MEDICAL SCHOOL

Drive, don't talk

If you think people who talk on cellular phones while driving are asking for trouble, a new preliminary study by researchers at UB and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) suggests you're probably right.

Their study of the relationship between the use of cellular phones and traffic-accident risk shows that drivers who have car phones are 34 percent more likely to be involved in an accident than people who don't.

Big talkers are at an even greater risk. Results showed that people who use a car phone for more than 50 minutes a month are five times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who use their car phones less or not at all.

The study, authored by John M. Violanti, clinical assistant professor, and James R. Marshall, professor, both of UB's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, appears in a recent issue of Accident Analysis and Prevention, a journal published in Great Britain. Violanti is also a member of the Department of Criminal Justice at RIT. The study shows a statistical association between car-phone use and accidents, not cause and effect, the authors emphasized.

Phone use was more strongly associated with accidents than lack of driving experience and most activities known to be distractions, such as drinking beverages, adjusting the radio, looking at the scenery or thinking about problems.

Surprisingly, the researchers said, the lone distraction of talking on a car phone was associated with a higher risk of accidents than phone use combined with other distractions, such as smoking or drinking a beverage.

"Apparently, cellular phone use as a single behavior may affect accident risk to a greater degree than many other in-car activities while driving," Violanti said.