Hand-held cell phone use by drivers was up again to 6 percent in 2007 compared to 5 percent in 2006, and this increase in use occurred in many driver categories, including male drivers, female drivers, drivers age 25 to 69, drivers of all races, and drivers in all vehicle types. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which provides the only probability-based observed data on driver electronic device use in the United States. The NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 2007 rate translates into 1,005,000 vehicles on the road at any given daylight moment being driven by someone using a hand-held phone. It also translates into an estimated 11 percent of vehicles in the typical daylight moment whose driver is using some type of phone, either hand-held or hands-free. The 2007 survey also found the following: hand-held cell phone use continued to be higher among 16- to 24-year-olds and lower among drivers 70 and older; about 1 percent of drivers 16 to 24 were visibly manipulating hand-held devices; the use of visible headsets while driving was still less than 1 percent. (Author/publisher)
Abstract