Poll: How Dangerous Are Cell Phones Behind the Wheel?

Distracted driving made national headlines a couple weeks ago when Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood against talking on the phone or texting while drivin. More recently, federal accident investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board declared any form of cell phone use behind the wheel — including hands-free — dangerous enough for an across-the-board ban.

"More than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, chairperson for the agency. "It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving."

"No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life," she said in a statement.

In addition, the California Office of Traffic Safety said in late November that texting and driving was the number one issue drivers were concerned with when it comes to safety on the roads.

"In a dramatic turnaround, California drivers ranked cell phone talking and texting as the biggest safety problems on the road in 2011, decisively moving past the top problems of 2010, which were speeding and aggressive driving," the office said in a statement.

"It is very telling that we’ve seen such a shift in opinions on cell phone use in just one year," said Christopher J. Murphy, the director of the Office of Traffic Safety.

Rohnert Park Patch is of this important issue — .

In the year since the , who was killed by Sonoma State student , who was texting and driving when she hit the Calli and her mother Ling in a , the Murrays have become vocal opponents of distracted driving.

They've called on legislators, media, policy groups, and neighbors to raise awareness, ramp up enforcement and create harder legislation to combat texting or talking on the phone while driving. They're calling the cause "Calli's Law."

Murray said that the feds paying attention to distracted driving as an epidemic is "incredible."

Here's what LaHood had to say to national media:

"Distracted driving is an epidemic on America's roadways," he said in a news statement. "You see it every day — drivers swerving in their lanes, stopping at green lights, running red ones or narrowly missing a pedestrian because they have their eyes and minds on their phones instead of the road. Yet, people continue to assume that they can drive and text or talk at the same time."

He continued: "Every single time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you're driving, even for just a few seconds, you put yourself and others in danger."

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