History
According to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, in 1990, approximently 4.3 million people owned cell phones. In October of 2008, over 266 million people now own one. A study released in April 2006 found that almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event. The new study found that the most common distraction is the use of cellphones, followed by drowsiness.
There really isn't a detailed history that I can give. Before cell phones, the radio was mostly blamed for distractions in the car. I couldn't find a statistic to say how many accidents were caused by the radio, but I assume it's got to be pretty high. To be honest, I've been in an accident when my friend was fussing with the radio, so I'm sure it's high.
Cell phone use while driving has overtaken the radio as the highest cause of accidents. Currently, 45 countries have completely banned cell phone while driving, while many others are currently in debate about it. However, where cell phone use is the highest (the U.S.) only six states currently have laws banning it. 21 states are currently debating it, while the other 23 don't have any laws whatsoever.
According to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, in 1990, approximently 4.3 million people owned cell phones. In October of 2008, over 266 million people now own one. A study released in April 2006 found that almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event. The new study found that the most common distraction is the use of cellphones, followed by drowsiness.
There really isn't a detailed history that I can give. Before cell phones, the radio was mostly blamed for distractions in the car. I couldn't find a statistic to say how many accidents were caused by the radio, but I assume it's got to be pretty high. To be honest, I've been in an accident when my friend was fussing with the radio, so I'm sure it's high.
Cell phone use while driving has overtaken the radio as the highest cause of accidents. Currently, 45 countries have completely banned cell phone while driving, while many others are currently in debate about it. However, where cell phone use is the highest (the U.S.) only six states currently have laws banning it. 21 states are currently debating it, while the other 23 don't have any laws whatsoever.
Technological Fixes....
The main technological fix for cell phone use while driving is the invention of the handsfree device. Originally it was connected to the phone by a wire, but that has been replaced by bluetooth.
Another fix that came out a couple years ago was the invention of OnStar. It is used more now as a way to get help if you are injured or if your car breaks down, but I also know that OnStar used to be used as a phone that would project the voice throughout the entire car.
The problem with both of those fixes if that they don't help the problem of being distracted by the conversation itself. Sure, bluetooth helps by removing the need to hold the phone by your ear, but it still doesn't help being distracted by the conversation.
To this day, I still don't know of any fixes that have come out to help the conversation in a car. The only thing I could think of would be to completely eliminate phone conversations in the car, which I don't see happening anytime soon. The best we can do right now is what we have, with the bluetooth headset. I think possibly having the conversation projected throughout the car would be helpful because people wouldn't be having to try and listen so hard.
Links I used:
http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/cellphones/
http://www.cellular-news.com/car_bans/
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