Cell Phone Bans Not Reducing Crash Rates, Study Says

I found this story on KTLA News.
California’s law against using hand-held cell phones while driving did not help reduce accident rates, according to a new study. Insurance claims were compared from Cali, NY, Connecticut and D.C. before and after the cell phone law took place. The report says, “HLDI found no fluctuations in collision rates.” Adrian Lund said, “The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk.” Lund thinks the lack of decreased accidents is because of hands-free devices instead which “may have the same accident rates as hand-held devices.”

My first opinion about this is how making a law to not use cell phones (talking or texting) while driving is probably a good idea. My second opinion is, the accidents may not have decreased because people may not have followed the law to its full extent.

There are so many people who drive and text, or who talk on their hand-held phones while driving. However, this should be a law, I think they are going way overboard with the whole thing. Although in California and other states it says that it’s using any type of cellular device while driving, I think I would have to disagree to some extent. I bet half the people in California still use their cell phones while driving, and that is probably a huge reason the car accident rate has not moved after the law was set in. California now thinks it is the hands-free devices as well that play a role together with cell phones. Not sure how true or factual this is, but if people can’t drive with an ear piece in and talk and still have both hands on the wheel for driving, then people probably shouldn’t be driving at all. Having an ear piece in to talk on the phone, would be no different than having a passenger sitting next to you in the car talking. Texting while driving would be as dangerous as changing the radio station in your car while you are on the road. There are so many things that are the cause of accidents, but unless you take radios, passengers and other distractions out of each and every vehicle, I’m not sure how they can make people not use their cell phones while driving.

I’m not saying that cell phones are not the cause of accidents, nor that accidents aren’t cause from cell phone use; but there are so many other things that do the same thing. I agree with the fact that there are so many teens nowadays texting and driving and they are so inexperienced with driving as it is, they probably don’t need to be multitasking in such a dangerous situation, when they are still learning. It seems like in this report they are trying hard to make up an excuse to make a new law for driving. Although they are trying to make the roads safer, I think they are trying too hard. Since the “hand-held” devices didn’t change the accident rates, they moved on to “hands-free” devices. I have a feeling they aren’t going to stop until there is nothing left to take away. Let’s just hope that the next law helps.