Cell phone use and traffic crash risk: a culpability analysis

Background The use of a cell phone or communication device while driving is illegal in many jurisdictions, yet evidence evaluating the crash risk associated with cell phone use in naturalistic settings is limited. This article aims to determine whether cell phone use while driving increases motor vehicle crash culpability. Method Drivers involved in crashes where police reported cell phone use (n 312) and propensity matched drivers (age, sex, suspect alco-hol/drug impairment, crash type, date, time of day, geographical location) without cell phone use (n 936) were drawn from Insurance Corporation of British Columbia Traffic Accident System data. A standardized scoring tool, modified to account for Canadian driving conditions, was used to determine crash culpabil-ity from police reports on all drivers from the crashes. The associ-ation between crash culpability and cell phone use was determined, with additional subgroup analyses based on crash severity, drive