In our Florida car accident cases, we routinely inquire about cell phone use during client interviews and discovery. As personal injury lawyers, we have seen first hand evidence to support those studies which have shown that distracted drivers, especially those who talk on cell phones, pose a hazard. According to one study talking motorists are four times as likely to be involved in accidents.

In that study, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, cameras and sensors were placed in 100 vehicles that were tracked for about a year. In that time, more than three-quarters of the 69 crashes and two-thirds of the 761 near-misses involved driver distraction, usually involving a cell phone conversation. A University of Kansas study found that drivers engaged in a conversation are less likely to respond to visual cues because too much of the processing power of their brain is already in use for them to adequately focus on the road. Because of this, the study said, hands-free devices do not lower the risk of crashes.

As a father of three teenage drivers that concerns me a lot. While we can prohibit our children from driving and using their cell phones, we cannot control every other driver out there. That’s alarming today when you consider that the number of cell phone subscribers has risen to more than 230 million according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. And according to a recent Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. survey, at least 73 percent use them while in the car.

These statistics have generated action by several local governments. Four states and the District of Columbia have passed laws criminalizing the use of hand-held cell phones while driving; several others have passed restrictions on young drivers’ cell-phone use while behind the wheel. More than 40 countries have enacted outright bans. In Florida there is presently no such regulations to address this growing concern for the safety of the traveling public.