An American association called the Governor’s Highway Safety Association recently released a report that use of a mobile phone correlates with increased risk of accidents in the United States of America (USA).
To arrive at their conclusion, the association reviewed 350 scientific papers, published between 2000 and 2010, related to highway safety. Their review clearly showed that distracted driving accounts for 15-25% of all crashes (ranging from small fender benders to accidents with fatalities). Nothing here should be surprising as it based on common sense. What was interesting however was their assertion that “no conclusive evidence on whether hands-free systems [are] less risky than hand-held use”.
They determined that text messaging (SMS) posses the highest and longest risk since it required the driver to stare at the mobile screen for long periods while composing and sending the message. The next highest risk was dialing a number but the risk duration was [understandably shorter]. Finally they determined that talking on the phone posed the lowest but longest duration risk.
Even with the release of this report, the GHSA stated that they would like to see more research conducted into this subject with more emphasis on prevention.
GHSA Report : Link