Two consumer groups recently obtained data compiled on the dangers of driving while using a cell phone which was buried by the Bush administration. According to a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official, the 2003 report was never made public despite the data showing 955 fatalities and 240,000 automobile accidents were caused by cell phone users in 2002 alone. The head of the agency says he was politically pressured to shelve the study and kill a proposed long-term study despite evidence that distracted drivers are four times more likely to crash than other drivers.
As a result, multi-task driving has become commonplace and hundreds of lives were unnecessarily lost. Several efforts were made during the time of the study to limit cell phone use while driving. Had the research been made public, the legislation which was killed by opposition from the cell phone industry might have passed.
Public safety is supposed to be the paramount concern of the NHTSA but during the Bush administration, political considerations held sway. Cellphone use, and especially text messaging has exponentially increased since the 2003 study so it is even more important that restrictions be passed and enforced to keep drivers from distractions and on the road ahead.
