Cellphone Use May Be Responsible in Fatal Car Accident

Road crash investigators in the USA, have cited cellphone use as a probably reason for an accident that resulted in five deaths in Washington DC, USA on Friday. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said that this was the first time that the investigations agency had cited the use of a cellphone as a possible factor in a road accident. The NTSB says that the driver of a 1998 Ford Explorer was on the phone to her boyfriend, who was driving slightly further ahead, when the accident occurred.

The government agency is also investigating why crash barriers did not prevent the car from crashing over the central reservation and into oncoming traffic, and only formally started considering cellphone usage when investigating car accidents last month. The NTSB said that it expected to file its final report within a year, and might make recommendations about cellphone use while driving at that time."

Posted to the site on 4th February 2002