In January 2002, Advocates for Cell Phone Safety merged with the Partnership
for Safe Driving, a national organization headquartered in Washington, DC and
dedicated to eliminating all forms of dangerous driving. Visit the Partnership for Safe Driving at CrashPrevention.org
MORE INFO
On November 3, 1999,
our sweet little daughter, Morgan Lee, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car
crash the previous day. Our car was broadsided by a driver who failed to stop for a stop
sign while using his cellular phone. This website is our attempt to express our absolute
devastation from the loss of our only child who was the center of our lives. No family
should ever experience this pain and emptiness. If you want to read the complete story of
what happened to our baby, please read my open
letter written to Car Talk. Then, return to this site to learn more.
We are committed to raising public awareness
of this issue!
Prior to this crash, we and the rest of the public, lacked a
meaningful awareness of the danger of drivers using cellular phones while operating a
vehicle. Since the horrific death of our daughter, we have discovered that the use of
cellular phones by drivers has become a very substantial safety problem. Studies have
indicated that the risk of crash quadruples when a cell phone is being used by a motorist
-- the risk equals that of an intoxicated driver. Please,
print this flyer and this flyer and
distribute it to people you know or post it in a public location in your area. They detail
where you can write to demand that this issue be addressed. Click here to find out how you can
do more. Opposed to this legislation? Click here now.
Advocates for Cell Phone Safety takes its campaign to Washington In January 2002, Advocates for Cell Phone Safety merged with the Partnership
for Safe Driving, a national organization headquartered in Washington, DC and
dedicated to eliminating all forms of dangerous driving.
So after you visit my site, which is dedicated to the memory of my daughter,
Morgan Lee, please follow this link to the home page of the Partnership for
Safe Driving to learn more about our organization. While there, be sure to
sign up for Crash Prevention News, a bi-monthly online news service for road
safety activists and concerned citizens. Also, please consider making a
financial contribution to the Partnership to help us keep our dream alive.
Public
Attitude Monitor 2000
Over Two-Thirds of the Public Favors Laws to Ban Cellular Phone Use
While Driving. ( New to Site: 6/15/2001)This Site could Take a Minute or so to open on your computer, Thank You
Food for thought:
We killed 120 kids and small statured women with
airbags and there was a huge government, industry and societal response. We killed 150
people with Firestone tires, and the response was the same. Both airbags and tires are
essential parts of the driving environement. Cell phones are not, so why do we tolerate
this problem? (Fran Bents 12/15/00)
Cell
Phone Horror Stories
MSNBC.com asked readers what their worst experiences were with
mobile phone users. Here are your stories. (MSNBC.com: 3/23/2001)
"Federal Agency to Advise Drivers to Hang
Up Phones" (Quote from WSJ article)
"NHTSA's consumer information will now include advice that
growing evidence suggests using a wireless phone or other electronic device while driving
can be distracting, and drivers should not talk on the phone or use other devices while
their vehicles are in motion." (7/19/00 Wall Street Journal)
Cracking
down on cell phones 11/3/00
When Patrolman Rich Hovan stops drivers here for chatting on their
cell phones, he hands them more than tickets. He gives out pictures of 2-year-old Morgan
Lee. (11/3/2000)
Communities put the
brakes on cell phones
A movement to restrict using a cell phone while driving is gaining
momentum across the country as city councils and state legislatures contemplate whether to
regulate a habit that's becoming as common as tuning the car radio. With more than 103
million wireless phone users in the United States, the debate over the safety of using
cell phones while driving has reached a fever pitch. Since March 1999, at least eight
municipalities have enacted or are likely to pass restrictions on the use of such phones,
experts say.(10/2000)
Car
Talk Declares War
Includes a tribute to Morgan including an open letter from Patti and
pictures of our beautiful daughter. This site has an excellent collection of information,
plus a bumper sticker you can get to speak out! An extremely comprehensive site for
finding out what you can do on a national level. It features a map of the United States,
in which you can just click on your state to find out where to write.
(You can listen to Tom and Ray Magliozzi of NPR's
popular Car Talk radio show weigh in on the issue in RealAudio; hear their cell phone rant -- about
18 minutes in length.)
The risk of having a traffic accident while using a cellular phone
is the same as that while driving drunk (NEJM, 2/13/97)
Cell phone users are four to five HUNDRED percent more likely to
get into traffic accidents than those who do not use them (NEJM, 2/13/97)
There is a nine-fold increase in the risk of fatality given the
use of a cellular telephone (Violanti, 1998, case-control study of data from 223,137
traffic crashes in Oklahoma from 1992 - 1995)
Violanti and Marshall studied the association between cellular
telephone use and EIGHTEEN other driver inattention factors and traffic crash risk.
Results indicated that talking for more than 50 mintues per month on a cellular phone in a
vehicle was associated with a 5.59 fold increased risk of a traffic crash over other
factors.
The Insurance Research Council's Public Attitude Monitor showed
that four out of five survey respondents (82%) agree that using cell phones in cars
distracts drivers and increases the likelihood of accidents; 84% of cell phone owners
agree
The use of cell phones while vehicle is in motion has already been
banned in Australia, Spain, Israel, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Chile, Switzerland, Great
Britain, Singapore, Taiwan, Sweden, Japan, and Austria. Driving with a cell phone was
banned in Japan after a study found the number of traffic accidents related to the phones
increased by 11 percent from 1997 to 1998. In the month after the law went into effect,
the number of accidents caused by drivers using cell phones fell by about 75 percent.