Two events happened over the last couple of weeks that prompt me to ask whether we would be willing to make one simple change that could dramatically improve our ability to understand distracted driving.
The first event was a “typical” distracted driving event which took place in front of me while I was driving to work. You know the one. The driver proceeds straight while the road curves, crosses over into the on-coming lane, and runs another driver off of the road. (In this case, the other driver maintained control, thankfully avoiding a serious accident.) I swear, and speculate on, the distraction status of the dangerous driver. As I pull up at a stoplight, it is clear he is making calls on his cell. Now what to do? Sign language? Ask for his phone number so I can call and yell at him? Call the police? As drivers, we unfortunately have few options to deal with this sort of issue.
And what if there had been a crash? Who would have known it was due to a distracted driver? If I had been at the scene and had noticed that the driver had been on the phone, I could have said something. But if not, and both drivers had hit head-on, then there would have been no way for the police to know the true cause of the crash. That's a serious problem when it comes to our ability to track the risks of distracted driving. 
(A final note of interest, by the way: The vehicle of choice for this distracted drive? A Corvette. You'd think the pilot of such a pricey vehicle might drive more sanely. Then again, it was a Corvette!)
This leads me to the second event, which was a conversation with colleagues at AAA and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). My question to my KDOT peers was, “KDOT tracks crashes. Can KDOT access phone records in the event of a crash?” Their answer? No. Not in the U.S.
One of the biggest challenges with distracted driving research in this country today is that it is very difficult to know when a distraction was the cause of a crash.
Who, after all, would willingly admit that they were texting a friend or ordering pizza at the time of an accident? It's rightfully shameful behavior, not to mention legally incriminating. The result? While someone can’t become “un-drunk” after a crash, they can easily become “un-distracted” by putting down his or her phone and denying the distraction.
Burden of Proof
We can't trust self-reporting in these cases. The only way to know for sure if the driver was distracted at the time of the accident is not by relying on the driver's version but to verify it independently. That means looking at phone records. Which leads me to my idea for one simple change: Are we as a nation willing to allow federal privacy laws to change, so that accident investigators can access phone records in the event of a crash?
What would we be willing to do to know the extent of what may be a silent killer? What are your thoughts? 
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Hans
.. In all honesty I even have seen motorcyclists on cell phones Now I pull over or just not take the call Best thing of all is that all blue tooth technology and all Linda of headsets allow to take calls with no physical distraction. Voice dialing enables making calls. If one risks his and other drivers lives a $150 car stereo is nothing compared to the costs of an accident or even the deductible. It's just pure ignorance. I agree with giving the police full access to cell records. Insurances though just look for a new opportunity to increase their profit I suggest to make cell capability and auto linking mandatory on all cells and car stereos. This avoids that drivers are tempted to gamble on this and with that use the Bluetooth interface connects to the ecu. As soon as in drive this can be mediated to the phone and with this the phone can put itself into a auto drive mode. This will save lots of lives
J R
Hell, yes! And if the cretin causing the accident was on his cell or texting at the time of the accident, then triple the damages.
Patrick Clement
I agree, cellular telephone records should be searchable by law enforcement after a crash involving the cellular telephone user. However, I believe law enforcement already has that authority, by going to a judge and asking for a search warrant of an individual's telephone record. If not, then that authority, and necessary safeguard of having to get a search warrant before hand, should be done.
Rubenoff
Please visit u tube site below to see comment and pix on Daytime running lamps where road rage and driver distraction can be the result of blinding headlamps or DRL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYTXh7_qkA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=U if link wont load copy and paste the link into your web browser comment appreciated
Rubenoff
there are some important things that we as driver's of automobile,s need to practice in order to respect the eye's of oncoming driver's in nightime driving situations Fog lamps are supplied on many newer vehicles however these should not be used in clear weather and or nightime situations Because there is an increase of lighting being projected from the front of our vehicles towards the eyes of the other approaching driver,s Most vehicles now have the ability built in to the vehicle to allow operation of the fog lamps alone and the operation of rear vehicle tailamp.s and front park lamps, most common sense and properly written Motor Vehicle regulations will allow the use of fog lamps in place of the low beam lamps Because of lamps are normally being aimed lower so as to better peer under the fog, use of low and high beam is sometimes useless in foggy conditions because of the white light glowing backwards off the fog moisture particles into the eyes of the vehicle driver, amber colored fog lamps seem to work better because of less light spatter back into the eye,s of the driver using the fog lamps and the amber colored light is easier on the eyes of the oncoming drivers The motor Vehicle regulations need to be re written to allow law enforcement to issue citaton's to drivers that drive around with fog lamps lit in clear weather or at nightime when the weather is clear. Auxillary driving lamp's must be operated from the high beam light operation only so that the added light operates when the most seeing distance is required ahead of the vehicle at night, and to ensure that the auxillary driving lamps cannot be operated on Low beam operation to protect the eye's of the oncoming driver's Frequent road side police Vehicle inspection's are required to catch and correct improper wiring and switching that allow the lights to be operated in a manner that decrease,s public safety and allows a disrespect to the eye's of the oncomimg driver's and allow a blinding headlamp situation that can create road rage and set up a head on collision accident waiting to occur Some of the early Daytime Running lamp.s installed on vehicles allow the daytime running lamps to be lit in the daytime and then at the nightime they are called fog lamps and or Auxillary driving lamps and the operator has no means of shutting the lamps off to respect the eyes of oncoming motorist's and or meet properly written and safe Motor Vehicle regulations that are supposed to be there for the protection of all drivers you and I there is a great need to ensure that all vehicles have their headlamp alignment inspected in the following conditions (1) when the unit is new fresh from the factory (2) any time weight has been added to the vehicle ie. Canopy. winch, tool box, fuel tank, welder or a deck that is used for carrying weight (3) when the unit is used for towing trailers, (4) anytime repairs are completed to the suspension of vehicle ( new springs etc. accident's) (5) when the unit ages and there is settlement of the suspension ( 3-5 years) as drivers we have the responsibility dim our lights when meeting oncoming vehicles, and when following vehicles to prevent our headlamps from blinding other's who share the roadway system as a matter of common courtesy and to lower the risk's of creating accident's
Rubenoff
in this area we have tall grass and shrubs and in winter snow bank's below is a link to stopping distances http://www.passingplacedriving.co.uk/stoppingdistances.html if an animal jumps out onto the highway too close to the car travelling at highway speeds there may nor be enough time or distance to stop before colliding with the animal or parked vehicles
Mark waugh
Thanks for sharing this worthy read dude. Car accident is our own created. Out drivers don't obtain the driving rules. They frequently become hyper to overtake one another. If they keep themselves in control though we will see that car accidents reduce dramatically. Just control ownself.