Drivers Using Cellphones Involved In More Accidents

Bob Carroll

Contributor

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Cellphones and motor vehicles continue to be a bad combination. Nobody has found a way to allow a driver to talk on a cellphone and be properly attentive to the hazards of the roadway. When the cellphone conversation starts some degree of distraction occurs. The odds of being involved in a crash increase by 400% when using a cellphone.

Canadian insurance companies are trying to do something about the situation according to Insurance Journal.

IBC Aims to Convince Canadian Drivers' to Pay Attention

The Insurance Bureau of Canada asks the rhetorical question as to whether Canadian drivers are "prepared to give up their cellphones and other distractions while driving?"

"Driving while talking on a cellphone or otherwise distracted has become one of the most serious road safety issues in the country today," explained IBC President and CEO Stanley Griffin , speaking for Canada's home, car and business insurers.

Canada's home, car and business insurers, represented by the IBC, have launched a C$4 million (US$3.4 million) multimedia public education campaign. "The campaign will remind drivers to keep their eyes on the road and avoid distractions while driving, such as cellphones, PDAs, text messaging, eating and setting up the DVD player for the kids in the back seat," said the announcement.

...two separate studies - one done in Canada and the other in Australia - have concluded that drivers talking on cellphones are four times more likely to be involved in a collision.