Statistics indisputably show that cell phone usage while driving contributes to the leading cause of automobile accidents: distracted driving. Legislators throughout the nation have been working day and night to restrict the dangers of mobile devices to motorists through bans, laws and acts against talking on a cell phone and texting including the 2008 California hands-free law. But are hands-free devices the solution to the problem?

The recent conclusion of a study undertaken by the Highway Loss Data Institute of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows no measurable effect on the number of crashes in California since the hands-free law was enacted, and reached the same conclusion when evaluating similar laws in Washington, DC, Connecticut and the state of New York.

The HLDI weighed the number of automobile accident claims for vehicles from 1 to 3 years old per 100 insured vehicles over many months after the law was enacted against the number of automobile accident claims for the same sorts of vehicles before the passage of the hands-free law and found no change in the statistics. However, this particular body of research is not definitive because the insurance reports studied did not have any indication of whether drivers involved were or were not engaged and cell phone usage at the time of their accident. The HLDI use the data from previous studies that concluded that cell phone usage goes down significantly once a hands-free law is instated.

On the other end of the spectrum, a study conducted by the University of Illinois using public data instead of insurance data and evaluated the hands-free cell phone law in New York noted a reduction in automotive deaths in 46 out of the 62 counties studied overall; 10 of the 46 counties had statistically meaningful reductions.

Although these two recent studies disagree, previous studies have also shown the same findings as the HLDI analysis and show no significant difference between the crash rates in areas where hands held devices are legal and the accident rates where drivers must only use hands-free devices.

It is safest to assume as a motorist that the use of a mobile phone in any capacity while driving is more dangerous and risky than alcohol abuse. This may be because hands-free instruments require almost as much physical manipulation as using a cell phone but leading researchers believe the cause is less obvious. It is popularly thought that cell phone conversations, whether hand-held or hands-free, are significantly more distracting than conversations with other passengers because other passengers are also aware of the driving environment while the voice on the other end of the cell phone is completely oblivious to the road conditions.

Protect yourself while driving by avoiding all cell phone usage; if you have been involved in an automotive accident that may have been caused by distracted driving contact a local accident attorney for assistance and advice.