Accidents caused by drivers text messaging or talking on cell phones is a growing problem in the United States. In Ohio a bus driver was convicted of vehicular homicide after running over a pedestrian in a cross walk while talking on her cell phone. Here is a website containing pictures and stories of accidents caused by drivers on cell phones. The website includes lawyer advertisements. I have no affiliation with it.

We know that drivers on cell phones drive as badly as drunk drivers. Conclusions of a study by the University of Utah include:

“We found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit” of 0.08 percent, which is the minimum level that defines illegal drunken driving in most U.S. states, says study co-author Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology. “If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving.”

The Utah study concluded that cell phone users were 5.36 times more likely to be in an accident.

My personal observations driving around Jackson is that talking on cell phones and texting are both problems, with texting being the bigger of the two. I have seen a lot of young people driving and texting who stopped paying attention while focusing on a text message. This effectively put a blind person behind the wheel of a moving car. I see more young men doing this than women.

My observations of people talking on cell phones have been a little different. The problem appears to be primarily with people who do not have a hands-free device and drive with one hand cradling the phone. People driving like this appear to develop tunnel vision and do not look all around them while turning or switching lanes. This causes them to turn into the paths of other vehicles. Often they are oblivious to the fact that they almost caused a wreck. I see more middle age women doing this than men.

Currently only six states ban all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones when driving. Nineteen states ban text messaging for all drivers. Here is a link to a chart showing the status of the law in all states.

As usual, Mississippi is not a leader in this area. What seems to happen in other states is that state legislatures do nothing to address the issue until there is a horrific high-profile accident that kills one or more people. Then there is a public outcry and the legislature enacts laws that ban texting and/or using handheld phones while driving.

Mississippi’s legislature convenes in January and should get ahead of this growing problem by enacting bans on both text messaging and driving and using handheld cell phones and driving. This would make our roads safer for everyone.