Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Car Crashes Involving Cell Phones Under-Reported


According to an analysis by the National Safety Council, only 52% of fatal crashes in which evidence indicated driver cell phone use were coded in national data as involving cell phones. The report, Crashes Involving Cell Phones: Challenges of Collecting and Reporting Reliable Crash Data, reviewed 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011. Another notable finding of the report is that only one-half of crashes after which the driver admitted to using a cell phone during the incident were coded in Federal data as potentially caused by cell phone use.

The analysis also revealed great variation in reporting trends between different states. Some states, including Tennessee, Texas and California, reported significant numbers of crashes involving cell phone use while others, such as Louisiana, Nevada and Connecticut, reported none.

The National Safety Council stresses the importance of correcting statistics in regard to cell phone distracted driver crashes because inaccurate statistics leave the impression that activities like talking and texting while driving are not as problematic as they truly are.

Find more information on the National Safety Council’s website