NHTSA Data on Cell Phone Dangers Suppressed

In a column in the New York Times Maureen Dowd wrote, "Ominously, research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - suppressed for years and released on Tuesday after petitions were filed by advocacy groups - shows that there are 'negligible differences' in [car] accident risk whether you're holding" a phone or using a hands-free device. "The agency buried its head in the sand, keeping the research to itself for years and ignoring the fact that soon nearly all Americans would own cellphones and that the phones are always getting smarter and more demanding, putting a multimedia empire at your fingertips while you're piloting a potentially lethal piece of artillery."

I have said all along, at least since CT mandated use of so-called "hands-free" devices, that the hands-free devices are just another distraction. I think using the hands-free device is more dangerous than just the phone, but that's just me.