Study: Hands-Free Mobile Phone Laws Could Save Thousands of Lives

California's hands-free mobile phone law goes into effect on July 1st. Starting on that date, California drivers will no longer be able to use hand-held phones, but will instead either need to use a hands-free device, whether it's a headset or integrated into the car.

A study released Monday by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) estimates that California will have 300 fewer traffic fatalities a year once the law goes into effect. According to Jed Kolko, PPIC research fellow and study author, if such a ban were extended across the U.S., thousands of lives could be saved.

The study found the following:

• Mobile phone ownership appears to contribute to traffic deaths but only under certain driving conditions. If the weather is bad and the roads are wet, the effect is large. There is no observable effect in good weather or on dry roads.
• Laws requiring hands-free devices have reduced fatalities in adverse conditions by 30-60 percent, depending on how long the law has been in effect.
• Based on the experience of New York, which in 2001 became the first state to have a hands-free law, fatalities in adverse conditions may remain at a lower level several years after the law takes effect.

Previous studies did not so such a correlation between mobile phone use and traffic fatalities, but they used laboratory simulations, which skewed the data, according to Kolko.

Laboratory simulations measure the effect of one kind of mobile phone device versus another. In other words, they measure distraction levels of a driver while using a phone.

"Drivers make real-time decisions that can’t be measured in a lab," Kolko says. "They decide whether and when to use their phones. The question is how these laws might change drivers’ likelihood of using any mobile phone, whether it’s handheld or hands-free."

Currently, hands-free laws are in effect in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia. Several cities also have such laws, including Chicago and Santa Fe, New Mexico. On July 1st, Washington state will join California with its own hands-free law.

Not only has cell phone use while driving come under fire, but so has text messaging and emailing.

While it's great to see a study of this nature, it seems to me another one of those "common sense" type things. If you are using your cell phone, particularly dialing or holding it to your ear (much less texting), are you paying full attention to the road? Come on, I would hope everyone would answer "no." Once again, common sense.

California's hands-free law has some exceptions:

• Drivers of commercial vehicles can use push-to-talk phones until July 1, 2011.
• Drivers can make emergency phone calls without using a hands-free device.
• Drivers of emergency response vehicles can use cell phones without a hands-free device.