Who knew?
Turns out the federal government did six years ago. When it said nothing, thousands of Americans lost their lives. Others were seriously injured. And the nation is now stuck with a “serious and growing threat on America’s roadways.”
That’s the nutshell version of a shocking story in the July 21, 2009 edition of The New York Times about government suppression of vital safety information. The news does not surprise personal injury attorney Jim Adler who has long railed against government agencies that neglect their duty to protect the public.

“That’s why we call ourselves safety lawyers,” Adler said. “Remember the Ford Pinto and its exploding gas tank that killed so many in accidents? After Ford got sued by personal injury lawyers who won big settlements for victims, it redesigned that killer car. The same goes for those knobs on dashboards that used to seriously injure people in accidents. We got rid of them too. Now one of the biggest dangers on the road is caused by cell phones.”

Here are the disturbing details of the New York Times story: Back in 2003, researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wanted to do a long-term study to find out how dangerous it is to use a cell phone while driving. They had preliminary studies showing the scary potential of such multi-tasking behind the wheel. But the powers-that-be at NHTSA ruled against an in-depth study because they feared the wrath of Congress. NHTSA’s mission is to gather evidence, according to a former head of the agency, not to lobby the states.  In fact, it is strictly forbidden to engage in lobbying.

How much did NHTSA know and when did NHTSA know it? The decision not to do the study suppressed hundreds of pages of evidence showing the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving. In 2002, NHTSA researchers could show that drivers on cell phones caused an estimated 995 highway fatalities and 240,000 accidents that year alone. Still, NHTSA withheld that information and denied the researchers’ request for a long-term study of 10,000 drivers. The agency didn’t want to look as though it were lobbying states to pass tougher laws against talking on cell phones while driving. Ultimately, many states did enact laws mandating the use of hands-free devices for drivers on cell phones. But that didn’t stop accidents. Research shows that talking distracts the brain from driving, with or without a hands-free device.

How did the story get out? The Los Angeles Times carried a report last year. That triggered a Freedom of information Act lawsuit by the Center for Auto Safety, a non-profit watchdog group, to get the suppressed documents. Mother Jones, another national publication, then did a story with new details. Two consumer advocacy groups, The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen, have now provided the documents to The New York Times where they are available on the newspaper’s website.

Was it a government cover-up? That’s what the director of the Center for Auto Safety calls it. Clarence Ditlow says talking on a cell phone while driving is tantamount to driving with a blood alcohol level of .08, making drivers four times as likely to hit another car.

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