State-Journal.com - Billboard warns of 'Death by cell phone'

An eye-catching billboard in Jett reads “DEATH BY CELL PHONE.”

Smaller words direct drivers to watch online stories about a boy and a grandmother killed in vehicle accidents involving cell phones.

In the video, Jennifer Smith describes the distracted driver who hit her mother, Linda Smith, 61, of Oklahoma.

“He ran a red light and T-boned her car at 45 to 50 miles per hour, which was the posted speed limit. My mother died within a couple of hours from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest. I just call it death by cell phone.”

The second story is told by David Teater who lost his 12-year-old son, Joe, in 2004. Joe was a passenger with his mother, when their car was hit by a woman who ran a red light while talking on her cell phone.

Following the stories are several statistics about the risks associated with talking and texting while driving.

The billboard (one of two in the state) is part of a campaign by the National Safety Council to change driving habits.

According to the NSC, drivers who use cell phones (handheld and hands-free - both are equally dangerous) are four times more likely to be in a crash and are responsible for 636,000 accidents and 2,600 deaths each year.

Nationwide, 80 percent of drivers talk on cell phones, and 18 percent text, according to a 2008 poll by Nationwide Insurance, which is sponsoring the campaign along with Lamar Advertising.

In Kentucky, cell phone related crashes have increased each year, and it’s likely the number reported is low, according to Sherry Bray, a spokeswoman for Kentucky State Police.

The numbers are “probably way under what’s actually out there,” Bray said.

Police reports often attribute crashes to distraction or human factors without being specific.

“Since (cell phone use) is becoming more of an issue, we’ll be better able to identify the cause of the distraction,” Bray said.

Last year, state and local law enforcement reported 973 crashes, 323 injuries and seven fatalities related to cell phones. Their use has claimed 31 lives since 2004.

In 2008, Franklin County reported 10 crashes, four injuries and zero fatalities. The county has reported no deaths since 2006.

Several states have passed cell phone legislation in the past few years - Washington and California the most restrictive.

Washington banned cell phone use and text messaging in 2008. California allows drivers to use cell phones with a hands-free device and bans drivers under 18 from using any type of wireless device in a moving vehicle.

Hands-free laws have been in effect for years in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Connecticut.

Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland and North Carolina all have text-messaging bans going into effect this year, and Illinois and Oregon have new bills ready to be signed by the governor.

Kentucky has two cell-phone laws - one for drivers under 18 and one for school bus operators. Bus drivers cannot use cell phones (or hands-free devices) while the bus is moving and transporting children.

The most recent Kentucky law is associated with graduated driver’s licenses and prohibits highway use of a cell phone in a motor vehicle for drivers under 18 who possess an instruction permit or an intermediate license.

Some lawmakers, however, want more restrictions.

Rep. Rick Nelson, D-Middlesboro, recently sponsored a failed bill to prevent drivers under 18 from using phones while driving motor vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds.

Nelson said he might file legislation in 2010 that would ban phones for drivers under 18 and texting for motorists of all ages.

“A girl passed me about a month ago,” Nelson said. “She almost hit me. She had her knees on the steering wheel and was texting with both hands. It’s pretty dangerous and concerns me more than a cell phone.”

Although such a ban would be hard to enforce, Nelson said it’s an important safety issue.

“When you get behind the wheel of a two or three ton vehicle, that is pretty serious business,” he said.

Another failed bill applied to all drivers and banned the use of phones without a hands-free device. Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, a sponsor, said he was surprised by the research he had commissioned for the law.

He presented a report by The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice that found “handheld and hands-free mobile phones equally contribute to the risk of traffic accidents.”

The study recommended the limit of cell use in high intensity driving conditions and pedestrian areas and suggested an education campaign to warn the public about the dangers.

Floyd’s not sure whether lawmakers will sponsor the same bill in 2010 but says the cell issue is important and must be addressed.

The families who appear on the billboard video say they’re dedicating their lives to help educate about the risks.

“Anything we can do to support that, we’re anxious to do that,” says the father who lost his son.

The leading cause of accidents is driver distraction, and the number one distraction is mobile device use in the car, Teater says.

“Hopefully the day will come, and hopefully in my lifetime, I can close my eyes and envision … where we’ll say ‘Hey do you remember when we all used to talk on cell phones while we drove? What idiots we were to do that.’”

Staff Writer Paul Glasser contributed to this report.