DETROIT, July 12 (UPI) -- A study of Australian drivers published Tuesday said the use of any cell phone, hands-free or otherwise, carries a four-fold higher risk of serious accidents.
"There was no safety benefit whatsoever from using a hands-free phone," said Anne McCartt, one of the authors of the Australian study, which was published in the British Medical Journal and paid for by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The study examined the cell phone records of 744 drivers who had accidents in Perth, Australia, where drivers are required to use hands-free devices. McCart said a similar study is not possible in the United States, as telephone records are not considered public information and accessible, as in Australia.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit research group in Virginia, sent researchers to three hospitals in Perth during a two-year period from 2002 to 2004 to interview crash victims.
Paul Green, a scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, told The New York Times studies like this could exert influence on lawmakers.
"They're most convinced by the tombstone count," he said.
