[Bearcat]

Wilson's team found that drunk drivers are less inhibited about using cell phones as they drive. And there were also increased crashes into light poles, trees and other objects, with men involved in growing numbers.

I'm not going in circles with this discussion again, but I will point out, once again, this type of statement is for shock value and it's crap that news sources keep saying this without showing the math behind it.

I've seen some really bad tests/simulations on this, but I've also seen a couple of good videos that document this claim... and when the outcome proves this statement, 1) the drunk driving tests or stats were with about .08-.085% BAC, and the reduced reaction time amounted to less than 1 car length of reaction time/stopping time at 60mph, and 2) the reaction time of texting while driving was marginally worse. Worse? Yes, it went to 1.5-2 car lengths at 60mph.

I'm not going to stand on my soapbox again and defend the good drivers, because I've never said it's not a problem with the stupid/oblivious people in the world, just like kids in the back seat, CDs, etc. But, they could at least give the whole story and let you interpret the numbers instead of the "OMG we're all going to die because it's like everyone around you is hammered on the highway!!!" bullshit.

The more than 5,000 traffic deaths each year from cell phone use is "equivalent to a major airliner going down every week in this country," she said. "If that was happening, they would ground all flights until they figured out what the problem was and they solved it. But because everyone likes their cell phones, we have to debate this."

...speaking of bullshit. ~40,000 domestic flights per day compared to ~60 million registered vehicles (rough numbers from a Google search... the 60 million is 5 years old, the flights were 37,000 in 2009).

If half of registered vehicles (no clue though) are on the road each day (and if my math is right), 5000 vehicle deaths/year is actually like 40,000 people dying each year in airline crashes, and using her 96 passengers/plan, that would be 8 major arliners per week.

So, her analogy of "grounding every flight" for one major airliner per week is actually like saying something incredibly stupid over 625 vehicle deaths per year from texting, which would have been 1.8% of deaths on the road and not 15%... and apparently that's close to LA county in 2009...

Los Angeles County mirrored the national and statewide trends, with traffic fatalities at the lowest level in at least five years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2009, 588 deaths were reported, down from 750 reported in 2005.

...in case you wanted to know.