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More than 20 percent of injury crashes in the United States involve reports of distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Of those killed in distracted-driving related accidents, 18 percent involved the usage of a cell phone. Another study indicates that using a cell phone while driving, whether it is a hand-held or hands-free device, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.

Cell phones, and particularly smart phones, are considered one of the leading driver distractions. As a result, more and more communities are placing restrictions on drivers’ use of cell phones. The following tips are offered to motorists with regard to cell phone use in vehicles.

• You should wait until the car trip is complete before placing a call. Your cell phone’s voicemail feature should answer a call while you are driving.
• Absolutely essential calls should only be performed while stopped. However, it is not wise to pull over on the side of the road where a rear-end collision is possible. Instead, you should pull into a parking lot to perform this task.
• The phone should be placed where it is easy to see and reach.
• You should take advantage of speed-dialing capabilities.
• You should never drive and talk on the cell phone during stressful, emotional, or complex discussions since the risk of an accident is heightened.
• You should consider using a hands-free cellular phone since some studies indicated that these are safer to use.
• You should never text message while driving.

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Copyright 2011
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

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