Cellphones less distracting to drivers than kids, eating: Alberta study

The Alberta government has quietly released a study that says many common activities are more distracting for drivers than using a cellphone.

The Alberta report says there is no evidence to suggest that legislation in other provinces and states banning the use of cellphones while driving has reduced the number of collisions.

A private member's bill was introduced in the Alberta legislature last week proposing a ban on using cellphones while driving unless the phone is set up for hands-free operation.

The report also says that cellphone use while driving is less risky than many other distractions, including eating, using computers or tending to children in the back seat.

"If somebody drops a cigarette, if they're a smoker, is a bigger distraction," said Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette. "Dialling up your favourite station or changing CDs is a bigger distraction.

"Eating or applying makeup or reading something while you're driving, it all creates a higher risk of getting in a collision."

A 1997 University of Toronto study found that talking on a cellphone while driving quadrupled the risk of an accident. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Canadian Medical Association also began urging its members in 1999 to lobby governments to ban the use of cellular phones in motor vehicles.

'Dialling up your favourite station or changing CDs is a bigger distraction.' — Alberta Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette

Newfoundland was the first province to ban drivers from using cellphones in 2003 and the law later withstood a challenge in the province's highest court.

Since then, other provinces have also taken cellphones out of drivers' hands, including Quebec and Nova Scotia. And at least 45 countries have restrictions on cellphone use while driving, including Japan, Russia and Australia.

Premier Ed Stelmach has spoken out against a ban on cellphone use by drivers, arguing that police officers have told him in the past that cellphone laws would be difficult to enforce.

Stelmach recalled hearing about a similar debate around the time when radios first started appearing in cars. The premier also gave examples of other things that can distract drivers, including "pets running between the front seat and back seat.

"You would think that people would have some common sense as to how they drive on city streets and provincial highways," he said.

The premier requested a study of the issue last fall and the completed report was released with little fanfare Monday on the Ministry of Transportation website.