Total phone ban for drivers urged

WASHINGTON - A national safety group is advocating a total ban on cell-phone use while driving, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities.

States should ban drivers from using handheld and hands-free cell phones, and businesses should prohibit employees from using cell phones while driving on the job, the congressionally chartered National Safety Council said, taking those positions for the first time.

The group's president and chief executive, Janet Froetscher, likened talking on cell phones to drunken driving, saying cell-phone use increases the risk of a crash fourfold.

"When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It's time to take the cell phone away," Froetscher said in a recent interview.

No state currently bans all cell-phone use while driving.

In Pennsylvania, state legislators have sought passage of legislation that would prohibit motorists from talking on handheld cell phones and text messaging while driving. They are seeking action by the General Assembly this year.

The lack of action on the state level prompted Philadelphia City Council members to draft legislation last year that would require motorists to use a "hands-free" device if they want to speak on a cell phone while driving a car.

In New Jersey, driving while using a handheld cell phone has been illegal since 2004, when the state became the second to pass a ban. It was originally a secondary offense, for which drivers could be ticketed only if pulled over for another reason.

But the state changed the law to make it a primary offense on March 1, making cell-phone use while driving reason enough to get pulled over. The number of tickets for the offense rose dramatically.

New Jersey is joined by five other states - California, Connecticut, New York, Utah and Washington - and the District of Columbia in banning the use of handheld cell phones behind the wheel, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also, 17 states and the district restrict or ban cell-phone use by novice drivers.

National Safety Council officials acknowledged a total ban could take years.

"Public awareness and the laws haven't caught up with what the scientists are telling us," Froetscher said. "There is no dispute that driving while talking on your cell phone, or texting while driving, is dangerous."

Froetscher said the council examined more than 50 scientific studies before reaching its decision. One was a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that estimates 6 percent of vehicle crashes, causing about 2,600 deaths and 12,000 serious injuries a year, are attributable to cell-phone use. Hands-free cell phones are just as risky as handheld phones, she added.

"It's not just what you're doing with your hands - it's that your head is in the conversation and so your eyes are not on the road," Froetscher said.

John Walls, vice president of CTIA-The Wireless Association, a cell-phone trade group, objected to a complete ban. He said there are many instances where the ability to make a phone call while driving helps protect safety.

"We think that you can sensibly and safely use a cell phone to make a brief call," Walls said.

What makes cell-phone use distinct from other risky driving behaviors, Froetscher said, is the magnitude - there are 270 million cell-phone users in the United States, and 80 percent of them talk on the phone while driving.

Froetscher said the council is the first major national safety group to call for a total cell-phone ban for drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has been urging states since 2003 to ban the use of cell phones or any wireless device by inexperienced drivers who have learner's permits or intermediate licenses. Last year, at least 23 states considered some form of legislation to restrict the use of cell phones or wireless devices, according to the board.

Council officials said they would press Congress to address the issue when it takes up a highway-construction bill this year, possibly by offering incentives to states that enact cell-phone laws.