Jan. 17, 2007 - 20:48 MST

BECOMING CLEAR

My conjectures are pretty well becoming verified, at least according to one article in The Rocky Mountain News of today. An article by Deborah Frazier of that paper makes it more evident, showing the actualities, I think. Quoted here in full:

STATE TO TRACK WIRELESS USE, CAR WRECKS

"Drivers who chat on cell phones be warned: The Colorado State Patrol is now asking drivers involved in fatal, serious injury and even fender bender crashes whether a cell phone was in use."

"The new information will go on the accident report form, helping the State Patrol, insurers and lawmakers determine if cell phone use while driving poses a public safety issue, said Gil Mares of the State Patrol."

"While most drivers tell the truth, Mares said, cell phone records have been subpoenaed in lawsuits in other states where cell phone use was suspected as a cause, he said."

"Over the years, we've seen an increase in cell phone usage in accidents, but we've never had a system to track how much of a factor cell phone use was," Mares said."

"The new reporting went into effect Jan. 1."

"Distractions of various kinds cause 23 percent of all vehicle crashes, national studies have found.

"The same studies found that cell phone use -- talking, dialing, reaching for the phone -- while driving accounted for 80 percent of the distractions."

"We don't have any numbers, but we think using a cell phone while driving is a contributing factor in accidents," Mares said."

"Long before the tracking system was initiated, some people told troopers that they weren't paying full attention because they were on the phone, had dropped the phone or had a conversation going on just before a crash."

"Witness calls to the State Patrol about cell phone use causing an accident, causing a driver to run a stop sign or light or violate other traffic laws also prompted the tracking system," Mares said."

"Four states ban or curtail cell phone use while driving. California will join the list in 2008, and other states are moving in that direction."

"Colorado lawmakers have debated outlawing cell phone use while driving. In 2005, lawmakers curtailed cell phone use by new drivers."

"It's one of those things that people know they shouldn't do, but do anyway because they think it's a low risk, but the statistics show otherwise," said Carole Walker of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association."

"The association represents insurers in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming."

"Walker said insurance companies are interested in the State Patrol's findings, which won't be available for more than a year."

"In other parts of the country, employers have been sued because their employee was using a cell phone for work while driving and caused an accident, she said."

"David Bell, an Allstate Insurance claims specialist in Colorado, said attorneys have concerns when there's an allegation that the driver was on a cell phone."

"Text messaging while driving increases the accident risk, Walker said. Surveys of teens show text messaging while driving is their biggest distraction, she said."

"Mares said that a Colorado case involved a teenage boy text messaging while driving and hitting a bicyclist. The teen was convicted in the cyclists death."

"Part of the boy's sentence was to talk to others about not using a cell phone while driving," he said."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My conviction that using a cell phone while driving a car is a danger to the driver and those on the road near him, is becoming stronger than ever before. There have been so many times I have seen some driver do a stupid thing and noticed that his ear was glued to a cell phone.

I was passenger in a car whose driver had a hands free cell phone set-up and noticed that when he became deeply involved in his conversation he would do risky things. His mind seemed to not be able to do two things at once.

I have noticed myself, that if I get too deep in conversation, my attention is distracted from the road and I do things like look over to the listener while making a point.

I must also realize that the percentages are probably skewed because many drivers involved in an accident probably will not admit using a cell phone while driving, which will be exacerbated when and if use of cell phones while driving is made illegal. So of all the accidents 23 percent are caused by inattention, and of those accidents 80 percent are caused by the use of cell phones. And that only accounts for the admitted use of cell phones.

The old way of combing hair, using an electric razor, applying makeup, slurping coffee and some of those things together, such things are bad enough, and dangerous to the extreme, but I think cell phone use keeps a drivers attention from the road and street to an extreme degree.

By the facts and figures coming in that is BECOMING CLEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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