We've all complained about a clueless driver wandering through traffic with a cellphone glued to his or her ear. We
all know it's dangerous. Well, a recent study by Ford shows that it's especially dangerous for young drivers.
Using a driving simulator, Ford compared the response of adult and teenage drivers to traffic events happening in
front of them. As the chart shows, both types of drivers missed about 3 percent of potentially dangerous events without
the distraction of a phone, but when placing a phone call the rate jumps to 13.6 percent for adults and almost 54
percent for teens. And this is using a hands-free headset!
Here in Colorado, it's against the law for teenage drivers to use cell phones while driving, as it is in ten other
states. Even so, a few weeks ago a Colorado teenager, driving alone in his car on a clear road, struck and killed a
cyclist (in a bike lane) while he was text-messaging with his phone.
[Source: Ford]
