BMJ  2005;331 (20 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7514.0-a

Mobile phones increase risk of having a road crash

Using a mobile phone while driving increases the likelihood of having a road crash. In a case crossover study of 456 drivers who had had a road crash that necessitated hospital attendance, McEvoy and colleagues (p 428) compared a driver's use of a mobile phone at the estimated time of the crash with the same driver's use during a comparable time period. People using a mobile phone up to 10 minutes before a crash were four times more likely to crash (odds ratio 4.1, 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 7.7). The risk was still raised when hands-free phones were used (odds ratio 3.8, 1.8 to 8.0).

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Role of mobile phones in motor vehicle crashes resulting in hospital attendance: a case-crossover study

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BMJ 2005 331: 428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]