Teen drivers and cell phones don't mix

We've all complained about a clueless driver wandering through traffic with a cellphone glued to his or her ear. We all know it's dangerous. Well, a recent study by Ford shows that it's especially dangerous for young drivers.

Using a driving simulator, Ford compared the response of adult and teenage drivers to traffic events happening in front of them. As the chart shows, both types of drivers missed about 3 percent of potentially dangerous events without the distraction of a phone, but when placing a phone call the rate jumps to 13.6 percent for adults and almost 54 percent for teens. And this is using a hands-free headset!

Here in Colorado, it's against the law for teenage drivers to use cell phones while driving, as it is in ten other states. Even so, a few weeks ago a Colorado teenager, driving alone in his car on a clear road, struck and killed a cyclist (in a bike lane) while he was text-messaging with his phone.
[Source: Ford]