WASHINGTON-The nation’s growing driver-distraction problem has taken on new urgency as a result of a deadly traffic accident in Las Vegas allegedly caused by woman speeding and talking on her mobile phone when her Toyota Landcruiser plowed into another car, killing two women and seriously injuring a man.
“The cell phone was a catalyst, we believe, for her behavior,” said Mary Brown, Las Vegas deputy district attorney. The accident, which caused the death of Leona Greif and Marcia Nathans and severe injuries to Elliot Nathans, occurred on March 25.
Karen Morris, a 34-year-old real estate agent, will be arraigned this Wednesday in Clark County, Nev., district court. In an indictment unsealed on April 13, Morris was charged with three counts of reckless driving and two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The outcome of the case could set a legal precedent-and potentially ignite a national backlash against the mobile-phone industry-if the court decides Morris’ use of her cell phone criminally contributed to the deadly crash.
The Las Vegas accident has similarities to a Maryland case in which a Naval Academy midshipman-speeding home and trying to grab his cell phone-ran into another car and killed two people. The man escaped the manslaughter charge but was hit instead with a negligence conviction that carried a $500 fine.
It is unclear what the fallout will be from the Las Vegas tragedy.
Towns in Ohio and New Jersey have banned use of handheld phones while driving, while a broader prohibition is in now place in Suffolk County, N.Y. Cell-phone bans have been proposed in state legislatures throughout the country, but to date all bills have died in session.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association opposes legislation, believing education is the key to improving driver attention.
“We fully support the strict enforcement of laws to include fines and penalties for individuals engaging in any irresponsible activity while driving, including the irresponsible use of a wireless phone,” said Dee Yankoskie, manager of wireless education at CTIA.
“Individuals are faced with many potential distractions and we should not just single out wireless phones,” said Yankoskie. Yankowskie agreed with federal safety officials and others that have called for better data collection-including whether or not a cell phone was being operated at the time of a traffic accident.
The problem has not escaped the attention of the federal government.
“We believe distraction is a serious problem,” said a spokeswoman at the National Highway Traffic Administration.
Studies by NHTSA, part of the Transportation Department, the New England Journal of Medicine, AAA and others have concluded talking on a mobile phone while driving increases the chances of having a collision.
Last year, a study-undertaken by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and paid for by AT&T Wireless Services Inc.-said laws designed to curb mobile-phone use while driving may not be appropriate because benefits-like safety and productivity-may be more compelling than driver distraction dangers. John Graham, the head of the Harvard group, has been appointed by President Bush to be the regulatory czar at the Office of Management and Budget.
NHTSA is conducting distraction research that will glean data from drivers on test tracks and public roads. In addition, valuable distraction data will come in the near future from a driving simulator at the University of Iowa. Once in operation, it will be the most advanced of its kind in the world. Government researchers are looking not just at cell phones, navigation systems and Internet e-mail devices, but at all forms of potential distractions to drivers, individually and in combination with each other.
“Technology is changing so quickly we’re going to be looking at this for a long time,” said an NHTSA researcher.
While some believe use of hands-free devices would go a long way to solving the driver distraction problems, research indicates otherwise.
“We’re very concerned about cognitive distraction. We’re not convinced that hands-free is risk-free,” said the NHTSA spokesman. “We believe it’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure safety before any device is installed in a vehicle.” She added that it is not necessarily good to advise cell-phone users to pull off the side of the road to make calls.
