Banning the phone does not reduce accidents

Banning the phone does not reduce accidents

The ban on the use of mobile phones while driving is not helping to reduce the rate of road accidents, suggests a study carried out in the United States and released by CNN.

Those responsible for the analysis compared the data collected in three states where the ban is in force with the numbers for areas where it does not apply, and also with the numbers recorded before the law came into force.

The data collected goes against what was expected, the president of the institute that monitors data on road accidents, Adrian Lund, told the television station.

«The laws are not resulting in a reduction in the number of accidents, although we find that they have reduced the use of mobile phones and several studies have proven that calling while driving increases the risk of an accident,» said Adrian Lund.

Although previous studies have shown that using a mobile phone while driving increases the risk of an accident, data on the number of collisions recorded before and after the implementation of laws prohibiting the use of mobile phones «behind the wheel» are not fluctuating.

According to the study, the accident rates recorded in places where the prohibition is applied are the same as those verified in areas where the use of this type of equipment is allowed, which left the experts perplexed.

As the increase in accident rates associated with the use of telephones is well documented, it is difficult to see why the numbers are not improving.

One of the advanced hypotheses is the use of kits hands-free by drivers – which are not prohibited but have an associated accident rate identical to the «traditional» use of mobile phones.