Right: this enterprising Canadian policeman adopted a disguise to detect drivers in the act of using a mobile phone.
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Arguments against banning drivers from using mobile phones
1. Claims that mobile phones are a safety risk have been disputed
Claims about the extent of the accident risk posed by mobile phone use by drivers have been vigorously disputed. It has been suggested that estimations based on simulator predictions have not been borne out in real world experience.
Keep Your Eyes on the Road, an Australian-based road safety organisation has stated, 'While mobile phones are a real distraction in the car and their use can result in serious accidents, real life accident data indicates that mobile phone use does not contribute significantly to crashes or fatalities.
A study that analysed more than eight million actual hands-free phone calls placed over a period of five years found only two confirmed cases of crashes that occurred during phone use.
Looking at United States data, Keep Your Eyes on the Road states, 'Some state highway authorities in the US have compiled detailed information on crash statistics and have specifically listed using a cell phone or two-way radio as a contributing cause for the crash. For example, in Minnesota in 2007 "Driver on Cell Phone or CB Radio" accounts for some 0.2% across single or multiple vehicle crashes across all age groups. The Tennessee Department of Safety has data available from 2003 to 2007 using a "Telephone or Two-Way Radio", which listed these factors as the cause of an accident in 0.35% in 2003; 0.32% in 2004; 0.36% in 2005; 0.37% in 2006 and 0.33% in 2007.' The incidence of mobile-phone-related accidents in the United States would appear to be very small.
Drawing on recent Australian data, Keep Your Eyes on the Road has made similar claims. 'A recent analysis of 340 serious casualty crashes in Victoria and NSW between 2000 and 2011, using data gleaned from forensic examination of crash scenes and anonymous interviews with drivers has found that in 0.9 per cent of crashes the driver was using a mobile phone.'
The same study found other factors that appeared to be far more significant. '[T]he Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) found that intoxicated drivers caused 13.5 per cent of crashes, drivers falling asleep resulted in 11.8 per cent of crashes and 3.2 per cent of crashes were caused by passenger interactions.'
It has further been claimed that the extent of mobile phone use by drivers has been exaggerated. Jeff Greenberg, Ford's senior technical leader for 'human machine interface' told international media at a conference at Ford's Detroit headquarters in May 2015, '[T]here is no distracted driving epidemic'
Mr Greenberg went on, citing United States and worldwide trends, 'If you look at a lot of the stories in the media, you would believe there is an epidemic related to driver distraction. But in fact crash rates have been declining for well over a decade (yet) over the same period of time the number of (mobile phones) has increased exponentially. And so the epidemic of crashes that we might expect, we don't really see reflected in the data, and that's really puzzling to a lot of researchers.'
2. Banning drivers from using mobile phones would increase risky driver behaviour
Chris Althaus, the chief executive of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, has claimed that criminalising all phone use by drivers would not increase driver safety.
Mr Althaus has argued that a total ban would result in some drivers trying to hide their use of mobiles.
Referring to the suggested ban, Mr Althaus stated, '"(This) would increase the danger of crashes. The simple act of holding a phone beneath window height or on a driver's lap to avoid detection increases a driver's need to look away from the road.
(This is) the very thing the new national road rules are trying to avoid by placing mobile phones in cradles on the dashboard or out of sight in a driver's pocket when using Bluetooth hands-free devices.'
A 2010 study conducted by North America's Insurance Institute for Highway Safety after 30 US states introduced bans on mobile phone use found the strict new laws led to an increase in crashes.
The report stated, 'This unexpected consequence of banning texting suggests that texting drivers have responded to the law, perhaps by attempting to avoid fines by hiding their phones from view.
If this causes them to take their eyes off the road more than before the ban, then the bans may make texting more dangerous rather than eliminating it.'
3. A ban on mobile phone use by car drivers would be unenforceable
A mobile phone ban on drivers could not be policed effectively and so would be unenforceable.
Mobile phones are now also used to transmit music and recorded books and as GPS devices. Unless such applications were also banned, it would be impossible for any police officer to determine the use to which a mobile phone device was being put. It would also be extremely difficult for police to determine whether a driver were speaking on a mobile phone or to a passenger.
