Car Talk Brothers Accuse AAA Foundation of Irresponsibility: Cell Phone Press Release Misleads Public and Lawmakers

    BOSTON, Aug. 2 Tom and Ray Magliozzi, cohosts of the radio
show "Car Talk," have accused the American Automobile Association's Foundation
for Traffic Safety of issuing a misleading press release on the effects of
cell phone use and driving safety.
    A press release that garnered extensive national media attention for its
surprising results is based on flawed research and is a gross
misrepresentation of reality, according to the Magliozzis.
    The study -- commissioned by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety --
reported that far less than 1 percent of accidents involve drivers using cell
phones.
    The study made use of data supplied by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA). In that data, distraction is noted only if there is
physical evidence at the scene, if it's in the police accident report, or if
it's volunteered by the driver. "Be honest," says Car Talk cohost Ray
Magliozzi. "How many people are going to say, 'Yes, officer, I was ordering
Chinese food on my cell phone when I crashed into that family in the Taurus?'
It's just not going to happen."
    Even the organization that conducted the study for AAA, along with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says that distracted driving
was underreported in the data.
    The study's authors, the University of North Carolina's Highway Safety
Research Center, note that the database they used "underestimates the role of
driver inattention and distraction in crashes." The study authors went on to
note that "estimating the true percentage of crashes attributable to various
distracting events was not the goal."
    Despite this disclaimer by the authors themselves, the press release
issued by the AAA Foundation did not mention the authors' disclaimer and
simply reported that all distractions contribute to only 12.5 percent of all
accidents and that cell phone use accounts for only 1.5 percent of that 12.5
percent -- a minuscule effect.
    The Magliozzis contacted AAA, suggesting that the release was misleading
and was providing ammunition for the cell phone industry's attempts to thwart
legislation banning the use of cell phones while driving. "We asked them to
issue a new press release that made it crystal clear that the numbers cited in
the original release were completely bogus. AAA was totally uncooperative,"
says Tom Magliozzi.
    The AAA director of research, Scott Osberg, Ph.D., suggested in his
response to the Magliozzis, "Stick to your sit-down comedy, or if you really
care about traffic safety, think about hiring some smart MIT friends to help
you understand complex research findings."
    "These research findings are hardly complex," says Tom Magliozzi (who,
incidentally, has a Ph.D. in research). "They concluded that distracted
drivers get involved in accidents. Duh. The authors of the study say they were
simply attempting to develop a taxonomy of distractions. This hardly requires
a database. One need only take a drive on any highway in the country to see
people reading the newspaper and drying their hair. Why use a database that
clearly does not collect such data and then publish percentages?"
    Nonetheless, the Car Talk brothers took Osberg's advice and asked an
independent research firm to comment on the findings and the press release.
Dr. Kevin Clancy, chairman and CEO of Copernicus Marketing Consulting and
research professor at Boston University, had this to say:

    "I find AAA's release of the UNC study on 'The Role of Driver Distraction
    in Traffic Crashes' deeply troubling. To misrepresent findings based on
    limited data is, simply put, grossly irresponsible. The problem lies not
    in how the study was planned or executed, but in how the research results
    are reported and appear to be used.

    "The researchers clearly state in their report that their intent in
    analyzing the NHTSA data was primarily to develop a list of possible
    driver distractions and other contextual events that lead to accidents. It
    was not to determine which types of distractions cause the most accidents.
    To quote from the report, 'These are research results that will be useful
    in building a broader understanding of driver distraction. The percentages
    for the different types of distractions should not be used to guide policy
    development.'

    "What is disturbing is that the AAA press release omits this qualification
    of how to interpret and use the results. Also, presenting findings as
    actual percentages of each type of distraction among the general
    population is irresponsible because percentages imply importance to the
    layperson reviewing findings. This is an incorrect use of the research
    results.

    "The report and release note serious limitations on the data, including
    underreporting, understatement, and small sample size. They say, 'Present
    estimates for known distracting events probably understate their true
    magnitude.' Clearly, the researchers recognized the opportunity for
    misinterpreting 'preliminary estimates' of driving distractions. This
    knowledge should have held them and AAA to a higher standard in releasing
    results to the general public."

    More information on the University of North Carolina study and AAA's press
release can be found online at http://www.cartalk.cars.com.
    Car Talk, hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, is a weekly one-hour
radio show broadcast on more than 500 radio stations and heard by more than
3 million listeners each week. Tom and Ray's weekly syndicated column, "Click
and Clack Talk Cars," is carried by more than 300 newspapers.

               Click here