Not so 'LOL'

Cell phone distraction-related accidents are on the rise

by John Boyanoski

Published: Sept. 18, 2009, 10:16 a.m.

It is estimated that six percent of all vehicle crashes in South Carolina are related to someone talking on a cell phone or texting.

However, because of the way Highway Patrol troopers code accidents the number hardly registers in South Carolina. One of 9,880 collisions in Greenville County last year were caused by a person using a mobile device, according to the agency’s data.

The reports used to track data list only an accident’s top reason, which in many cases is driving too fast for conditions or being distracted, said Lance Cpl. Kathy Hiles, a Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

The Highway Patrol believes the number of accidents caused by cell phones is still underreported because many times a person will give another reason for an accident and by the time a trooper arrives on scene they can’t show if the person was texting or calling.

Hiles said the Highway Patrol knows distracted driving – talking to other people in the vehicle, eating, texting and cell phones – is a major problem. “In this fast-paced world, people think they need to be always multi-tasking,” she said. “And unfortunately that includes driving.”

And it’s getting worse.

But in South Carolina little is being done to curb or track the problem. A bill to ban cell phones usage and texting in cars died silently in a House committee last January, but at least one lawmaker, Don Smith, R-Aiken, said he plans to file a new bill in 2010. The reason it failed was lawmakers said it would be too difficult to enforce.

Meredith Morris, a spokeswoman for the National Safety Council, which is trying to push for stronger laws in all 50 states, said that may be true, but the same thing was said of drunk driving and seat belt laws.

“There was the same outcry, but law enforcement found ways to intervene,” she said. “And it has worked to curb the problems.”

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 12 states have enacted full-scale bans against cell phones use in cars, while 21 have some kind of ban on texting. Selective bans, though, are more popular as 21 states, including North Carolina, have banned them for teens, and 17, including North Carolina and Georgia, have banned them for school bus drivers.

North Carolina, though, will ban cell phones for all drivers in December.

No states have separate bans on truck drivers’ texting, but a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study from this summer shows a trucker on a cell phone is 23 times more at risk for a crash than a trucker not texting.

Rick Todd, executive director of the South Carolina Trucking Association, said they tell all drivers to avoid using any kind of electronic devices while on the road, and said his agency would like to work on helping to craft some new laws, but with the caveat that it be equal for all drivers not just selected groups.

“Distractions are definitely a problem,” he said. “But I can’t say what our position will be at this time.”

However, some have been trying to deal with the issue on a small scale.

Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans said his staff has made looking at cell phone records a priority when investigating vehicular accidents in the past year. The reason is he believes it is an issue that needs to be addressed, and the only way to get that is through data.

Still, it is tough for a limited staff and budget of a local coroner’s office to track down all those records on each case, but at least three deaths in Greenville in the last year involved cell phones. In addition, every talk he or his deputies give to an organization now includes a reminder on the dangers of distracted driving.

The South Carolina Office of Highway Safety also is making public advocacy an issue, said Beverly Harris, the group’s public affairs officer. They set up a tent at the State Fair this year to help spread the word about distracted driving and have sent literature to schools.

Nationally, the Ford Motor Co., Verizon Wireless and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association have endorsed a nationwide ban of cell phones while driving. The Highway Safety Association is particularly important because the group had previously stated such a ban would not work, Morris said.

“We want to see a total ban,” she said.

Contact John Boyanoski at 679-1227 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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