Driving Safety Tips- Statistics on Deaths By Cell Phones

Here are some driving safety tips while using a cell phone. At the beginning of 2009, a million US drivers drove while talking on a handheld cell phone. This was a shock, given that cell phones are the single most common distraction while driving. Cell phones are so dangerous that during a 2008 US survey by Nationwide Insurance, 67% of their received claims were related to cell phone caused accidents. The available statistics on deaths by cell phones, are quite alarming.

Some Scary Statistics on Deaths by Cell Phones

• 25% of all car accidents are caused by cell phone use while driving.
• According to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, 2,600 people died in 2004 and 330,000 more were injured while using cell phones just before an accident.
• In 2008, 6,000 Americans died after cell phone linked accidents.
• The number of accidents caused by cell phone use in 2007 is equal to the number of those who died as a result of the accidents.
• In an Australian controlled study conducted in 2007, it emerged that using a cell phone while driving increased the chances of causing an accident by as much as four times.

According to the National Highway Safety Board, the use of cell phones while driving caused the following problems on the highway.

• Bumping  the rear of vehicles in front of the driver, near stop signs or traffic lights.
• Reduces the reaction speed of the driver when such is needed during an emergency.
• Increases traveling speed as drivers get emotionally fired while talking.
• Increased lane deviations with outright disregard of side mirror views.
• Amplified purposeless steering wheel movements.

So if it is this Bad, why do People Still Use Cell Phones while Driving?

An independent 2008 research, commissioned by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Motorists, identified the following as the reasons given by most drivers arrested while driving with a cell phone:

1. To let someone know that they are running late for an appointment
2. To get in touch with family members one has just remembered
3. Conduct business (most notorious are lawyers, salesmen)
4. When drunk driving
5. To tell friends of an interesting or an unusual thing that has just happened

Is it Legal?

Consequent to animated concerns over cell phones and driving safety, most countries in the world have banned handheld cell phone use while one is driving. The statistics on deaths by cell phones has resulted in almost all States in the US to ban the use of in-vehicle hand-held phones.

Helpful actions

1. Postpone any call until you stop driving.
2. If it is urgent, park the car somewhere and call or receive an incoming call.
3. Receive a call and tell the caller you are in a car and then hang up.
4. Ask a passenger to receive a call for you.

The very act of talking on a phone while driving, handheld or hands-free is dangerous. You will be saving your life and those of many others, if you refrain from using a cell phone while driving. The statistics on deaths by cell phones as detailed above should convince you of this.