Phoning and Driving Don't Mix:
A Case for Banning the Use of Wireless Devices in Moving Vehicles

Position Paper No. 2
Transport 2000 Ontario
February, 2001

Executive Summary

Wireless telephone use is widespread in many countries, reaching 75% penetration in some. In Canada, the use is increasing by 25 - 30% a year.

As drivers spend longer periods behind the wheel on congested roads, the wireless telephone and other wireless devices have become popular tools for social interaction and for conducting business. Concern for the dangers posed by distracted drivers has been building. Anecdotal evidence by police and research by safety organizations lead to the conclusions that drivers are distracted when using wireless communications tools and that hands-free use is no safer than hand-held.

Many jurisdictions have responded to safety concerns by legislating hands-free only. Several U.S. municipalities have restricted phoning while driving. Twenty-seven U.S. states have introduced but not passed similar legislation. Internationally, fourteen countries prohibit or have placed restrictions on the use of wireless telephones by drivers.

Research points to the need for strong measures. Transport 2000 Ontario calls for an outright ban on all wireless device use by drivers, whether hand-held or hands-free.

Exceptions should be made for dispatch radios used in official vehicles such as police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks for obvious reasons of urgency as well as the fact that they have excellent safety records.

The Context

On January 15 of this year, the inevitable happened. Witnesses in Mississauga saw a driver speed through a red light while talking on a telephone. The crash that ensued injured four people, two seriously. Last year a two-year old child in Pennsylvania received fatal head injuries in a broadside collision caused by a driver entering an intersection while dialing on a wireless phone.

Two recent studies have reported a statistical cause and effect between cell telephone use by drivers and crashes. Furthermore, the National Highway Safety Authority in the U.S. estimated in 1995 that 3,837 crashes were the result of telephone calls in moving vehicles. The police have enough anecdotal evidence to sound an alarm. In Michigan, a state trooper who patrols highways commented on the number of telephone users he pulled over suspecting he had drunk drivers. Toronto Police Chief Gallein Fantino has called for legislation prohibiting the use of wireless telephones in vehicles for non-emergency use.

Even as the number of wireless users over all are increasing - at the rate of 25 - 30% in Canada - the types of communication products being installed in cars are also on the increase. Motorists can now surf the Internet, send and receive e-mail and faxes, use global positioning systems and map displays.

Research

Research on drivers using wireless devices is increasing:

Legislation

While experts meditate on the nature of distraction, many jurisdictions have taken action. Australia, Austria, Brazil, Israel, Italy, Japan, and Spain are among the countries that have banned hand-held phones while driving. Interestingly, Switzerland has reduced insurance payouts if drivers in collisions were making or receiving calls. Last year, twenty-seven U.S. states had introduced legislation but it appears that lobbyists have done their work. As at July 2000, no state legislation had passed. Several small municipalities in the U.S. have taken the step of restricting telephone use in moving vehicles: Brooklyn, Ohio, Conshohocken, Penn., Lebanon, Penn., Hilltown Township, Penn., and Marlboro, N.J. New York City prohibits taxicab drivers from using wireless telephones while driving.

Perceived Solutions

Concern over the danger posed by chatting drivers has been building in the popular media. A subject search in the press and on the Internet found several hundred recent articles. Equipment manufacturers are attempting to finesse regulation by issuing warnings about safe use. The Ontario government has put the interests of business over that of the consumer by publishing a list of guidelines in place of regulation. The authors of the "Common Sense Revolution" should know better. Drivers that possess common sense don't need to be cautioned, while guidelines will fall on the deaf ears of the common sense-challenged. (A private member's bill introduced in June 2000 prohibiting hand-held devices while driving, does not represent government policy and has little chance of passing) The Canadian Automobile Association, Ontario Region advises users to avoid talking and driving but then reaches for the popular copout of recommending hands-free if they must.

Conclusions

Like many social problems that threaten business profits, wireless devices in vehicles are in danger of being studied to death. Further research is being used as a tactic to avoid government action. It is clearly evident that these devices constitute a distraction and a distracted driver is a dangerous driver. Two important studies have concluded and police concur that it is the distraction, not the dexterity involved in handling the device that poses the danger. Not only will wireless telephones continue to increase in use because they are fashionable accessories, they will become ubiquitous in vehicles as urban sprawl continues to generate commuters who spend longer periods on congested roads.

There is one valid argument for using telephones in vehicles. They enable drivers to warn police of dangerous road conditions or reckless drivers. However, drivers can and should pull over when making those calls or the calls should be made by passengers.

Transport 2000 Recommends

1. That the Ontario Highway Traffic Act be amended to forbid the use of all wireless telephones, Internet devices, and fax machines by drivers in moving passenger cars, trucks and taxis whether hand-held or hands-free.

2. That, in the face of possible resistance from the provincial government, municipalities pass bylaws banning the use of the wireless devices listed above.

3. That exceptions be made for police, fire, ambulance and other official vehicles that use dispatch radios.

References

Articles

Legislation

  • Cell Phones and Highway Safety: 2000 State Legislative Update. Denver, CO, National Conference of State Legislatures, July, 2000. www.ncsl.org/programs/esnr/cellphone.pdf.
  • Ontario. Legislative Assembly. Bill 102: An Act to Amend the Highway Traffic Act to Prohibit the Use of Phones and Other Equipment While Driving on a Highway. Toronto, June 20, 2000.

    Research Studies