Cell Phones Boost Crash Risk, Report Says

Talking on a cellular telephone while driving increases the risk of having a crash, but better accident reporting is needed before officials can say by how much, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a report. Unlike an earlier Canadian study, however, the NHTSA report didn’t try to quantify the risk because, it said, most police agencies nationwide do not routinely note whether drivers involved in crashes were on the phone. The new study mentioned a pilot program in which police agencies were asked to identify phone-related crashes. Police reports of phone use during accidents bolstered observations by many motorists about erratic or reckless driving by cell-phone users, the report said.