Hands-free phones are lifesavers, study says
Share this pageTuesday, May 13, 2008
by Mike Stuckey, Senior news editor, MSNBC
A California researcher has entered the acrimonious debate over mobile phones by predicting that banning the use of hand-held phones by U.S. drivers could save thousands of lives each year.
In a study released Monday, Jed Kolko, a fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, estimated that 300 fewer people will die each year in traffic accidents as a result of a pending hand-held cell-phone ban for California drivers. More than 4,000 people die in traffic accidents in the state every year.