US Government Suppressed Driving and Cellphone Use Safety Data

Reasons Not Clear Exactly Why

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US Government Suppressed Driving and Cellphone Use Safety Data

In a follow-up story to the one it published over the weekend, the New York Times on Monday reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) refused in 2003 to publish research data that indicated the risk of cell phone use and driving for fear, in part, of angering the US Congress.

The research was gathered as background support for a planned NHTSA proposal to conduct a long-term study into the risks of cell phone use and driver safety.

The New York Times story states,

"The former head of the highway safety agency said he was urged to withhold the research to avoid antagonizing members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data but not to lobby states."

At stake, according to the Times, were billions of dollars in funding for the NHTSA and the US Department of Transportation if Congress didn't like what the NHTSA research indicated. 

However, another NHSTA official disagreed and said that the research wasn't published because the data was not conclusive, not because a fear of Congressional funding cuts.

There was also speculation in the story that pressure was put on the NHTSA by cell phone companies not to publish the information, but no proof was offered.

The NHSTA today says it will not publish the 2003 research because it was only background material meant for agency use, not the public's.

You can read it here anyway, courtesy of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit submitted by The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen, who found out about the research.

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