News release
For immediate release
Use of Wireless Telephones
Increases the Risk of Road Accidents
Results of a major epidemiological study presented
Montreal, February 7, 2001 -- Researchers at the Transportation Safety Laboratory of Universite de Montreal today presented the results of a major epidemiological study on the risks of road accidents and the use of wireless telephones.
Overall, the study shows that both male and female wireless telephone users have a 38% higher risk of accident compared with the nonusers of the same gender. Relative risk increases with frequency of cell phone use; the risk of accident for heavy users (more than 135 calls made per month) is about twice the risk for light users (fewer than 10 calls made per month). These results take into account other accident risk factors, including driver age and the year of the accident, and driving habits, such as kilometers driven annually and night driving.
"Our research shows an association between wireless telephone use and accident risk. It does not constitute a direct demonstration of cause and effect, since there is no direct observation of wireless telephone use and other factors at the time of the accident. However, we did observed a dose-response gradient that lends support to the hypothesis of causation. Heavy users of the cell phone have twice the accident risk of drivers who use the phone infrequently or not at all," noted Dr. Laberge-Nadeau, Director of the Transportation Safety Laboratory.
This study is based on a sample of 36,000 people who filled out a questionnaire and signed a release form, including 12,700 users of wireless telephones and 23,300 nonusers. The Laboratory merged the data from the questionnaire with the drivers' records from the SAAQ and data on cell phone use provided by the telephone companies. The questionnaire asked about risk exposure, driving habits, opinions on activities that could be harmful to driving, accidents during the past 24 months and, for wireless telephone users, some questions about usage. This made it possible to obtain the following opinions on wireless telephone use while driving: one male user out of three (36%) and one female user out of two (50.9%) indicated that talking on a wireless telephone interfered significantly with their driving. Of all those polled, both men and women, and wireless telephone users and nonusers alike, only 3% or fewer felt that talking with passengers or listening to radio, tapes or CDs interfered with driving.
"We would like to thank all the people who took the time to fill out the questionnaire, and also the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ) and the telephone companies for their collaboration in gathering the data," said Dr Nadeau.
The Transportation Safety Laboratory brings together researchers from various fields of expertise who are interested in the human, socio-economical and physical aspects of transportation safety. The Laboratory is part of the Centre for Transportation Research, a multi-disciplinary centre at Universite de Montreal and its two affiliated schools, the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales.
Source and further information:
Dr. Claire Laberge-Nadeau
Director, Transportation Safety Laboratory
Universite de Montreal
Telephone: (514) 343-7425
