I'm a AAA member. I'm a cell phone user. I've designed and overseen database applications and data populating in multiple environments and have performed analysis based on those databases.

Prompted by several "near encounters" during a particularly tense commute one day, I decided to do a little subjective "study" of my own. Over a couple of days, in the two dozen or so times I witnessed driving behavior that could have easily led to accidents, only *once* was the driver *not* using a phone!

Taking an unqualified parameter and inferring a conclusion is bad enough, but to present that "data" as valid is inexcusable. Was AAA unable to recognize that this "study" directly contradicted virtually every other study of similar objectives AND flew in the face of that elusive standard, common sense?

"Garbage in, garbage out" still works, every time.

Kelvin Parrish

My question is: Who funded the study? University research programs are so polluted by companies funding them to find the results they want; maybe that is the case here. Was it funded by the cell phone industry?

Park Chapman

I am a doctoral candidate. In my Ph.D. coursework and subsequent research, we learned all about how to notice obfuscation. I am appalled that a group claiming to be so devoted to road safety would reveal only half of the story. If the whole unvarnished truth is ugly, so be it.

It might be as misleading as going to a state militia meeting and asking the membership about their satisfaction with the improvements to the IRS ... but I'd need to do some research. (Do you think the NSF would fund me?)

Jeff Kenton

The AAA "study" is junk.

Jay Gerard

Isn't AAA supposed to be for the drivers of America, and not for the corporate interests? What next should I be wary of? Explorers and Firestone tires "proven" to be safe?

Sign me: very disappointed.

Bruce Bohannan

No problem discontinuing my membership. Tow-truck insurance/subscriptions are available from lots of organizations these days.

Neil Nitzberg

You guys hit the nail on the head when you exposed AAA and their cell phone study results. As is often the case, they oppose anything that appears to inconvenience motorists, no matter how important the benefits might be.

I work in the field of traffic safety (bicycle/pedestrian) and often find AAA's "safety" messages and positions on safety issues to be contrary to what is in the best interest of all road users, especially if one reads between the lines and/or examines their messages very carefully. For this reason I'm reluctant to use any of their materials, even if they are free!

Dan Moser

Perhaps AAA's lack of interest in divulging the result of their cell phone study has something to do with the fact that they are pushing their own cell phones through their magazine. Prurient self-interest, I'd reckon.

Matthew Cordery

Hey, it doesn't surprise me that AAA has a flawed study on accidents. I read an interesting article on who funds them (AAA, not the accidents) and who is on their board of directors and how much "in bed" they are with the big car companies and the folks that encourage road-building and sprawl and discourage mass transit.

Andrea Bergstrom

I have an M.S.W. and am a Virginia DMV-certified driver-improvement instructor, a probation officer for drunk drivers, and a certified alcohol- and driver-education instructor. I drive about 10,000 miles a year and have a good driving record. I am shocked by AAA's indifference. It seems that AAA considers your information and response based only in "humor." I guess common sense is irrelevant to their research and findings, and validity can be based only on their all-inclusive version of the truth. I guess if you don't work

for AAA, "it don't mean a thing."

Pete Kakalec

Your reaction to the AAA study is classic liberalism. You started with a conclusion and searched for facts (or anything that looked like a fact) to support it. When faced with substantial evidence (AAA is not PETA, the Sierra Clubhouse, the Democratic Party, or some other loose-knit band of kooks) that disputes your predetermined conclusion, you bury your heads in the sand and hope it goes away. Or, as in this case, you attack the messenger.

I still love the show. Pinko.

Ron McManamay

I was lulled into sending an e-mail to AAA so I wouldn't have to go back to the minicam looking out your window. Thanks to you, I wonder how long I or a member of my family will have to wait in the Chicago cold when we need a jump-start from AAA.

Lou

As a full-time EMT, I have firsthand knowledge of the evils driver distraction can cause. I also am glad that you have taken on the most useless automotive accessory ever marketed to a consumer, the American Automobile Association. I am considering dropping my membership in the organization. The slight discount for towing is often offset by the two-hour wait for a tow truck.

Andy Gannon

Cell phones ARE a distraction whether that distraction is 8.3 percent or 12.9 percent. Dead is an all-or-nothing affair; the percentage is meaningless. By saying, "It might not be so bad," AAA is giving tacit approval to all forms of driver distraction.

Mary E. O'Kiersey

Interesting that AAA is upset with you. Do you think it could have something to do with the cellular service promotions they send me (in conjunction with one of our local cellular companies)?

Sal Santamaura

AAA seems to have purposefully misled the public. One is left with the uncomfortable notion that the AAA is colluding in a blatant attempt to minimize the inherent dangers of mixing phones and driving. I am a member of AAA, which presumably speaks on my behalf, and why they would feel the need to so wholeheartedly endorse the position of the cellular phone industry is a question that intrigues me greatly. Perhaps they would care to enlighten me about this.

It is long past time to ban the use of phones while driving.

Bruce Austin

AAA's data are horrendously biased. I believe it's known as "recall bias," implying that, when asked, people recall (or fail to recall) events in a way related to the outcome being investigated. In medicine this sort of bias is very common, and most studies must be prospectively designed in order to avoid confounding by recall bias.

Now, the AAA study to be published allegedly admits that recall bias exists in the data, and so the authors have essentially shielded themselves from this criticism. Unfortunately, since our legislatures and general public are probably unaware that this sort of bias heavily taints study results, the average person will draw conclusions based on the study that are not accurately supported by the data.

I'm not sure you'll convince the AAA to retract the study, but the suspect nature of their statistics certainly doesn't reflect well on the organization as a whole.

Dan Wambold

You managed to follow up on their claims (another shining example of "fuzzy logic") and cut through the crap to find the basic flaw in their reasoning.

We need less fuzzy science and more real science.

Bill Daniels