Researcher: Using Cell Phones While Driving Not as Risky as Previously Thought
A research professor has claimed that previous studies on the correlation between car crashes and cell phone usage may have over-estimated the risks.
According to Richard Young, a professor at Wayne State University of Medicine in Detroit, the control window in both previous studies was skewed because it did not measure the total drive time.
To address this issue, Young used GPS data to track day-to-day driving consistency for 439 drivers over 100 days. By using results from his study, he was able to show that the new data when applied to the old studies revealed that crash risk tied to cell phones had become statistically insignificant.
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The previous studies showed that using cell phones while driving made it four times more likely to have a car accident. Other researches may agree that the risks were over estimated. However, many studies reveal that cell phone usage still has an impact on driving.
Nine states in the U.S. still prohibit all drivers from using any hand held cell phone and 30 states ban novice drivers exclusively. There are also 35 states that ban texting while driving with an additional seven banning texting from novice drivers.
A 2003 Harvard study, not related to Young’s research, still estimated that cell phone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents.
Wilson stated about his recent research that, "It's possible that the (earlier) study findings were overstated, but it's difficult to know by how much."
