“Death by Cell Phone” is a new outdoor advertising campaign from the National Safety Council.

It’s not surprising that drivers overestimate their skills and underestimate the harmful and fatal effects of distractions caused by a growing number of other activities while they drive. What is surprising is the lack of  regulation from governments and  their safety agencies as study after study shows that the problem  is growing as automakers expand their marketing of electronic devices or systems, such as Bluetooth, that ease their use.

More than 100 million people are now engaging in dangerous distracted driving behavior each day while driving. Particularly dangerous is the widespread use of cell phones. The issue is not the type of phone a driver uses, rather it is the distraction caused by the conversation. That’s the reason the National Safety Council urged a total ban on using them while driving earlier this year after conducting research that confirmed previous studies on just how dangerous they are.

NSC said cell phone use while driving contributes to 6% of crashes, or 636,000 wrecks, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries, and 2,600 deaths each year. NSC estimates the annual financial toll of cell phone-related crashes at $43 billion.

The latest research released today by the AAA Foundation confirms the growing problem of the disconnect between behaviors that drivers know are dangerous and their continued practicing of them. Overall, the majority of American motorists reported to AAA that they feel no safer now than they did five years ago while driving.

A previous AAA Foundation survey found two out of three drivers mistakenly believe using a hands-free cell phone is safer than talking on a hand-held device. In this survey, the use of a hands-free cell phone was the only behavior that more than half of all drivers rated as acceptable, yet numerous other scientific studies have shown it is equally as dangerous as talking on a hand-held phone, both quadruple your risk of being in a crash.

But Not While Driving

Motorists know this intuitively, and rated distracted driving as a top threat, with 80% seeing it as a very serious threat to their safety. Even those who admitted to distracted driving acknowledged they were putting themselves in danger. And more than half of those who admitted to reading or sending text messages or e-mails while driving indicated they were much more likely to have an accident.

This is why regulation is going to be needed. Since drivers already have a good understanding of the problem yet persist in dangerous behaviors, educational programs are futile. And since the accidents such behaviors cause hurt others and impose extreme costs on society, the libertarian argument that the government should leave them alone is invalid.

“Over the past twenty-five years, motor vehicle crashes have, prematurely, violently and tragically ended the lives of one million Americans – killing more of our children, teens and young adults than any other single cause,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “That’s one death every 13 minutes.”

Following are highlights from the 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index:

• 90% of respondents said people driving after drinking alcohol was a very serious threat to their safety; 87% said the same about text messaging or e-mailing while driving
• 80% of motorists rated distracted driving as a very serious threat to their safety, yet many admitted performing distracted behaviors like talking on the cell phone or texting or e-mailing while driving within the last month
• More than two-thirds admitted to talking on a cell phone and 21% admitted to reading or sending a text message or e-mail while driving in the past month
• Nearly 90% said that texting or e-mailing while driving was a very serious threat to safety, yet 18% of those same people admitted texting in the past month
• 58% said that talking on a cell phone while driving was a very serious threat to their safety, yet 55% of those same people self-reported talking on cell phones while driving in the past month
• Nine out of 10 people considered running a red light unacceptable, yet 26% of those same people admitted to running a red light
• Nine out of 10 people considered tailgating unacceptable, yet 24% of those same people admitted to tailgating in the past 30 days
• 63% considered speeding 15 mph or more on the highway unacceptable, yet 28% of those same people admitted doing so in the past month. Fully 95% of people rated speeding 15 mph or more over the speed limit on residential streets unacceptable, yet 21% of those same people admitted doing so in the past month.

“There are many motorists who would never consider drinking and driving, yet they think it’s somehow okay to text or e-mail while driving. We need to stigmatize distracted driving to the same degree as drunk driving in our culture, because both behaviors are deadly,” said Kissinger. “This survey shines the light on drivers behaving badly; it also raises some dangerous public misconceptions. We’d like to end the belief that ‘it’s the other guy’s problem’ and end the false sense of security that ‘if I chat on a hands-free cell phone I’m somehow safer.'”