The study's authors have since pointed out, though, the drinking and driving is far more dangerous for a long list of other reasons, such as the lingering effects of alcohol in the bloodstream. A National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report of 1998 crash data showed that driver distraction was a factor in about one of every four fatal accidents. Cellular phones were a factor in at least 57 deaths, compared with only seven in 1991. But experts consider the data to be weak because of the lack of nationwide reporting. For the most part, an eyewitness or police officer must see a driver on the phone to record it as part of the accident report.
Drivers involved in accidents can easily slip the phone into a pocket or glove compartment.
From the vantage point atop his Harley Davidson, patrolman Hovan sees the dangers nearly every day as drivers with phones drift across lanes and roll through stop signs. On a recent rainy spring day in Brooklyn, Hovan pulled over a luxury sedan to write a ticket to a man on his cell phone. The driver protested, saying he was a vascular surgeon who needed to use his phone to deal with medical cases and operating-room schedules. He didn't want to hear it. To hammer home his message, Hovan now carries a picture of Morgan Lee Pena, sent to him by her mother, and explains the story of the dead Pennsylvania girl to the drivers he stops.