No reason to ban cell phones while driving - study

[muppet]

No reason to ban cell phones while driving - study

• From: NewsCore
• April 11, 2012 6:37PM

THERE is no reason to ban texting or talking on cell phones while driving, a Swedish study found.

A report by the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute (VTI) - based in Linkoping, southern Sweden - found that educating drivers on the safer use of the devices was preferable to a total ban.
"It is our opinion that a combination of different countermeasures - which educate and inform the driver, while at the same time support him or her in a safe usage of communication devices - is preferable to a law against communication device usage while driving," it said.
Katja Kircher, of VTI, told Sveriges Radio, "We've seen that it doesn't help to have such a law while driving. This is partly because we've seen that people wouldn't adhere to the law and partly because we've seen no effect on crash risks."

In October last year, a VTI study found that there was no long-term traffic safety impact for countries that allowed cell phone use with hands-free equipment.
Sweden is one of a handful of European countries to allow the use of cell phones while driving without hands-free devices. Others include Albania, Serbia, Moldova and Malta.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/t...-1226324166779

[mattinvestor]

how many traffic accidents are really caused by cell phones anyway?

[speights boy]

Others include Albania, ...

mattinvestor

how many traffic accidents are really caused by cell phones anyway?

Heaps.
This women was on her cell to her broker at Goldman Sachs.
You don't want to see what happened just round the next corner.


(click to expand)

[mattinvestor]

Heaps.
This women was on her cell to her broker at Goldman Sachs.
You don't want to see what happened just round the next corner.


(click to expand)

yeah i suppose they can be distracting. I find it hard even concentrating when I even have the phone beeping or ringing at me whiel driving.

[Voyles]

I think like most things, education should be the first thing tried.

[muppet]

Yeah right
only for those who read newspapers,
listen to radio or
watch TV.
There are an awful lot who don't do any of those things.

[Maccachic]

Education seems to be working really well for drink drivers - how many do you see daily in the newspaper that are on their 5+ conviction and still get another chance.

[drelly]

i saw a number of facebookers share pics of a cop driving while on the mobile, but a response by someone in the reply, actually showed a law in Australia which exempts police and fire fighters from the law ... is that fair?

What's fair got to do with it?
Having personally nearly rear-ended other cars many times while using a cellphone, I think a ban is a good idea.

[Maccachic]

The Police are allowed to run red lights too...

[Perry]

What's fair got to do with it?
Having personally nearly rear-ended other cars many times
while using a cellphone, I think a ban is a good idea.

If you'd wanted a personal ban, perhaps it could've been
arranged, just for you, like licence suspensions are?