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Don't touch that dial! Car radios are
8 times as deadly as your cell phone

WASHINGTON, DC -- New federal legislation that would force states to pass laws banning automotive cell phones is an ill-advised waste of time, say Libertarians -- since a new study reveals that car radios
cause eight times as many accidents as cell phones.

"Fiddling with a radio dial is eight times as deadly as dialing a cell
phone," noted Steve Dasbach, the Libertarian Party's national
director. "So when will politicians start legislating against the
carnage caused by DW-AM and DW-FM -- Driving While listening to AM or FM radio?

"Adjusting your car's air conditioner is also twice as dangerous as
using a cell phone. Why don't politicians require federally mandated
locks on your car's climate controls? Even eating and drinking while
driving causes more accidents than cell phones. So why not have it
their way -- and make a Whopper-to-go a federal crime?"

U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman (D-NY) filed a bill on May 22 that would withhold federal highway funds from states that don't pass laws banning the use of hand-held cell phones in cars. The same day, U.S. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) filed similar legislation.

Both bills came just two weeks after a report issued by the University
of North Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center revealed that only 1.5% of traffic accidents were caused by drivers distracted by cell phones.

By comparison, adjusting a car's radio or CD/cassette player caused
11.5% of all accidents; another person in the car caused 10.9% of
collisions; and adjusting climate controls caused 2.8% of accidents.

Even eating and drinking in your automobile is more deadly than cell
phones: In 1.7% of accidents, fast-food drive-though windows (or other food source) were "accessories" to the crash.

But all those hazards pale compared to the leading cause of driver
distraction, reported the University of North Carolina study: "Things
outside the car" caused a whopping 29.4% of traffic accidents.

Another study -- this one by the Tennessee Department of Safety's
uniform crash reports -- suggested that automotive cell phones are even more safe. The 1999 figures revealed that cell phones caused only 0.2% of traffic accidents.

Given those numbers, asked Dasbach, why are politicians clamoring for new federal legislation?

One possible answer: After filing his bill, U.S. Senator Jon Corzine
admitted, "I'm a pretty bad driver without a cell phone. You put one
in my hand, and it becomes a problem."

Perhaps that suggests the real solution, said Dasbach.

"A politician plus a cell phone apparently equals an accident waiting
to happen," he said. "On the other hand, an ordinary American plus a
cell phone equals no problem, according to these new studies.

"The answer is clear: Simply pass a law that makes it a federal crime
for U.S. Senators to talk on cell phones while driving. That would
solve the problem, allow these pontificating politicians to feel they
have done something useful, and leave ordinary Americans -- who clearly have the ability to make safe decisions about cell phones -- alone. That's a sensible cell phone law that even Libertarians could
support."