The vehicle she hit was not the first car through the intersection, it was the third or fourth. The police investigation determined the driver never touched her brakes and was traveling 48 mph when she hit the other vehicle.

The crash cost the life of a 12-year-old boy.

Witnesses told investigators that the driver was not looking down, not dialling the phone, or texting. She was observed looking straight out the windshield talking on her cell phone as she sped past four cars and a school bus stopped in the other south bound lane of traffic.
 
Vision is the most important sense for safe driving. Yet, drivers using hands-free phones (and those using handheld phones) have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” objects. Estimates indicate that drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.1 Distracted drivers experience what researchers call inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision.
 
Drivers are looking out the windshield, but they do not process everything in the roadway environment that they must know to effectively monitor their surroundings, seek and identify potential hazards, and respond to unexpected situations.
 
Today there are more than 280 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. And although public sentiment appears to be turning against cell phone use while driving, many admit they regularly talk or text while driving.
 
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 11 percent of all drivers at any given time are using cell phones, and the National Safety Council estimates more than one in four motor vehicle crashes involve cell phone use at the time of the crash.
 
Cell phone driving has become a serious public health threat. A few states have passed legislation making it illegal to use a handheld cell phone while driving. These laws give the false impression that using a hands-free phone is safe.
 
The driver responsible for the above crash was on the phone with her church where she volunteered with children the age of the young boy who lost his life as the result of her phone call. She pled guilty to negligent homicide and the lives of two families were terribly and permanently altered. Countless numbers of similar crashes continue every day.
 
This paper will take an in-depth look at why hands-free cell phone use while driving is dangerous. It is intended that this information will provide background and context for lawmakers and employers considering legislation and policies.