The Truth about Cars and Cell Phones We find it terrifying every time we get on the highway and see all of those multitasking drivers racing along while they talk and text on cell phones. So it is especially distressing to learn that in 2003, officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put down a proposal for a large-scale study of cell phone risks and withheld hundreds of pages of research that warned about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. That information-including estimates that cell phoning drivers caused 955 fatalities and 240,000accidents in 2002--was finally pried loose this week by a freedom of information lawsuit. Six years later, the Transportation Department advises drivers to avoid cell phones except in emergencies. But far too many Americans now consider phoning while driving to be standard behavior. Extensive research shows the dangers of distracted driving. Studies say that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers, and the likelihood that they will crash is equal to that of someone with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level, the point at which drivers are generally considered intoxicated (喝醉的). A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cell phone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries. Yet Americans have largely ignored that research. Instead, they increasingly use phones, navigation devices and even laptops to turn their cars into mobile offices, chat rooms and entertainment centers, making roads more dangerous. A disconnect between perception and reality worsens the problem. New studies show that drivers overestimate their own ability to safely multitask, even as they worry about the dangers of others doing it. Device makers and auto companies acknowledge the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, but they aggressively develop and market devices that cause distractions. Police in almost half of all states make no attempt to gather data on the problem. They are not required to ask drivers who cause accidents whether they were distracted by a phone or other device. Even when officers do ask, some drivers are not forthcoming. The federal government warns against talking on a cell phone while driving, but no state legislature has banned it. This year, state legislators introduced about 170 bills to address distracted driving, but passed fewer than 10. Five states and the District of Columbia require drivers who talk on cell phones to use hands-free devices, but research shows that using headsets can be as dangerous as holding a phone because the conversation distracts drivers from focusing on the road. Fourteen states have passed measures to ban texting while driving, and the New York State Assembly sent such a bill to the governor on Friday. Scientists who study distracted driving say they understand the frustrations of colleagues who publicized the dangers of tobacco. Like cigarettes, they say, using cell phones are considered cool but can be deadly. And the big device companies even offer warnings that remind them of labels on cigarette packs. Verizon Wireless, for instance, posts instructions on its Web sites not to talk while driving―with or without a headset. But neither Verizon nor any other cell phone company supports legislation that bans drivers from talking on the phone. And the wireless industry does not conduct research on the dangers, saying that is not its responsibility. Some researchers say that sufficient evidence exists to justify laws outlawing cell phone use for drivers--and they suggest using technology to enforce them by disabling a driver’s phone. Over all, cell phone use has soared. From 1995 to 2008, the number of wireless subscribers in the United States increased eightfold, to 270 million, and minutes talked rose 58-fold. Last year, the federal agency dealing with road safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, published a study, based on researchers’ observations of drivers, suggesting that at anytime during daylight hours in 2007, 11 percent--or 1.8 million drivers--were using a cell phone. And in a survey of 1,506 people last year by Nationwide Mutual Insurance, 81 percent of cell phone owners acknowledged that they talk on phones while driving, and 98 percent considered themselves safe drivers. But 45 percent said they had been hit or nearly hit by a driver talking on a phone. "When we ask people to identify the most dangerous distraction on the highway today, about half identify cell phones," said Bill Windsor, associate vice president for safety at Nationwide. "But they think others are dangerous, not themselves." "We’ve spent billions on air bags, antilock brakes, better steering, safer cars and roads, but then umber of fatalities has remained constant," said David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah and a leading researcher in the field of distracted driving. "Our return on investment for those billions is zero," he added. "And that’s because we’re using devices in our cars." Scientists note that there are limits to how much the brain can multitask. The brain has trouble assessing separate streams of information--even if one is visual and the other aural, said Steve Yantis, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Further, he said, when people talk on the phone, they are doing more than simply listening. The words conjure images in the mind’s eye, including images of the person they are talking to. That typically doesn’t interfere with driving. The problem starts when a car swerves unexpectedly or a pedestrian steps into traffic, he said, and the mind lacks the processing power to react in time. "There is zero doubt that one’s driving ability is impaired when one is trying to have a cell phone conversation--whether hands-flee or hand-held, it doesn’t matter," said David E. Meyer, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. In fact, some scientists argue that hands-flee laws make driving riskier by effectively excusing the practice. As early as July 2003, researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reached that conclusion based on what they referred to, in a proposed draft of a cell phone policy for the agency, as "a significant body of research worldwide." The draft policy said: "We are convinced that legislation forbidding the use of handheld cell phones while driving will not be effective since it will not address the problem. In fact, such legislation may mistakenly imply that hands-free phones are safe to use while driving.,’ The agency’s current advice is that people should not use cell phones while driving and that hands-free devices do not eliminate the risks of distracted driving. Scientists are trying to understand, too, with perhaps the broadest question hanging over the phenomenon of distracted driving: Why do people, knowing the risk, continue to talk while driving The answer, they say, is partly the intense social pressures to stay in touch and always be available to friends and colleagues. And there also is the neurological response of multitaskers. They show signs of addiction to their devices.What’s device makers’ attitude toward distracted driving A．They acknowledge the risks of distracted driving.B．They develop and market devices that are less dangerous.C．They support legislation that bans drivers from talking on the phone.D．They develop the technology that may disable drivers’ cell phones.