safety experts.

"Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at four times greater risk of a crash," said Janet Roetsher, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.

The findings conclude:

• Cell phone use by drivers is very widespread and is, therefore, a major health care risk.

• Large numbers of people do not obey state laws that forbid the use of hand-held phones.

• This Harris Poll also shows that "most drivers who use cell phones believe that using hands-free phones is safer than using hand-held phones, contrary to the evidence of available research that suggests that it is the minds, not the hands, of drivers that are adversely affected by talking on the phone."

Not sure what that means, but that's what they said.