Cell phone use in fatal crashes often unreported, U.S. study says

Many fatal auto collisions in the United States involve cell phone use, but many of those aren’t included in a national database as crashes involving cell phones, according to a new research report from the National Safety Council (NSC). 

For its report, partially sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, the NSC examined 180 collisions that occurred between 2009 and 2011, and that involved one or more fatality and had evidence of cell phone use involved.

Such evidence could include a caller or texter on the other end of the line from the driver who can verify cell phone use during the time of the crash, passenger reports, police finding unfinished messages on a phone at a crash scene and court documents of witness testimony.

The NSC found that in 2011, only 52% of those crashes were coded as involving cell phones in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a national database overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S.

FARS data is particularly important, the NSC noted in its report, since it influences national prevention priorities, funding decisions, media attention, legislation and sometimes even roadway engineering.

“We believe the number of crashes involving cell phone use is much greater than what is being reported,” Janet Froetscher president and CEO of the National Safety Council noted in a statement on the report.

“Many factors, from drivers not admitting cell phone use, to a lack of consistency in crash reports being used to collect data at the scene, make it very challenging to determine an accurate number,” she added.

Local police often rely on drivers providing information, and many often don’t admit cell phone use. “As long as reliance on driver admission is a factor in collecting these data, national statistics and reports can never represent the true scope of the problem,” the report says.

The NSC’s analysis found that even in cases where drivers admitted using a cell phone during a crash, about half weren’t coded as in the FARS database as crashes involving cell phone use.

The NSC also noted that it’s difficult to tell how many cases involve cell phone use, since there can often be no evidence (such as a fatal crash where the driver was reading an email or text message on their phone).

Police may not fully investigate cell phone use in a crash if it’s not a violation in their jurisdiction, the report notes. Crash reports also may not be updated to include cell phone use discovered later, and cell phone data itself can be challenging to obtain from wireless providers, it notes.

“The public should be aware that cell phone-involved fatal crashes are not accurately being reported,” Bill Windsor , associate vice president of consumer safety at Nationwide Insurance, commented. “There are wide-ranging, negative ramifications to safety if a fatal crash factor is substantially under-reported, as appears to be the case of cell phone use in crashes.”