In October 2010, Dr Tom Dingus, the Director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, stated, 'There are many national campaigns advocating no cell phone use at all while driving, however, it may not be realistic in today's multi-tasking society.'
In December 2011, the United States National Transportation Safety Board stated that drivers should be barred from using hand-held and hands-free mobile phone devices. The call met with immediate concerns that such a ban would be unenforceable.
On December 16, 2011, Mark Sedensky, writing for the Huffington Post, conjectured, 'A driver in the next lane is moving his lips. Is he on a hands-free cellphone? Talking to someone in the car? To himself? Singing along to the radio?
If lawmakers follow the advice of a federal board, police officers will have to start figuring that out - somehow.'
France is one of many countries in which it is illegal to use a hands-held phone while driving. In 2002, the French government considered introducing a total ban on the use of mobile phones in cars, including a ban on hands-free devices. However, this proposal was rejected because of concerns that the French police would not be able to enforce the new regulation as they would not be able to differentiate between a driver talking to someone else in the car or singing along to the radio and using a hands-free mobile phone to have a conversation.
It has been claimed that having unenforceable laws is undesirable as it creates a careless disregard for the law among citizens. Chris Berg stated, 'A society should try not to have too many unenforceable laws. They breed contempt for the law as an institution. If people get used to disobeying one law, they may become comfortable with disobeying others.'
4. There are measures already in place to reduce dangerous mobile phone use
It has been claimed that many of the measures currently in place are effective in reducing possible risks associated with mobile phone use in vehicles.
Currently Victorian motorists can legally use a mobile phone while driving via Bluetooth or another hands free connection. However, to ensure that the mobile phones do not become a distraction, drivers are required to place their phones in a holder or cradle. If they do not do so, they are fined $443 and lose four demerit points.
It has also been suggested that further driver education in the safe use of mobile phones in vehicles would be beneficial. Chris Althaus, the chief executive of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, has claimed that such education would ensure that drivers were aware of the need for safe practices and what these are.
Ms Althaus said educating drivers about using hands-free technology safely would be more effective than an outright ban. He said drivers should never text, always keep their eyes on the road, install a phone cradle in their cars and use their smartphone's voice-activated dialling and answering features to remain safe. He also noted that motorists should also avoid using their phones altogether in heavy traffic, at intersections, in bad weather or in poor road conditions.
As part of the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 all Australian states and territories have begun targeting the clearly dangerous, illegal and unacceptable practice of text messaging and driving, which has been shown to have the highest risk factor with a 23.2 times greater risk of a crash or near crash (compared to listening and talking, which has only a 1.3 times greater risk).
There has also been increased enforcement support, awareness campaigns and the adoption of new national road rules requiring drivers to use their mobiles in approved cradles to help ensure that the risk of reaching for mobiles in cars is reduced. This is intended to ensure that drivers' eyes are forward looking over the roadway, reducing risks of taking their eyes off the road.
5. Other in-car activities are more distracting than mobile phones
It has been claimed that a range of other activities typically performed by drivers are more distracting than the use of mobile phones.
A study of 9000 Norwegian drivers who had recently reported an accident to their insurance companies found that both radios and CD players appear to cause more accidents than mobile phones.
Australian research conducted by Monash University's Accident Research Centre (MUARC) also found the effects of distraction was more pronounced during car stereo tasks than during hands-free mobile phone tasks.
Similarly, a 1993 study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute found changing cassette tapes to be more distracting than talking on a mobile phone. Reading a map, which was found to be the most distracting task, was nearly twice as distracting.
Spilling hot coffee and dropping something on the floor were two of the distractions drivers cited most frequently as reasons for their road traffic accidents, according to a study by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS). Fiddling with a radio or climate control system is the next most-cited distraction. The study also found that some commuters regularly read the newspaper, shave, or apply make-up on their way to work.
A study of more than 2,700 crash scenes involving distracted drivers and nearly 4,500 drivers by the Virginia Commonwealth University found looking at traffic, crashed and roadside incidents was the primary distraction in 16 per cent of the crashes studied, followed by driver fatigue, 12 per cent; looking at scenery, 10 per cent; passenger and child distractions, nine per cent; and adjusting the radio, CD or tape player, seven per cent. Mobile phones were cited as the primary distraction in slightly more than five per cent of the crashes studies.