WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a report is under review that estimates fatalities and car crashes from 2000 to 2002 caused by driver cell-phone use, possibly providing a better picture of the distracted-driving problem in the United States.
However, NHTSA head Jeffrey Runge, in a Sept. 22 letter to National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Ellen Engleman, noted “that the data that form the basis for this analysis is not available for distractions other than cell phones . and therefore it is “not possible to gauge the magnitude of other distractions at this time.”
Runge also told Engleman distracted-driving studies currently under way should be completed in spring 2004 and 2006, with results to be sent to Congress and the states. New York and some towns ban talking on handheld phones while driving, while other states are considering similar restrictions.
Runge said NHTSA is working with public-relations giant Ogilvy PR to better educate teens about the risks of distracted driving.
Runge’s letter came in response to NTSB recommendations following the latter’s investigation of a Maryland highway accident in 2002 caused by a driver on a cell phone in which five people were killed. NTSB said cell-phone use contributed to the crash, but driving inexperience and other factors likely play roles as well.
