Cellphone law may not make roads safer

Drivers' chatting, even on hands-free devices, is risky, experts say.

By Myron Levin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 25, 2008

As California joins five other states in requiring drivers to use hands-free devices when talking on cellphones, an increasing body of research suggests the legislation will accomplish little.

The risk doesn't stem from whether one or both hands are on the wheel, the research suggests. It's whether the driver's mind is somewhere else.

"There's a common misperception that hands-free phones are safer when the research clearly suggests that they they're both equally risky," said Arthur Goodwin, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center

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