What You Need to Know About Using Your Cellphone While Driving

Using a cell phone behind the wheel is risky business. Staying in touch with friends, family, and co-workers is an essential part of modern life, but while out on the road, it’s better to keep the cell phone away. Before your hand jumps to answer that call or text message, please consider some of the information below.

Dangers of Cell Phone Use

Cellphones are a huge source of distraction for people, and statistics show they often a hinder our ability to remain in control while driving:

• Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than drunk driving
• 330,000 injuries are caused each year from texting while driving
• 1 in 4 road accidents are caused by texting while driving
• Texting is the most dangerous phone-related activity – it causes a 400% increase in time spent looking away from the road
• 21% of fatal road accidents involving teens were caused by cell phone distraction

The Law

Be sure to check out the law in your jurisdiction, as prohibitions for cell phone use vary from state to state. The majority of states ban all cell phone use for new drivers, bus drivers, and those under 18. 14 states ban all hand-held cell phone use by drivers, and a total of 46 States completely ban texting.

Hands-Free

The best solution to using your cell phone, besides not using it at all, is to use a hands-free device. Hands-free devices can be purchased for you car, and some new cars even allow you to talk through your car stereo via Bluetooth.Be warned however, hands-free carries its own risks and is by no means a guarantee of safety. Research[3] has shown that the mental resources required to drive and use hands-free can still cause distraction and increase your chances of having an accident. Remember, multi-tasking and driving do not mix.