Cell Phones and Motor Vehicle Fatalities Final Report

015944102016Final ReportPDFTech ReportHVDR24-14DTRT12-G-UTC01Cellular telephonesCrash injuriesDistractionFatalitiesHighway safetyTraffic crashesDriver distractionHuman factors in crashesHighwaysSafety and Human FactorsCell phonesUnited StatesCaliforniaMassachusettsNew England University Transportation CenterShoag, DanielMuehlegger, ErichNew England University Transportation CenterHarvard University. Kennedy School of GovernmentUniversity of California, DavisUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationUS Transportation CollectionThe research objective of this project was to explore how the use of mobile devices affects driver safety. With almost all American adults owning a cell phone and other mobile devices currently, cell phone use while driving is thought to be extremely common. There have been significant concerns raised about distracted driving; however, relatively little consensus has been reached on the impact of distracted driving on safety. The results of this research are the first direct evidence linking call patterns and accidents in a non-experimental setting. As expected, the observational data strongly confirm the link between traffic injuries and death and mobile phone use.75